“Portrait of Immigration to Canada” report

The report titled “Portrait of Immigration to Canada” was released recently by Statistics Canada.

Key findings

• The Statistics Canada recently released the 2021 census, which includes the latest statistical portrait of immigration and ethno-cultural diversity in the country.
• This is the largest update of Canada’s immigrant population since the release of Census 2016 in October 2017.
• According to the report “Portrait of Immigration to Canada”, about 23 per cent of the population in the country is or has been landed immigrant or permanent resident.
• This is the largest share of immigrants since the country was founded in 1867.
• As of 2021, the country hosted 8.3 million immigrants.
• This figure is expected to surge by 34 per cent in 2041.
• The growth of immigrant population is attributed to the increasing targets of the Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan.
• Currently, Canada is looking to welcome 432,000 new immigrants by the end of 2022 and over 450,000 by the end of 2024.
• The government is increasing immigration targets mainly because of the country’s labour shortage. Nearly a quarter of the population will age out of workforce by the end of this decade.
• Over 1.3 million new permanent residents have settled in Canada in the last five years. Of these 50 per cent arrived under economic class.
• Some 3.6 per cent of these immigrants lived in Canada as work or study permit holders or asylum claimants before gaining permanent residence.
• Some 62 per cent of the new immigrants were born in Asia, making it the top source for immigrants in Canada.
• Over 18.6 per cent of the immigrant population came from India. This is the first time that India topped in the number of immigrants in Canada.
• The last time Canada had such high percentage of immigrants from a single country was recorded in 1971 census, when 20.9 per cent of the immigrants came from United Kingdom.
• Currently, Europeans account for only one in ten new immigrants in Canada.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2022

Category: International / World Current Affairs • Reports & Indexes Current Affairs