On August 24, 2022, Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), announced the government’s efforts to improve the Canadian immigration system and reduce application backlogs, with a particular emphasis on labour shortages, client experience, and family reunification.
The Minister also announced that up to 1,250 new employees would be hired by the end of the fall to increase application processing capacity and reduce backlogs, and make the system more sustainable in both the short and long term. IRCC is constantly managing over 1 million applications. In 2021, IRCC finalized 1.7 million applications from all lines of business.
International applicants continue to show unprecedented interest in Canada, which makes IRCC's immigration processing even more challenging. Over 405,000 new permanent residents were admitted to Canada in 2021, setting a record. IRCC is on its way to achieving the target of welcoming 431,000 permanent residents in 2022, having welcomed approximately 275,000 permanent residents between January 1 and July 31.
IRCC issued 199,000 work permits in 2021. From January 1 to July 31, 2022. IRCC also issued over 349,000 new work permits, compared to approximately 112,000 issued in 2021. Among those are over 220,000 open work permits are available to holders, allowing them to work almost anywhere in the country. The work permits allow up to 1,700 people every day to come work in Canada and contribute to our economy.
Canada is one of the most popular destinations for international students. IRCC finalized almost 560,000 study permit applications in 2021, a 31% increase from 2019. The improvement of Canada's immigration system will enable the government to attract top talent from around the world and solve key labour shortages in tourism, health care, agriculture, transportation, and skilled trades.
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