Question Period Note: IMMIGRATION LEVELS PLAN FOR 2023-2025

• The Government of Canada is committed to an immigration system that contributes to economic growth, supports diversity and helps build vibrant, dynamic and inclusive communities.
• The 2023-2025 Immigration Levels Plan, tabled in Parliament on November 1st, 2022, projects continued growth in permanent resident admissions with targets of 465,000 in 2023; 485,000 in 2024; and 500,000 in 2025.
• The Levels Plan sets out a path for responsible increases to immigration targets to support economic growth and address labour market shortages. Over half of all planned admissions are dedicated to the economic class.
• Increasing immigration will help cement Canada’s place among the world’s top destinations for talent, while reuniting family members with their loved ones and fulfilling Canada’s humanitarian commitments, including on Afghanistan resettlement.

2023-2025 Immigration Levels Plan
• The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act requires that the immigration minister table the Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, including the Immigration Levels Plan for the following year, by November 1, or within 30 sitting days if Parliament is not in session on November 1.
• The 2023-2025 Immigration Levels Plan increases immigration levels to help achieve economic, family, and refugee objectives over the next three years.
• The plan for 2023-2025 increases the overall permanent resident admissions target to 465,000 in 2023; 485,000 in 2024; and 500,000 in 2025. This plan features broad ranges in admissions for each year to provide flexibility for potential persisting COVID related impacts and uncertainties like client behavior (i.e., willingness/ability to travel).
• The projections specify the distribution of immigrants in three classes – economic, family and refugee, and protected persons – as well as a category for “other” immigration that is inclusive of a humanitarian and compassionate provision. The class proportions for the 2023-2025 plan include the following:
o Admissions are increased in the Economic class to approximately 60% of overall admissions by 2025.
 There is significant growth in regional programs to support provincial and territorial efforts to address labour market shortages through their nominee programs.
o Family class reaches 118,000 admissions by 2025, with increases focused on the Parents and Grandparents program.
o Refugees and Protected Persons admissions increase to 76,305 in 2023, before decreasing to 72,750 by 2025.
o The Humanitarian, Compassionate and Other category increases to 15,985 in 2023, before decreasing to 8,000 by 2024.
o Refugee and humanitarian admissions include Government commitments to welcoming those fleeing Afghanistan.
• IRCC consulted provinces and territories between spring 2022 and summer 2022. There was strong support for maintaining the multi-year plan. Most jurisdictions signaled their desire for stable admissions with no significant increases in the short-term, while a few indicated a desire for modest growth. For those signaling stability, keeping pace with rapid population growth challenges the capacity of provincial services and infrastructure. For those signaling growth, this desire is driven by labour needs and population growth. Economic immigration was cited as a priority, notably regional immigration programs such as the Provincial Nominee Program and the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program.
• While Canadians remain concerned about public health and job security, overall public support for immigration in Canada has remained stable and relatively strong. In particular, a Research Co. poll, released in February 2022, found that 54% of those surveyed agreed with the statement that immigration is having a mostly positive effect in Canada – largely unchanged from 2020. An Environics poll from October 2021 showed that 80% of respondents agreed with the statement that immigration has a positive economic impact.
Mandate Commitment: Delivering the 2023-2025 Immigration Levels Plan is a part of the December 2021 mandate commitment to “continue to bring newcomers to Canada to drive economic growth and recovery, as set out in the 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan.”
Levels planning: By setting targets and planning ranges for each of the immigration categories, the Government of Canada establishes priorities among economic, social, and refugee objectives. Levels planning then enables the Department and its partners to allocate processing, security, and settlement resources accordingly.
Multi-year planning: In fall 2017, Canada introduced its first multi-year (3 years) immigration levels plan in over a decade. Prior to the 2018-2020 Immigration Levels Plan, the most recent multi-year plan was in 2001-2002. Three- and five-year plans were introduced in the 1980s and 1990s.
A multi-year approach provides the means to set out a longer-term vision for immigration. It supports better planning by securing approvals and investments earlier, providing time for the Department and partners to increase capacity and to prepare to manage higher volumes of applications.
The levels plan is a statement of public policy and is a key tool to communicate the Government’s immigration priorities to partners (including provinces and territories), stakeholders, and the public.
Canada is recognized internationally (e.g., Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) for its approach to managed migration, including specifically its use of immigration levels plans for setting transparent priorities and targets. Canada is among very few countries, like Australia and New Zealand, which have also adopted this approach.
Quebec: Under the Canada-Quebec Accord, Quebec has full responsibility for the selection of immigrants destined to the province (except Family Class and in-Canada refugee claimants). The Accord commits the federal government to take into consideration Quebec’s desired levels in all categories. Quebec’s immigration levels plan is established annually and incorporated in the federal levels plan.
Processing times: Processing times for applications for permanent residence can be affected by a number of factors including available levels space as well as processing capacity within IRCC and its partners. Currently, processing times have been affected by a focus on in-Canada clients as well as more straight-forward applications which leaves more complex inventory in some lines of business.

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