The targets were published by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada following the tabling of the 2020 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration. 

In the report, minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marco Mendicino said that immigrants enrich Canada “beyond measure”, and no accounting of the country’s progress over the last century and a half is complete without including the contributions of newcomers.

Canada now aims to welcome 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021, 411,000 in 2022, and 421,000 in 2023 – a goal which stakeholders have said will be partly achieved by international students remaining in the country after their studies.

“These newly announced immigration targets are a positive signal to international students that Canada is eager to welcome skilled talent from around the world,”  Wendy Therrien, director of research and external relations at Universities Canada, told The PIE News.

“Graduates of Canadian universities can benefit from clear government pathways to immigration if they wish to stay in Canada after their studies,” she said. Cosmina Morariu, senior manager of Fragomen, a leading law firm that deals with immigration services, explained that a study permit is one of the main gates into Canada.

“It allows you to come and study and then after you finish your studies you can get a post-graduate work permit, which is an open, very flexible permit that allows you to work for any employer, at any location in Canada.

“The maximum duration you can get on that permit is three years, so it is very convenient. The moment you have one year of employment in Canada you can apply for permanent residence,” she told The PIE.

Morariu explained that students who applied for permanent residence after completing one year on a post graduate work permit would make up a significant part of the IRCC’s targets.

Data provided by IRCC gives a breakdown of which categories of immigrants the country hopes to welcome. The highest group is economic immigrants – with targets currently being set at bringing 723,500 of this group into the country between 2021 and 2023.

The economic immigrant group is further broken down into six sections including, Federal High Skilled, Federal Business, Economic Pilots: Caregivers; Agri-Food Pilot; Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program, Provincial Nominee Program etc.