As the year 2022 ends, Canada prepares to chase ambitious immigration targets in 2023 for its social and economic development.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship (IRCC) strives to curtail the application backlog by adopting digitization and recruiting more staff. The current immigration backlog stands at 400,000 applications. IRCC is confident of reducing the application inventories further through the following concrete steps:
- Appointing 2,521 employees to strengthen front-line office staff
- Additional funding of $85 million
Highlights of Canada’s 2023 Immigration Targets
The 2023 target of welcoming 465,000 new immigrants underlines Canada’s resolve to drive immigration across all categories. The main pathways of immigration will contribute to the Immigration Levels Plan as follows:
- Express Entry immigration – 82,880
- PNP immigration – 105,500
- Parents and Grandparents sponsorship – 28,500
- Spousal sponsorship – 78,000
Changes in the Express Entry system
IRCC is contemplating the introduction of targeted Express Entry draws in 2023 to boost specific needs and gaps in the labor market. The new draws will focus on the applicant’s education, work experience, and language skills. There is a significant shift from the present focus on the Comprehensive Ranking Scores to selecting applicants for Invitations to Apply for permanent residence.
Changes to Provincial Nomination in 2023
The year 2022 marked the growing dominance of the Provincial Nominee Program over Express Entry. The 2023 Immigration Levels targets confirm the trend as PNP will welcome close to 23000 more immigrants than Express Entry in the next year. PNP is about to become the most popular immigration pathway. It has an immense potential to meet the specific labor market requirements of different provinces and territories in Canada.
International students in 2023
Canada allows over 20 hours per week of off-campus work to international students with a study permit showing off-campus work authorization. The new change will help Canada reduce the acute labor shortage.
