By Adiba Hasan

The latest operational data from IRCC are now available in the ICC Immigration Dashboard, showing that permanent residence (PR) admissions have reached 63% of Canada’s 2024 target. During the same period in 2023 (January to July), PR admissions had already reached 65%, signalling a slightly slower admission rate in 2024.

In July 2024, 47,770 PRs were admitted, marking a 6.9% increase month-over-month, and a 17% increase year-over-year. In 2024, July had the highest number of PR admissions. Despite reaching this peak in July, overall PR admissions from January to July 2024 have seen a slight decrease of 0.16% (or 485 fewer admissions) compared to the same period in 2023.

Changing Dynamics Across Source Countries

The following chart compares Permanent Resident (PR) admissions from January to July 2024 with the same period in 2023, focusing on source countries with significant percentage increases.

There was a sharp rise in PR admissions from Ukraine, with a staggering 114.7% increase, likely due to the ongoing geopolitical conflict driving more individuals to seek permanent residence in Canada.

Countries with a large francophone population, such as Cameroon (+100.55%), Algeria (+63.79%), and Morocco (+23.88%), have shown increases in Permanent Resident (PR) admissions between January and July 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. This corresponds to the goal of increasing the Francophone community to support French-speaking communities across the country.

In addition to the notable upticks in PR admissions, it’s important to highlight the significant rise in admissions from the Philippines.

With a 23.14% increase, the Philippines remains one of Canada’s key source countries for new immigrants, seeing a growth from 16,765 in 2023 to 20,645 in 2024. 

PR Admissions by Source Country, % Increase

The ICC Immigration Dashboard data from January to July 2024 also reveal significant declines in permanent residence (PR) admissions from other source countries, when compared to the same period in 2023.

Source countries that saw significant declines are Iraq (-25.95%), Jamaica (-22.92%), and Brazil (-22.38%). The United States and the United Kingdom also saw substantial drops of 22.12% and 22.01%, respectively. Countries like Congo, DRC (-20.71%) and South Korea (-18.12%) also experienced double-digit decreases. Traditionally high-immigration source countries like China (-11.33%) and India (-9.65%) witnessed smaller but notable reductions, signalling the changing immigration dynamics, possibly linked to Canada’s evolving immigration policies.

This overall downward trend in PR admissions may reflect tighter immigration policies, global economic shifts, or other external factors affecting migration patterns.

PR Admissions by Source Country, % Decrease