a) Ontario Immigration

As Canada’s most populous province, Ontario is its biggest recipient of federal immigrants.

Statistics to November show Ontario settled 175,760 new immigrants in the first 11 months of 2022, more than 42 percent of the overall total.

Only a fraction of those newcomers – 18,120 – came through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program.

Those newcomers were included in Ontario’s economic total of nearly 90,000 newcomers, with 50,000 of those coming through federal skilled programs. It also welcomed a further 21,000 newcomers via the TR to PR Pathway, a one-off federal government pathway launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ontario also settled 43,800 through the family class and 37,000 refugees.

The province continued regular draws through the OINP throughout the year, with both Express Entry-linked and provincial Expression of Interest invitations issued.

It also launched a new Entrepreneur Success Initiative, designed to welcome 100 newcomers outside the Toronto area and draw investment of $20 million.

b) British Columbia Immigration

The next most prolific province in terms of number of 2022 newcomers was British Columbia.

Canada’s westernmost province welcomed more than 58,500 new permanent residents to November last year, putting it just behind Quebec.

Those numbers included 35,670 in the economic class, divided into 13,600 federal skilled worker newcomers, 12,700 through the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program and 8,800 under the TR to PR Pathway.

It also welcomed 15,400 in the family class and 6,700 refugees.

The BC PNP continue to be the most prolific PNP in terms of draws, including its success and accessible BC PNP Tech category for expediting the arrival of technology workers.

c) Alberta Immigration 

Alberta’s provincial nominee programs underwent come significant changes in 2022, including its naming, becoming the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program.

That February update also saw the province launch two new Canada immigration streams, the Rural Renewal Stream and the Rural Entrepreneur Stream.

The province also renamed three of its existing streams:

• The International Graduate Entrepreneur Immigration Stream became the Graduate Entrepreneur Stream.
• The Foreign Graduate Start-Up Visa Stream became the Foreign Graduate Entrepreneur Stream.
• The Self-Employed Farmer Stream became the Farm Stream.

Meanwhile, the province welcome 47,000 newcomers during the first 11 months of the year, including an economic total of 21,000.

These included 7,000 federal skilled workers, 11,000 through the AAIP and 2,900 via the TR to PR Pathway.

A further 13,100 came through the family class and 12,100 as refugees.

Draws through the AAIP stalled from July until December, with the province reaching its nomination allocation of 6,500.

d) Saskatchewan Immigration

In the 11 months to November, Saskatchewan welcomed 20,500 new immigrants to November, less than a hundred more than its neighbour Manitoba.

Those included 16,600 in the economic category, dominated by the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program, which accounted for 15,140 of those newcomers. The province welcomed just 695 federal skilled worker newcomers and 760 through the TR to PR Pathway.

Saskatchewan also brought in just 2,000 in the family class and 1,870 refugees.

The SINP conducted regular draws throughout the year, issuing both Express Entry-linked and direct provincial invitations which target lists of National Occupational Classification codes.

Saskatchewan still covets more control over its immigration intake, regularly calling for Ottawa to grant it more powers.

e) Manitoba Immigration

Sat just behind Saskatchewan on immigration numbers and right next to its neighbour on the map, Manitoba welcomed 20,420 newcomers between January and November 2022.

In a similar breakdown to Saskatchewan, those included 15,800 economic, with just under 1,000 federal skilled workers and 13,100 through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program. A further 1,600 came through the TR to PR Pathway.

The province welcomed 2,560 newcomers through family class programs and 1,880 refugees.

Given the high percentage of provincial immigrants in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan, it could be argued that the Prairie provinces have the most control over what newcomers they bring in.

The MPNP is the oldest provincial program and conducts regular draws aimed at skilled workers in Manitoba and overseas, and international graduates.

f) Nova Scotia Immigration

Nova Scotia leads the Atlantic provinces in terms of immigration numbers, settling just under 12,000 newcomers in the first 11 months of 2022.

Of those, 9,800 were in the economic class and 3,000 of those through federal programs.

Unique to the provinces in the region is the joint federal-provincial Atlantic Immigration Program, which accounted for 2,345 of those 3,000 immigrants. The employer-led program has gone from strength to strength after started as a pilot.

Nova Scotia also welcomed 5,400 newcomers through the Nova Scotia Nominee Program and 1,350 under the TR to PR Pathway.

It welcome 890 family class immigrants and 1,260 refugees.

It was not a busy year for the NSNP, which conducted few draws through its many streams targeting a range of skilled workers, international graduates and entrepreneurs.

g) New Brunswick Immigration

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia’s neighbour in Atlantic Canada, welcomed 9,570 newcomers in the first 11 months of 2022.

Those included nearly 7,900 newcomers in the economic class, of which nearly 1,950 came through federal programs. The Atlantic Immigration Pilot accounted for nearly 1,400 of these.

The province’s biggest economic total was the nearly 5,000 newcomers who came through the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program, while it also welcomed 975 TR to PR Pathway candidates.

New Brunswick move to suspend the Express Entry stream of the NBPNP in June 2022 due to a flood of interest (with federal draws still paused at this point).

Later in the year, it opted to prioritize 12 NOC codes, plus applications from francophones and international graduates through the program.

The targeted codes were:

Technology Occupations

1. 2147: Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)
2. 2172: Database analysts and data administrators
3. 2173: Software engineers and designers
4. 2174: Computer programmers and interactive media developers
5. 2175: Web designers and developers
6. 2281: Computer network technicians
7. 2282: User support technicians
8. 2283: Information systems testing technicians

Health-Related Occupations

1. 3012: Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
2. 3233: Licensed practical nurses
3. 3413: Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
4. 4412: Home support workers, housekeepers and related occupations

h) Newfoundland & Labrador Immigration

Newfoundland & Labrador is arguably the Canadian province that has the most difficulty attracting immigrants.

It welcomed 3,200 newcomers in the first 11 months of 2022, of which 2,210 were through economic streams.

Its 775 federal newcomers were dominated by 650 Atlantic Immigration Program candidates.

The province also welcomed 1,200 PNP immigrants, 235 TR to PR candidates, 185 in the family class and 800 refugees.

i) Prince Edward Island Immigration

At 2,575 newcomers, Prince Edward Island welcomed the fewest number of immigrants of any Canadian province in 2022.

Almost all of them – 2,330- were through the economic stream, including 1,630 PEI PNP candidates.

Of PEI’s 455 federal economic immigrants, 330 came through the Atlantic Immigration Program.

The province welcomed 150 family class immigrants and 90 refugees.

Despite the low numbers, PEI conducted monthly PNP draws throughout 2022, targeting skilled worker and entrepreneur candidates.