Every fall, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism gives an annual report on immigration to the Canadian Parliament, detailing the state of immigration to Canada over the past year as well as the immigration plan for the coming year. In this year’s report, Minister Jason Kenney announced that Canada expects to maintain the number of permanent residents it welcomes in 2010, but highlighted that a greater proportion of Economic immigrants to Canada will be nominated or selected by the provinces and territories than before.

Kenney prefaced his report by pointing out that Canadians can be proud of Canada’s tradition of openness to newcomers around the world.

“We have maintained the highest relative level of immigration of any major western country, attracting nearly a quarter of a million permanent residents in 2008,” he said.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC) stated goal was to welcome between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents each year in both 2008 and 2009. Kenney’s report indicates that that target will be maintained for 2010 as well.

One dramatic difference between the immigration plans for 2009 and those for 2010, however, is the number and proportion of newcomers that are expected to immigrate under a Provincial Nomination or Selection Program.

In his 2008 report to parliament, Kenney had announced that an expected 20,000 to 26,000 Provincial Nominees would be arriving in Canada in 2009. One year on, the expected number of immigrants in those categories has increased to 37,000 to 40,000. This reflects the increasing responsibility provinces are taking on with regard to selecting their own immigrants.

The province of Quebec, which selects all its own immigrants under an agreement with the federal government, is also expected to welcome a greater proportion of the Economic immigrants Canada is expecting in 2010—a ten per cent increase over 2009.

Given that the provinces are progressively playing a larger role in their immigration programs, it is important for candidates to consider all the Canadian immigration options available to them.

Do you qualify for Canadian immigration under any of the Provincial immigration categories? Our new assessment form allows us to assess your eligibility across the more than 60 different Canadian immigration programs that are currently in place. Find out which option is right for you.