April 26, 2016

IRCC’s 2016 Immigration Plan

Every year, the Government of Canada sets the total number of permanent residents that they expect to admit to the country under economic, family, and refugee/humanitarian categories.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) 2016 immigration plan features an increase of total immigration to Canada from the 2015 year.  They are scheduled to welcome 280,000 to 305,000 new permanent residents (targeting 300,000) in 2016, up from last year’s target of 260,000 to 285,000.

The 2016 target for admissions in each category are summarized below:

• Economic 53.5% (160,600)
• Family 26.7% (80,000)
• Refugee and protected persons 18.6% (55,800)
• Humanitarian 1.2% (3,600)

Although the highest percentage again this year is allocated to Economic immigration, this year’s economic targets see a decrease by an overall 10% from 2015 levels. Family immigration has, however, increased by almost 3% and refugee and protection persons/humanitarian levels have doubled.

A detailed list of specific numbers for all immigration categories for the 2016 year can be found here, while the previous year’s plan can be found here.

For more information on Permanent Residence, please click here.