Canada welcomed 13,645 new permanent residents in July 2020.
This was an extremely low figure considering that July is one of the busiest months for Canadian immigration.
On a year-over-year basis, Canada’s July 2020 permanent residence (PR) intake fell by 63 per cent compared with July 2019.
Last July was the busiest month for Canadian immigration in 2019. That month, Canada welcomed 36,615 new permanent residents.
Canada usually welcomes some of its highest levels of new immigrants each July. This is due to immigrants moving to Canada during the warm summer months, and to enroll their children in school before the academic year starts across Canada in late-August and early September.
Canada’s July 2020 intake was also lower than the 19,200 immigrants Canada welcomed in June of this year.
June 2020 has been the strongest month for Canada’s PR levels since the coronavirus was labelled as a pandemic in March. Prior to June, Canada welcomed 11,000 immigrants in May, and just 4,000 in April.
Following the start of the pandemic, Canada’s PR intake plummeted in April due to Canada introducing travel restrictions, which remain in place, plus other coronavirus-related disruptions such as approved immigrants not being able to find available flights to get them to Canada.
It is important to note that some approved permanent resident applicants are eligible to move to Canada right now despite the travel restrictions. For instance, confirmation of permanent residence (COPR) holders who obtained their COPR on or before March 18, 2020 are among those who are exempt.
The weak July PR figures are due to ongoing coronavirus-related challenges. Travel remains difficult during the pandemic, with flights in and out of certain countries being limited since March. This has meant that even individuals who obtained their COPR on or before March 18 may not be able to travel to Canada to complete their permanent residence process.
Top 15 countries of new immigrants in July 2020
Canada’s top 15 source countries of new PRs in July were (PR figures in brackets):
1) India (3,195)
2) China (870)
3) Philippines (865)
4) Pakistan (640)
5) Nigeria (555)
6) Morocco (515)
7) Iran (405)
8) United States of America (405)
9) Algeria (335)
10) France (290)
11) Syria (245)
12) Egypt (225)
13) United Kingdom (225)
14) Cameroon (220)
15) South Korea (205)
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The current state of Canadian immigration
Canada is still processing immigration applications during the pandemic and issuing new permanent residence invitations to successful applicants.
Canada’s flagship system to manage economic class immigration applications is called Express Entry.
Express Entry draws have continued to happen on a bi-weekly basis since March.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued more Express Entry invitations to apply (ITAs) for permanent residence on a year-over-year basis.
As of the last Express Entry draw which took place on September 2nd, IRCC issued 69,950 ITAs in 2020 thus far compared with 56,200 at the same point in 2019.
In addition, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) continues to operate.
Canada also remains committed to its 2020-2022 Immigration Levels Plan.
When you add these factors together, IRCC expects that Canada’s PR figures will surge once the pandemic is over.
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