Canada’s Foreign-Born Population is on the Rise

One Canada’s greatest qualities is its diversity and if the results of the 2016 Census tells us anything, it’s that those looking to start over are still turning to Canada.

Today (October 25), Statistics Canada issued results from the 2016 Census indicating that 7,540,830 “foreign-born individuals” entered Canada using the immigration process. In all, that represents 21.9% of Canada’s total population, up from the National Household Survey result of 20.6% in 2011.

“This proportion is close to the 22.3% recorded during the1921 Census, the highest level since Confederation,” stated Statistics Canada.

Canadian Immigration

From 2011 to 2016, 1,212,075 new immigrants permanently settled in Canada. In all, 60.3% of these immigrants were admitted into Canada under the economic category, followed by those joining family already residing in Canada (26.8%). Meanwhile, 11.6% came into Canada as refugees. Last year, the majority of new immigrants (61.8%) were born in Asia.

Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver still prove to be the most popular landing spots for immigrants, but more are now choosing to live in the prairies and Maritimes.

In 2016, 7,674,580 Canadian residents (22.3% of the population) were identified as a visible minority. Statistics Canada believes that this percentage could grow as high as 35.9% by 2036.

Canadian Immigration

South Asians, Chinese and Blacks were the three largest visible minority groups in Canada last year, with each being representative of more than a million people.

Additionally, people from more than 250 ethnic origins make up the Canadian population. This list included numerous groups associated with indigenous people, European groups who first settled in Canada, plus a number of others from all over the world.

-Adam Grant

On a recent episode of “theZoomer,” host Libby Znaimer was joined by diverse community leaders (David Onley, Cat Criger, Lt. Gen. Richard Rohmer, Dr. Andrea Davis) to discuss Canada’s sesquicentennial. You can watch that episode below.