Canada Admits New Immigrants...from Within Their Borders

Canada is inviting large numbers of permanent residents, but most of them are within their borders already.

Canada has invited 266 express entry candidates with a minimum score of 753 to apply for permanent residency. This minimum score requirement is comparatively high compared to the average in the Express Entry program, or Canadian Experience Class-only draw, but that is because invited candidates needed to have previously received a nomination from a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and PNP candidates automatically get 600 points just for receiving the provincial nomination.

With the pandemic continuing, it remains to be seen whether many invitations will be issued to individuals outside Canada this year. The Trudeau government had originally aimed to increase Canada’s declining population of roughly 38 million by 1% per year to sustain economic stability in the country. The pandemic has slammed the breaks on the immigration program however. The government is still aiming to meet an ambitious target of welcoming 400,000+ immigrants this year, after only 183,000 came to Canadian shores last year. Canada has also seen the largest exodus of permanent residents and temporary residents leaving Canada for some time since the pandemic began.

One can only hope that with the vaccine rollouts, things will begin to improve soon!