Canada Continues To Keep The Border Closed Despite High Immigration Targets For Next Year

Prospective immigrants all around the world will tell you how frustrating the pandemic has been in its long duration. Canadian immigrants are specially suffering because they are being kept from entering the country that is known to promise warmth and friendliness at every step to new immigrants.

Canada was forced to close the border back in March in order to contain the spread of the virus. Since then, the country has managed to bounce back and reduce the infection rate, but most major immigrant source countries are still in the throes of the pandemic. In this situation, Canada is considering it wiser to keep the borders closed and restrict entry instead of taking a risk and having the virus go out of control yet again.

Extension of border closure

The travel restrictions imposed by Canada have been renewed monthly since June. The initial border closure spanned between March 18 and June 30. Canada announced the fifth extension on October 30, which is the same day as they made the Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023 public.

It is striking to note that Canada has set record-breaking immigration targets for the next three years. The country plans to admit more than 401,000 permanent residents each year from 2021 to 2023. It will be interesting to see how Canada’s approach changes as soon as 2021 rolls in.

For now, all the previous travel restrictions still apply. This means that the existing exceptions are also valid. You can check IRCC’s website for information regarding which groups are exempt and find out if you belong to one of them. The border will be unquestionably closed for anyone who wants to enter the country for non-essential purposes.