Canadian immigration softened in February by 18.4 per cent compared to the previous month, driving down the number of new permanent residents to the country by 13.8 per cent for the year to date compared to the first two months of last year.

Although immigration to Canada was up 28 per cent in January compared to December last year, the overall trend so far this year has been towards less immigration.

In January this year, Canada welcomed 47,735 new permanent residents, less than the 50,945 for the comparable month in 2023, the latest data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reveals.

Then, in February this year, Canada welcomed 39,975 new permanent residents, down considerably from the 49,670 during the same month last year.

With two months of softer permanent immigration numbers than in 2023, Canada welcomed only 86,710 new permanent residents in the first two months of this year, or 13,905 less than the 100,615 in January and February of 2023.

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That’s a drop in year-to-date permanent immigration to Canada that’s bigger than the entire population of Portage La Prairie in Manitoba.

Projecting out from January and February’s level of immigration to the rest of the year would result in 520,260 new permanent residents to the country in 2024. That would still be 10.3 per cent more than last year’s record-setting level of 471,550 new permanent residents settling into the country.

The level of immigrants to Canada in January and February this year, if it were to hold throughout the rest of the year, would also result in 7.3 per cent more new permanent residents than the target of 485,000 new permanent residents as set out in Ottawa’s Immigration Levels Plan for 2023 – 2025.

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“Following the trajectory of the 2023 – 2025 plan, Canada aims to welcome 485,000 new permanent residents in 2024, 500,000 in 2025 and plateau at 500,000 in 2026,” notes the IRCC on its website.

“This plan prioritizes economic growth, and supports family reunification, while responding to humanitarian crises and recognizing the rapid growth in immigration in recent years.”

The latest immigration levels plan would see a total of 1.485 million immigrants come to Canada over those three years.

Ontario Remains The Destination Of Choice For Many Immigrants

Canada’s biggest province by population, Ontario, was the most popular destination for newcomers in January and February with 37,545 new permanent residents choosing to settle there during those two months.

That means the central Canadian province was the destination of choice for almost 43.3 per cent of all immigrants to Canada during January and February.

Economic programs, including the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), Agri-Food Immigration Pilot (AFIP), Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Caregiver programs, Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP), Federal Skilled Trades (FST) and Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) programs, the Start-Up Visa (SUV) and Self-Employed Persons (SEP) programs, and the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway accounted for 55.8 per cent of all new permanent residents coming to Ontario in January and February.

Those programs helped 20,935 new permanent residents arrive in Ontario during those two months.

Another 9,220 new permanent residents arrived in Ontario through family sponsorships and 6,440 came to that province through Canada’s refugee and protected persons programs in January and February.

The other provinces and territories attracted the following number of new permanent residents each during those two months.

• Newfoundland and Labrador – 995
• Prince Edward Island – 965
• Nova Scotia – 3,030
• New Brunswick – 3,040
• Quebec – 8,960
• Manitoba – 4,065
• Saskatchewan – 3,875
• Alberta – 10,680
• British Columbia – 13,055
• Yukon – 235
• Northwest Territories – 85
• Nunavut – 5

Across the country, Nova Scotia was the province that saw the biggest drop in monthly immigration  in February with the number of arrivals of new permanent residents falling by 30.5 per cent. Among the country’s three territories, the Northwest Territories saw a month immigration drop of 40 per cent in February compared to the previous month.

So far this year, Nunavut has welcomed only five new permanent residents.

In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick had narrowly edged out Nova Scotia for the greatest number of new permanent residents in the region as of the end of February.

Canada operates a two-tier immigration system which allows foreign nationals to gain their permanent residency through the federal Express Entry system’s FSW, FST, and CEC programs and as well as the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) of the 10 Canadian provinces.

Temporary immigration to Canada, which skyrocketed during the pandemic, is expected to come under an immigration levels plan in September, Immigration Minister Marc Miller has announced.