Today, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that Canada exceeded a record-breaking target for admissions of permanent residents in 2022.

In a Tweet, IRCC stated that Canada welcomed over 437,000 new immigrants last year. This is higher than the target they had set at 431,645 new immigrants and marks an all-time record for Canadian permanent residence admissions in one year. The previous record was set in 2021 when Canada landed over 405,000 new immigrants.

“Today marks an important milestone for Canada, setting a new record for newcomers welcomed in a single year.” said immigration minister Sean Fraser. “It is a testament to the strength and resilience of our country and its people. Newcomers play an essential role in filling labour shortages, bringing new perspectives and talents to our communities, and enriching our society as a whole. I am excited to see what the future holds and look forward to another historic year in 2023 as we continue to welcome newcomers.”

IRCC processed 5.2 million applications across all lines of business in 2022. This includes applications for permanent residence, temporary residence and citizenship and is double the number of applications processed in 2021.

IRCC credits new resources, new technology, streamlined processing, and bringing more processes online for the increase in applications processed, as well as the high number of admissions. The government also committed $50 million to IRCC for 2022-2023 in the Fall Economic Statement to address the ongoing backlog of applications, which stands at 1.09 million applications across all lines of business as of November 30, 2022.