On March 8, 2016, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) John McCallum tabled the 2015 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration. It states that in 2016 Canada will welcome between 280,000 and 305,000 immigrants, with a target of 300,000. While this target, if fulfilled, would be Canada’s highest annual immigration number in more than a century, not all immigration categories are being increased.

For starters, 2016 will be a good year for the spouses and common-law partners of Canadians. It also suggests that it will be a frustrating one for economic migrants, especially international graduates seeking to transition to permanent residency.

Before proceeding, it is important to note that the 2015 report released a detailed breakdown of immigration statistics to Canada in 2014, but not for 2015. As such, as of writing it is only possible to compare what the Liberal government is planning in 2016 with what the previous Conservative government achieved in 2014, and what it planned in 2015.
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