According to 2021 census data, 8.3 million people, or 23 percent of the population, fall into this category, surpassing the previous record of 22.3 percent in 1921. The new numbers also mean Canada’s share of immigrants and permanent residents is at a higher level than in any other G7 country. “If these trends continue, based on Statistics Canada’s recent population projections, immigrants could represent between 29.1 per cent and 34 per cent of Canada’s population by 2041,” the report said. Between 2016 and 2021, 1.3 million new immigrants settled permanently in Canada. This record increase in immigrants for a census period means that nearly 16 percent of all immigrants to Canada came to the country recently. Statistics Canada says recent immigrants are younger, on average, than the rest of the Canadian population and are critical to filling much-needed jobs in the Canadian labor market. Just over 64 percent of new immigrants fell into the prime working age of 25 to 54, with only 3.6 percent of new immigrants in the slightly older 55 to 64 age group. In contrast, more than 17 percent of new immigrants were under the age of 15.
Importance to the workforce
From 2016 to 2021, immigrants accounted for four-fifths of Canada’s labor force growth with a large share of recent immigrants selected for their ability to contribute to Canada’s economy. According to Statistics Canada, more than half of recent immigrants, 748,120 of the 1.3 million immigrants admitted to Canada between 2106 and 2021, were admitted to Canada in the economic category. Of these economic immigrants nearly 35 percent entered through skilled worker programs, while just over a third entered through the provincial nominee program. The share of new immigrants who first came to Canada temporarily on work or study permits or as asylum seekers before being admitted as permanent residents also increased from nearly 18 percent of new immigrants between 2001 and 2005 to 36.6 percent in 2021 .
Country of origin
Asian-born immigrants accounted for a record share of recent immigrants, rising from just 12.1 percent in 1971 to 62 percent in 2021. The number of new immigrants born in Europe, however, has continued to decline for 50 years, falling to just 10.1 percent in 2021 from a high of 61.1 percent in 1971. Of these Asian countries, India ranked first as the country of origin of new immigrants, accounting for 18.6 percent of immigrants arriving in Canada between 2016 and 2021. Devotees celebrate Diwali at the Gursikh Sabha Canada gurdwara, Scarborough, on October 24. Immigrants of Asian descent represented a record percentage of recent immigrants, rising from just 12.1 percent in 1971 to 62 percent in 2021. (Evan Mitsui ) “The last time such a high proportion of immigrants came from a single place of birth was in the 1971 census, when 20.9 per cent of all recent immigrants came from the United Kingdom,” Statistics Canada said. The next largest countries of origin of new immigrants in Asia were the Philippines, at 11.4 percent, and China, at 8.9 percent.
New immigrants and cities
The new census data revealed that about 90 percent of recent immigrants chose to settle in cities with more than 100,000 residents, with Toronto at 29.5 percent, Montreal at 12.2 percent and Vancouver at 11.7 percent. per cent, the cities that attracted the largest percentage of new immigrants between 2016 and 2021.
Overall, however, the percentage of new immigrants settling in these cities continued to decline significantly as trends saw an increasing number of immigrants settle outside of Canada’s three major cities.
In 2016, the percentage of new immigrants settling in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver was 56 percent. by 2021 that had fallen to 53.4%, with Montreal seeing the biggest drop as it fell from attracting 14.8% of new immigrants in 2016 to just 12.2% in 2021.
In contrast, new immigrants settled in other urban centers in increasing numbers, with Ottawa-Gatineau’s new immigrant rate increasing from 3.1 percent in 2016 to 4.4 percent in 2021, while Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo saw new immigrants double from 1.2 percent. 2.1 percent.
Migration and language
Although nearly 70 percent of recent immigrants said their first language was neither English nor French, nearly 93 percent of the 1.3 million immigrants who entered Canada between 2016 and 2021 could converse in one of the official languages of Canada.
In 2021, nearly one in four new immigrants reported English as their mother tongue, while only 6.5 percent of new immigrants said French was their birth language.
Of the new immigrants who said English was their first language, 20.5 percent came from India. 12.5 percent came from the Philippines. 10.3 came from the United States. and 10.2 percent came from Nigeria.
Of those who came to Canada with French as their birth language, 30.3 percent came from France. 11.5 percent came from Cameroon. 8.4 percent came from Ivory Coast. and 5.8 percent came from Algeria.
Best moments:
The share of recent immigrants settling in Atlantic Canada has nearly tripled in 15 years, rising from 1.2 per cent in 2006 to 3.5 per cent in 2021. Asia, including the Middle East, remained the continent of birth for the most recent immigrants at 62%. Almost one in five recent immigrants, or 18.6 percent, were born in India, making it the number one country of birth for recent immigration to Canada. The share of recent immigrants from Europe continued to decline, falling from 61.6 percent in 1971 to 10.1 percent in 2021. The vast majority of recent immigrants, nearly 93 percent, are able to converse in either English or French. The share of immigrant or second-generation Canadian children under the age of 15 with at least one foreign-born parent increased from 26.7 per cent in 2011 to 31.5 per cent in 2021.
