The new Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025 stresses on Provincial Nominee Programs for Economy Class Immigration than Express Entry.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizens Canada announced the new Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025 on Nov 1, 2022. Canada plans to welcome 500,000 new permanent residents by 2025 to boost its economy and demography.
Canada’s provinces and territories select candidates for permanent residence through Provincial Nomination. The Federal government is responsible for the approval of permanent residency.
The allocations of targets for the plan comprise a substantial percentage under Provincial Nominee Programs, which will cause a sharp rise in the number of immigrants through PNPs. The 2023 PNP target is 105,000. The PNP welcomed 83,500 new immigrants in 2022. The higher PNP targets will cause 20 percent of immigrants to enter Canada under Provincial Nominee Programs by 2025.
The target for the number of immigrants through the Express Entry system in 2025 is 114,000, as against 117,500 PNP candidates. The 2023 targets for Express Entry and PNP immigration are 82,880 and 105,000, respectively.
There are over one million vacant job positions in Canada. Most of the vacancies are in the tech and healthcare sectors.
Immigration can effectively address the historic labor shortage in Canada.
Provincial Nominee Programs facilitate provinces to target specific occupations that are in demand. PNPs serve as a vital source of employees in Canadian provinces. The move to focus on provincial nomination will help Canada fill a record number of job positions.
