Canada's Immigration Numbers Soar to New Heights in 2023

Canada is on track to welcome record numbers of new permanent residents in 2023.

According to the latest available data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), 145,330 new permanent residents were welcomed into the country during the first quarter (January-March) of this year.

This is a significant increase from the 113,800 immigrants welcomed during the same period in 2022.

This influx of new immigrants puts Canada on course to break its record for immigration by surpassing the IRCC's target for 2023, with an estimated 580,000+ newcomers expected by the end of this year.


This would be 25% more than the target and 16% more than even the highest level set out for 2025.

Ontario was far and away the most popular destination for new immigrants, welcoming 60,800 people over those three months alone.

Of these, 31,555 arrived through economic programs such as Agri-Food Pilot Program, Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Caregiver programs and Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program (RNIP). Family sponsorships contributed another 16,760 newcomers, while refugee programs received 9,205 permanent residents.



The province of Quebec is also set to receive many newcomers throughout 2023 - if current trends continue, they will have welcomed 64,180 new permanent residents by year's end.

However, this is at odds with their immigration target of just 50,000, so it will be interesting to see how Quebec responds should these numbers hold.

Canada's immigration levels are going strong despite slower processing due to an IRCC strike in April and May of this year, with another 485,000 expected in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025, according to official estimates by IRCC.

With current trends suggesting Canada may well exceed even those targets, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that migration remains a crucial part of our nation's future growth.

Source: Immigration news Canada