Canadian immigration sees record year, set to increase in years to come

Canada welcomed a record number of immigrants last year, hitting its target of 431,645 new permanent residents and exceeding 2021 numbers, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said Tuesday.

In line with the government’s plans to settle more immigrants to help address labour shortages in various sectors, targets will increase every year for the next three years.

The new goals are to bring in 465,000 new permanent residents this year, 485,000 in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025.

“We know that our labour market, and even our population can't grow without immigrants,” said Anila Lee Yuen, president and CEO of the Centre for Newcomers in Calgary.

Lee Yuen says her facility has processed three times as many people as it would typically see since it expanded its services.

“At the start of the new year, the first day back (to) work, we've actually hired 16 new people that started today (Tuesday), alone,” she said.

“That is not only for our Ukrainian community or Afghani community, but for all newcomers overall.”

Although Lee Yuen is supportive of more immigrants coming to Canada and Calgary, she says services need to be in place to accommodate them, including housing, mental health supports and schooling.

“We really need to do a lot more to ensure that credentials are being recognized,” said Lee Yuen.

“Otherwise, we're going to have all of these newcomers come in, there's going to be so many jobs, (and) we already know that there's so many jobs that need to be filled, and we're not going to be able to fill them because nobody's hiring the newcomers.”

Meanwhile, delays in processing immigration applications surged last year, with about 1.3 million applications taking longer to process than the government’s service standards, as of the end of July.

Kateryna Zarvii moved to Calgary from Ukraine in July of last year and has spent seven months working at the Centre for Newcomers, starting as a settlement practitioner and now working as a case manager.

She plans on becoming a new immigrant to Canada, applying for her permanent residency this summer.

“I remember that January last year, I had no idea about Canada at all in my head,” said Zarvii.

Zarvii says it was family that pushed her to move to Canada after the war broke out.

She came over through the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program, which allows Ukrainian internationals to stay in Canada for up to three years.

“It wasn't in my plan just to come and wait until the war is over and come back (to Ukraine),” she said.

“It just takes way too many resources to start your life over. So for me, it was not an option to come here temporarily.”

Zarvii says she needs to work one year in Canada before she can apply, and she’s hopeful the government prioritizes Ukrainian applications.

“I want to believe in that, but I believe by the time I will be able to apply for it, they will also have the backlog made by Ukrainians, but I believe it may take up to two years,” said Zarvii.

According to the release issued Tuesday, IRCC processed about 5.2 million applications — including for permanent residence, temporary residence and citizenship — in 2022, doubling the number from the previous year.

With files from The Canadian Press