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Canada wants international students to stay in the country after graduation. That鈥檚 been the unified message from multiple governments over the past two decades. It鈥檚 reflected in Canada鈥檚 generous Post-Graduate Work Permit Program (PGWPP), which allows international graduates to work for up to three years in Canada after graduation. And it fuelled last year鈥檚 accelerated pathway to permanent residence for 40,000 international graduates.

Today, we鈥檙e unveiling data that hammers home Canada鈥檚 commitment to international students. According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, former study permit holders are more likely to be approved for permanent residency (PR) in Canada than PR applicants that have never held a study permit.

Disclaimer: PR applicants must receive an Invite to Apply (ITA) from the Canadian government. To receive an ITA, potential applicants must meet the Comprehensive Ranking System score of the periodic draw. The data discussed in this article refers only to applicants who received an ITA.

This is outstanding news with so many international students targeting PR and Canadian citizenship as their long-term goals. Let鈥檚 dive into the data.

Canadian PR Approval Rates for International Graduates Sky-High

Canadian PR applicants have a high probability of approval across the board. Nevertheless, the approval rate for former study permit holders is notably higher than the approval rate for applicants who haven鈥檛 previously held a study permit.

From January to October 2021, 97.5% of international graduates who applied for permanent residency were successful.¹ For all other applicants, that rate was 91.5%. In other words, international graduates were six percentage points more likely to be approved for PR.

International graduates have consistently been approved at a higher rate than other applicants, as the chart below shows:

In fact, the difference in approval rates grew steadily from 2017 to 2020. This difference hit a high of 11 percentage points in 2020 as approval rates for applicants with no previous study permit fell to 85.3%.

The 97.5% approval rate for international graduates from January to October 2021 was higher than the full-year rate in each of the previous five years.

International Graduate Approvals for Canadian PR Skyrocket in 2021

Canada has also made an effort to approve more international graduates for PR. The following chart shows how PR approval numbers have shifted over the past six years:

From January to October 2021, nearly 130,000 former study permit holders were approved for PR. This is a truly remarkable number鈥攎ore than twice the high previously set in 2019. In fact, more than one in three PR recipients between January and October 2021 was an international graduate.

While 40,000 of those international graduates were part of a limited-time pathway, the popularity of that pathway鈥攖he English stream reached capacity in one day鈥攂odes well for its return. And it鈥檚 worth noting that nearly 90,000 international graduates were approved for PR through other pathways.

Canada Raises PR Targets for 2022 to 2024

Last year, Canada welcomed more than 405,000 new permanent residents. This exceeded its target and set a single-year immigration record for the country.

In a , Canada鈥檚 Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser, raised his government鈥檚 immigration target for 2022 from 411,000 to 431,645. It鈥檚 an aggressive number that underscores the country鈥檚 commitment to welcoming newcomers. As the Canadian government notes, despite the country鈥檚 strong recovery from the pandemic, there are hundreds of thousands of jobs in all sectors waiting to be filled. Five million Canadians are set to retire by the end of the decade, while the worker-to-retiree ratio is expected to drop to 3:1.

We examined the state of the Canadian labour market, including an acute need for health care and skilled trades workers, in a previous article.

These raised PR targets mean more opportunities for former study permit holders to obtain PR over the next three years. The chart below breaks down the new targets by year and immigration category:

Of particular note is that more than 57% of the targets are economic immigrants. The majority of international graduates fall under this category. Many economic immigrants obtain permanent residency through the on the basis of work experience gained through the PGWPP. Others qualify under the .

Key Takeaways

Former study permit holders are approved for permanent residence at an extremely high rate. They鈥檙e more likely to be approved than other applicants. And they鈥檙e being approved in greater and greater numbers, part of the Canadian government鈥檚 efforts to rapidly scale up immigration and shore up an aging workforce. Canada needs immigrants, and international students fit that need.

Here are our recommendations for students, schools, recruitment partners, and international graduates looking to leverage this exciting new data.

• Students: Keep this situation top of mind when choosing a study abroad destination. If immigration is your long-term plan, Canada could be a perfect fit.
• Schools: Be intimately aware of Canada鈥檚 favourable immigration situation and highlight it in marketing materials鈥攊ncluding precise figures if possible.
• Recruitment partners: Incorporate these numbers into recruitment strategies when recommending Canada to students.
• International graduates in Canada: Keep an eye out for another announcement that the Canadian government is opening up new pathways to permanent residency鈥攁nd act quickly if it does. You don鈥檛 want to miss out!

Published: February 24, 2022

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FOOTNOTES:

1. All statistics courtesy of . More recent data not yet available.