Canada welcomed 471,550 new permanent residents in 2023

Recent data from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shows that Canada exceeded its target for the number of permanent residents it planned to welcome in 2023.

According to the most recently available IRCC backlog data, the department welcomed 471,550 new permanent residents in 2023. This is an increase of 33,950 over 2022’s 437,600.

The number exceeds the target for 2023 in the Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025, which planned to welcome 465,000 permanent residents. The department considered candidates from Express Entry programs, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and their spouses, partners and children.

RCC also posted the figures for the number of temporary residence applications it finalized. Note that these numbers represent the number of final decisions made on candidate applications and some among them are rejections.