What to Expect of Canadian Immigration in 2022

Key Highlights:

• Overview
• Impact of the Pandemic
• Immigration Levels Plan
• Express Entry

The Canadian Immigration system is set to witness many changes in 2022, from revisions to the Immigration Levels Plan to several developments in Express Entry streams, while the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact it. 

Impact of the Pandemic 

The Covid-19 pandemic is causing Canada to update its international travel restrictions continuously. Apart from this, it has also led to a considerable applications backlog and a move to prioritize applicants already in the country.

Despite this, the federal government has still remained focused on achieving the objectives of its three-fold immigration policy of boosting their economy, reuniting families and helping those who have a humanitarian need.

However, there is no doubt that Covid-19 will be the main hurdle for Canadian immigration as the pandemic enters its third year. 

Immigration Levels Plan

This year, the country is likely to get two new immigration levels plan updates. These will give a draft of Canada’s targets for new arrivals of permanent residents and what immigration streams they will come through. 

Based on the current plan, which the IRCC tweaked in 2020, the country plans to invite 411,000 new immigrants in 2022 and 421,000 in 2023. However, these figures may change with the announcements to be made this year.

The first of these may come on February 10, when the immigration minister, Sean Fraser, will table the Levels Plan for 2022-24, while the second one will occur by November 1st.

Express Entry

After what was the most significant year for the Express Entry system since its inception in 2015, 2022 is going to see even more developments in this federal system for immigration applications.

Last year, Canada only held immigration draws for candidates from the Express Entry’s Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

Candidates from the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, which was the largest source of candidates before the pandemic, have been excluded from the draws, leading to them forming over 85% of applicants in the Express Entry pool.