IMMIGRATION RECORD
Last year, Canada saw the highest level of immigration in more than 50 years, according to a recent announcement from Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism and Parliamentary Secretary Dr. Alice Wong.
Minister Kenney stated that even though the recession made other Western countries cut down on their number of immigrants, Canadian government kept immigration levels high. "In 2010, we welcomed the highest number of permanent residents in the past 50 years to support Canada’s economic recovery while taking action to maintain the integrity of Canada's immigration system with the introduction of the Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act.", he added.
Preliminary data shows that in 2010, Canada admitted 280,636 permanent residents, mostly skilled economic immigrants. In comparison with the government’s planned range of 240,000 to 265,000 new permanent residents for 2010, exceeding the planned number of immigrants by about six percent. It is also 60,000 higher than the average annual intake of permanent residents admitted by the Government of Canada in the 1990s.
The record number of economic immigrants last year has had a positive impact on Canada's economy, and has been helped along by decreased application backlogs in the federal skilled worker category, reduced wait times under the Action Plan for Faster Immigration, and filled gaps in the work force.
During 2010, Canada admitted 182,322 temporary workers and 96,147 foreign students. Canada also welcomed 7,265 government-assisted refugees and 4,833 privately sponsored refugees.
