Why is Canada set to welcome record number of Indians in 2022?

This year, Canada is expected to welcome a record number of permanent immigrants from India.

The ban on direct flights from India, which has been in place for more than five months, does not appear
to have dimmed the excitement of Indians eager to immigrate to Canada, with new figures indicating that
Indian immigration is poised to break a new high this year.

Last year, the Covid-19 outbreak caused a sharp drop in Indians obtaining permanent resident (PR) status
in Canada, but that figure has risen dramatically in 2021, with 69,014 Indian nationals becoming
permanent residents by the end of August.

In comparison, the total number of people in 2020 was 37,125. In addition, the trend for 2021 suggests
that the year’s intake numbers will be greater than the previous all-time high of 84,114, established in
2019.

One of the reasons is that the government has been pushing for a pathway to permanent residence for
individuals already in Canada since May of this year, when Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Canada (IRCC) introduced three streams to facilitate the process. IRCC said it would accept 20,000
applications for temporary employees in the healthcare sector, 30,000 applications for temporary workers
in other important industries, and 40,000 applications for overseas students who have graduated from a
Canadian university as part of that process.

The figures for 2021 support the recent pattern of increasing Indian immigration to Canada. In 2019,
Indian immigrants accounted for one-fourth of all permanent residences granted, a new high at the time.
Since 2017, when it surpassed China as the leading supplier of permanent residents, India has been the
largest source country for permanent residents, although the numbers have risen in recent years, with a 20
percent increase between 2018 and 2019.

Part of the reason for the ongoing surge, according to Toronto-based lawyer Ravi Jain, founder of the
Canadian Immigration Lawyers’ Association, is the impact of restrictions in the United States under
former President Donald Trump’s administration, as well as other magnet countries like Australia closing
their borders for an extended period during the pandemic.

“For a lot of families, Canada is just perceived as a really hospitable country,” he said.
Canada has likewise set more ambitious immigration goals for 2020. The 2021-2023 Immigration Levels
Plan, revealed at the time, was designed to make up for the predicted shortfall in 2020 as a result of the
Covid-19 pandemic’s travel and other limitations.

The prior plan set PR targets of 351,000 for 2021 and 361,000 for 2022, but these have since been raised
to 401,000 and 411,000, respectively. The projection for 2023 is much greater, at 421,000 people. The
economic class, which has been dominated by Indians in recent years, will account for 60% of the
admissions.