Canada immigration recovers gradually from the COVID-19 crisis

Showing signs of recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, Canada welcomed close to 11,000 new permanent residents (PR) in May 2020. Ever since COVID-19 related travel restrictions have been imposed by Canada, this is the first time such progress is seen in Canada immigration.

The closure of Canada’s international borders and Canada-US border has been a dampening factor in immigration Canada’s performance. But despite that, a 165% rise in PR admissions was recorded in May 2020, compared to April 2020. In April only 4,130 new permanent residents were admitted to Canada.

Besides being a greatly positive sign of recovery, the increase in PR admissions indicates the constant efforts of Canada’s immigration officials. They exhibited their capability to process virtual PR arrivals in larger numbers. In June 2020, the immigration officials could process 5,000 virtual arrivals in a week.

The new arrivals were either candidates already in Canada changing their status from a temporary one to a permanent one. They were otherwise those whose PR applications were approved before March 18, 2020. The latter were exempt from travel restrictions at the border that were imposed on March 18.

But Canada has much more to do to reach pre-COVID-19 levels. The numbers of PRs in the months of 2020 so far indicate this.

In February 2020, there were 28,895 immigration arrivals while in May 2019, 33,015 PRs arrived. In 2020, towards the end of May, there were a total of 84,275 new PR residents compared to 125,870 PRs in 2019 at the same time in 2019.

These statistics from Canada also shows that achieving the new PR target of 341,000 in 2020 looks unlikely.

But still, Canada is determined to keep its vigil up to prevent a second wave of COVID-19. Hence, the present restrictions will go on at least until the end of July 2020. The nation has closed its borders with the US till July 21, 2020, as of now. The chance of the date to extend is high though.

The current exemptions on people arriving in Canada are for:

• Applicants for PR visa who were approved before March 18, 2020, but have not yet traveled to Canada
• Foreign students with a study permit, or those approved for a study permit before March 18, 2020
• TFWs including seasonal agricultural workers, caregivers, and fish/seafood workers
• Immediate family members of permanent residents or citizens of Canada if they are arriving in Canada to stay with immediate relatives for at least 15 days.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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