November 1, 2023 - Federal government announces its new Immigration Levels Plan for 2024-2026 with exciting numbers. You will find the immigrant acceptance strategy, the new approach to the immigration problems and other important aspects of the new plan. The plan is not only for those who are considering becoming Canadian immigrants, but also every immigrant who have established their lives in Canada.
Marc Miller, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship has announced the new plan. The most immigrant friendly nation, Canada will be accepting immigrants for the next 3 years. The target is to welcome 485,000 permanent residents in 2024, 500,000 in 2025, and 500,000 more in 2026.
According to Miller, these immigration targets will contribute to Canada's economic development by providing us with the skills and human resources we need to combat the labor shortage. It will unite families and keep us on track for our long-term goal of economic growth, which will keep us at the forefront of refugee resettlement. Infrastructure works such as housing, healthcare, education will be taken into consideration when making immigration planning. The government will work closely with states and local units while setting the new immigrant recruitment plans.
It was expected that the new plan would need to comply with the fact that the country thrives on immigrants. The population is aging. The average human lifespan has increased and families are having fewer children. Canada's workforce needs are increasing so rapidly that immigration is the most important element to balance this demographic.
While announcing the new plan, the Minister also explained which immigrants they would prioritize. Immigrants with a background in trades and health care services. Trade here means tradespeople such as welders, electricians, construction workers, plumbers, carpenters, and also those working in oil and gas services and healthcare workers.
The minister announced that they have created a new ministerial position to match the workforce needed in all these sectors with the immigrants who have come or will come to Canada. “Chief International Talent Officer” will now manage the workforce strategy for Canada's long-term needs in Canada and abroad. This “international human resource manager” will find and coordinate specific strategies for each sector and each region of Canada.
According to the minister's statements, there will be no change in the 3 main immigrant intake classes for permanent residence permits. In the coming year, 58% of the immigrant pool will be called economic immigrants, 23.5% will come with family reunification, and the remaining 18.5% will be refugees with protected person status and humanitarian based.
The process of modernizing and digitalizing the ministerial systems continues with great effort, and that from now on, they will bring a human-individual-oriented approach, which we can call Human-centric, and that they will even establish an advisory board for this.
More updates will be coming soon.