New census data released by Statistics Canada shows 23 percent of the population are immigrants and out of the Asian countries, most of the immigrants are from India. This also means that the percentage of permanent residents and immigrants in Canada is the highest compared to other G7 countries.
The 2021 census data shows that 23 percent or 8.3 million people of the population of Canada are immigrants or have permanent residence between 2016 and 2021. This is the highest percentage of immigrants ever in the history of Canada. The previous record is from 1921 when immigrants accounted for 22.3 percent of the population. This is not only the highest numbers for Canada, but for any G7 country.
The data shows that Asian-born immigrants accounted for a record 62 percent in 2021. And out of this, the majority of immigrants are from India coming in at 18.6 percent. “The last time that such a high proportion of immigrants came from a single place of birth was during the 1971 census, when 20.9 percent of all recent immigrants came from the United Kingdom,” Statistics Canada added. After India, the next-largest group was from the Philippines (11.4 percent) and then China (8.9 percent).
Of the new immigrants stating English as their mother tongue, 20.5 percent came from India as well. 12.5 percent came from the Philippines, 10.2 percent were from Nigeria, and 10.3 percent came from the United States.
The increase in immigration is also a result of refugees being admitted to Canada. According to the census, 218,430 new refugees were admitted to Canada as permanent residents between 2016 and 2021 out of which more than one-quarter came from Syria (61,000).
It was noted that 90 percent of the immigrants chose to settle in more populous cities like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. 29.5 percent chose to settle in Toronto, 12.2 percent in Montreal, and 11.7 percent in Vancouver. For comparison, in 2016, 56 percent of immigrants settled in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, but by 2021, the number went down to 53.4 percent.
Statistics Canada also said that if these immigration rates continue, 29.1 percent to 34 percent of the population of Canada by 2041 could be solely immigrants.
Vineet Washington