Studying or working in Canada prior to applying for permanent residence proved to be an even greater asset for those hoping to immigrate here last year. 

The number of new permanent residents to the country with that experience almost quadrupled in 2021 compared to the previous year.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data reveals 22,670 new permanent residents came to Canada last year after having previously been international students in the country. 

That’s almost three times the 7,750 new permanent residents who had previously held study permits in 2020 and almost double the 11,565 who had come to Canada after having held study permits in 2019, the last full year before the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Work experience gained through the International Mobility Program (IMP) and other streams of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) also proved to be invaluable to help foreign nationals immigrate to Canada last year.

The number of new permanent residents with previous IMP experience more than quadrupled last year, to 157,685, from 39,935 in 2020 and was almost 175 per cent higher than the 57,365 new permanent residents in 2019.

New Permanent Residents With Tfw Experience More Than Tripled Last Year

Similarly, the number of new permanent residents with experience as temporary foreign workers through the TFWP more than tripled to 10,970 last year from the 3,295 in 2020 and was almost twice as high as the 5,655 new permanent residents Canada welcomed with that experience in 2019.

Although there can be some overlap between these programs with, for example, a temporary foreign worker later deciding to come to Canada as an international student prior to seeking his or her permanent residency, adding up the yearly totals for the IRCC’s data for each of these programs demonstrates the undeniable and growing importance of these experiences for any foreign national looking to immigrate to Canada.

The total of the three datasets for 2021 shows 191,325 new permanent residents who came to Canada after having held a study permit or working in the country as temporary residents through the IMP or TFWP.

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That’s almost four times as many as the 50,980 new permanent residents to Canada with similar experience in 2020 and more than 2.5 times as many as the 74,585 new permanent residents to Canada with that kind of experience in 2019.

There’s little doubt Ottawa’s one-time, temporary to permanent resident pathway undertaken last year was responsible for much of the increase in new permanent residents to the country last year who had previously held a study permit or worked as a temporary resident. 

But other moves that were taken by the IRCC during the height of the pandemic also undoubtedly contributed to the uptick in new permanent residents with a previous international student or temporary worker experience in Canada.

In June last year, for example, Canadian immigration officials conducted an Express Entry draw targeting Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates, issuing 6,000 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to those with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of only 357 points.

In April last year, Canada also decided to finalize permanent residence applications for up to 6,000 caregivers who had completed their in-Canada work experience and their immediate family members.