Where are immigrants to Canada coming from

By Kaitlyn Smith
New Canadian Media

The latest data from Statistics Canada shows the largest number of immigrants are arriving from India, the Philippines (11.4 percent), China (8.9 percent) and Syria (4.8 percent) – in that order.

Newcomers from Asia make up 62 percent of immigrants in the census data collected from 2021. India leads the majority of new arrivals, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the population migrating to Canada.

450 ethnic or cultural origins were reported by Canadians last year, revealing immigrants and non-permanent residents account for a quarter of Canada’s population.

According to the second quarter population estimates from July 1 this year, Canada’s population increased by over 200, 000, with international immigration accounting for 94.5 percent of this growth. By the end of the summer of 2022, 269,305 people had migrated to Canada.

“This was due to high numbers of asylum claimants and permit holders (work, study, and other), including people affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Statistics Canada said in their report.

The July estimates marked the highest growth in population within an annual quarter Canada has seen since the Baby Boomers at the tail-end of the 1950s.

In the last five years, 33 percent of immigrants reported being part of a racialized group, and now account for a quarter of the racialized population in Canada, a Statistics Canada spokesperson said.

Racialized groups make up less than 30 percent of Canada, with South Asians accounting for the nation’s largest racialized population at 7.1 percent, followed by Chinese (4.7 percent) and Black (4.3 percent) communities surveyed.

Almost half of newcomers migrating to Canada are between the ages of 25 and 44. 53.9 percent were selected for their economic contributions, with the number of female immigrant applicants still five points lower than their male counterparts. Refugees account for 15.2 percent of the population.

In August, Statistics Canada reported 4.6 million people in Canada spoke a language that wasn’t English or French, making up 12.7 percent of the population.

Non-official languages spoken most often per province included Tagalog, Punjabi, Mandarin and Cantonese, and Arabic.

The portrait report is the latest and second-last themed release of the 2021 Census Population Profile, which was last updated on Sept. 21, 2022 – the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation or Orange Shirt Day.

While 53 percent of the population remains Christian, Muslim religious beliefs reached 4.9 percent, while Sikh and Hindu believers account for just over two percent respectively of religions surveyed. 34.6 percent do not observe a religious belief.

The demographics recorded in these religions continue to show a male majority of believers, with the exception of female-majority respondents found practicing Christianity, Buddhism, and (North American) Indigenous spiritualities.

15 percent of the population identifies their ethnic origin as “Canadian.” The largest ethnocultural community outside of the British Isles in Canada included “Chinese” at 4.7 percent and “Ukrainian” at approximately 3.4 percent of those surveyed.

In 2016, the Statistics Canada ethnic and cultural origin portrait recorded 32.5 percent of Canadians identifying with at least one origin from the British Isles. That number seems to have increased with the latest data estimating 49 percent of Canadians reporting ethnic origins from English, Scottish, Irish and French descent.

56.3 percent of the population is a third-generation Canadian – both parents born in Canada – with still a quarter of the population born outside of the country.

About 5 percent of the population identifies as Indigenous in Canada. 3.4 identify as mixed-race with an Indigenous and non-Indigenous ancestry.

You can watch Canada’s population change in real time through Statistics Canada’s online model. It counts changes in populations and lists demographic events like births and deaths in real-time.

The clock estimates a new immigrant or newcomer to Canada approximately every minute, a non-permanent resident every three and a half minutes, and at least one emigrant – leaving the country – every eight minutes.

Statistics Canada will be hosting a webinar on these latest statistics on Nov. 2, with specialists to answer questions and go over key findings.

“Immigration will continue to be the topic of research for us,” a Statistics Canada Canada spokesperson told NCM over the phone. At the end of November, the last round of 2021 census data will be released on changing labour markets, including topics on immigrant skills and perspectives.

Highlights from the Stats Can refugee analysis

• According to the 2021 Census, there were 218,430 new refugees admitted as permanent residents from 2016 to 2021

•  from 1980 to 1990, most refugees came from Viet Nam, Poland and El Salvador.

• From 1991 to 2000, Sri Lanka, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iran accounted for the largest share of refugees admitted to Canada.

• From 2001 to 2010, Colombia, Afghanistan and Iraq were the main countries of birth of refugees who settled in Canada during that period.

• Iraq (15,505), Eritrea (13,965), Afghanistan (9,490) and Pakistan (7,810) were the other most common countries of birth for new refugees from 2016 to 2021.

• Close to 85,000 immigrants were recognized as protected persons in Canada and became permanent residents from 2016 to 2021 following an asylum claim in Canada for themselves or their family members.