Canada's spouse-sponsored immigration will grow by more than 8.2% through 2022

Canada Immigration News: The number of people immigrating to Canada through spouse sponsorship is expected to hit an all-time high this year, with a target increase of 8.2% from 2021.

Data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shows that 34,870 new permanent residents came to Canada through spouse sponsorship in the first half of this year. Depending on trends, this could be 69,740 new permanent residents through these programs in 2022.

This is 4,965 migrants, or roughly 7.7% more than the 64,775 migrants who arrived through the program in the year that broke the record before 2019.

Additionally, 5,305 new permanent residents outnumber the 64,435 immigrants who came to Canada under the program last year.

Couples support programs for those hoping to reunite loved ones in Canada have grown in popularity since 2015, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of new permanent residents in Canada under the spousal support program rose by a staggering 22.7 percent, from 46,350 in 2015 to 56,885 the following year.

Then, in 2017, total immigration to Canada decreased slightly, from 296,370 to 286,540 new permanent residents, down just over 3.3%.

Despite this decrease in overall immigration, spousal sponsorship programs continued to grow and the number of immigrants to Canada under these programs increased by 2.2% in 2017, to 58,135 new residents.

The following year, 2018, overall immigration resumed and spousal support increased by 8.2 percent to 62,885 new permanent residents.

In 2019, total immigration increased to 341,175 new permanent residents in the country, and spousal support increased again by 3 percent to 64,775.