With vaccines being used to control COVID-19 and governments lifting border restrictions, immigration to Canada is set to soar in the year 2021. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has informed that the country plans to vaccinate majority of Canadians by September 2021. Further, almost half a million Canadians, which means around 1.2 percent of the country’s population has recovered from COVID-19, thus becoming immune to the disease. So it is expected that the country would reach herd immunity, where a large percentage of the population becomes immune to a disease thus preventing its spread, by the second half of 2021.
Canada immigration and advancement in tech sector
It should be noted that the tech sector of Canada remained resilient during the COVID-19 crisis. Two major factors that gave a boost to the Canadian tech sector were the uninterrupted admission of tech immigrants to the country as well as a nurturing ecosystem created by the country for start-ups along with generous tax credits. Canada has introduced Global Talent Stream, where a tech worker can obtain a Canadian work permit within just two weeks, to accelerate inflow of senior tech talent to the country. Buoyed by these factors, Canada is fast becoming a hub of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, bioengineering and other fields.
Despite the restrictions introduced in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, Provincial Nominee Programs have been remaining active. And in the case of Express Entry immigration, Canada set a new record by issued more than 100,000 Invitations to Apply for permanent residence in a single year.
Active Canada immigration programs
The rate of immigration to Canada is set to remain high in the coming year too. Marco Mendicino, the Immigration Minister of Canada, has informed that the country would be raising the number of immigrants admitted to the country in 2021 in order to boost the economic recovery during the post pandemic period. As per the new Canada Immigration Levels Plan, the country would be welcoming more than 1.2 million newcomers between 2021 and 2023. Canada plans to welcome 401000 new permanent residents in 2021, 411000 permanent residents in 2022 and 421000 permanent residents in 2023. Almost 60 percent of these newcomers would be economic class immigrants.
On the importance of admitting more new immigrants to the country, Mr Mendicino was quoted as saying: “Immigration is essential to getting us through the pandemic, but also to our short-term economic recovery and our long-term economic growth. Canadians have seen how newcomers are playing an outsized role in our hospitals and care homes, and helping us to keep food on the table.”
“As we look to recovery, newcomers create jobs not just by giving our businesses the skills they need to thrive, but also by starting businesses themselves. Our plan will help to address some of our most acute labour shortages and to grow our population to keep Canada competitive on the world stage.
Canada has also re-opened its borders for international students and they have to undergo quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.
In short, the COVID-19 crisis has not affected the immigration levels of Canada and the country is all set to welcome more immigrants in the coming years. If you are thinking about migrating to Canada, this is the right time to make the move. For more information and guidance, contact CanApprove.