Canada met its immigration levels plan within 5% in 10 years of 11
- 2015: plan 260kfact 272k
- 2016: plan 300kfact 296k
- 2017: plan 300kfact 287k
- 2018: plan 310kfact 321k
- 2019: plan 331kfact 341k
- 2020: plan 341kfact 185k
- 2021: plan 401kfact 406k
- 2022: plan 432kfact 438k
- 2023: plan 465kfact 472k
- 2024: plan 485kfact 484k
- 2025: plan 395kfact 394k
Came true: the fact within 5% of the plan
The plan grew from 260k in 2015 to 485k in 2024 and was cut to 395k for 2025. The fact followed it, diverging only in 2020: 185k against a plan of 341k.
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Each autumn the Canadian government announces how many people will get permanent residence the next year. Here is the plan beside the fact for 11 years.
A row is one promise: who, what and by when. The question is whether at least half came true. Answer Yes or No, or just open the answer: each row gets its outcome and what actually came of it, the card a stamp counting those that came true. Quotes and links to the facts are below.
- 2015 — Government of Canada (IRCC), Immigration Minister Chris Alexander new permanent residents a year
plan 260,000; fact 271,840
IRCC, Notice – Supplementary Information, Immigration Levels Plan
- 2016 — Government of Canada (IRCC), Immigration Minister John McCallum new permanent residents a year
plan 300,000; fact 296,375
IRCC, Notice – Supplementary Information, Immigration Levels Plan
- 2017 — Government of Canada (IRCC), Immigration Minister John McCallum new permanent residents a year
plan 300,000; fact 286,540
IRCC, Notice – Supplementary Information, Immigration Levels Plan
- 2018 — Government of Canada (IRCC), Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen new permanent residents a year
plan 310,000; fact 321,055
IRCC, Notice – Supplementary Information, Immigration Levels Plan
- 2019 — Government of Canada (IRCC), Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen new permanent residents a year
plan 330,800; fact 341,175
IRCC, Notice – Supplementary Information, Immigration Levels Plan
- 2020 — Government of Canada (IRCC), Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino new permanent residents a year
plan 341,000; fact 184,605
IRCC, Notice – Supplementary Information, Immigration Levels Plan
- 2021 — Government of Canada (IRCC), Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino new permanent residents a year
plan 401,000; fact 406,055
IRCC, Notice – Supplementary Information, Immigration Levels Plan
- 2022 — Government of Canada (IRCC), Immigration Minister Sean Fraser new permanent residents a year
plan 431,645; fact 437,635
IRCC, Notice – Supplementary Information, Immigration Levels Plan
- 2023 — Government of Canada (IRCC), Immigration Minister Sean Fraser new permanent residents a year
plan 465,000; fact 471,820
IRCC, Notice – Supplementary Information, Immigration Levels Plan
- 2024 — Government of Canada (IRCC), Immigration Minister Marc Miller new permanent residents a year
plan 485,000; fact 483,655
IRCC, Notice – Supplementary Information, Immigration Levels Plan
- 2025 — Government of Canada (IRCC), Immigration Minister Marc Miller new permanent residents a year
plan 395,000; fact 393,780
IRCC, Notice – Supplementary Information, Immigration Levels Plan
Plan: the supplementary reports to Parliament on the immigration levels plan (canada.ca). Fact: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), open data on permanent residents (open.canada.ca). Outcome: «came true» — the promised number reached by the deadline («about» within 5%), an event happened before the end of the year promised; «exceeded» — with room to spare; «nearly» — short by no more than 10%; «late» — reached, but after the deadline; «did not come true» — not reached; «came true, then undone» — reached, then reversed. The deadline is the end of the year named.
In 2020 the borders were closed by the pandemic. Many new permanent residents already live in Canada, so the state controls this number directly. The cut for 2025 was the government’s 2024 decision.
A question for this picture
Why do some migration plans match the fact year after year while others do not?