Immigration to Canada

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According to the 2021 Canadian census, immigrants in Canada number 8.3 million persons and make up approximately 23 percent of Canada's total population.[1] This represents the eighth-largest immigrant population in the world, while the proportion represents one of the highest ratios for industrialized Western countries.[2]

Following Canada's confederation in 1867, immigration played an integral role in helping develop vast tracts of land.[3] During this era, the Canadian Government would sponsor information campaigns and recruiters to encourage settlement in rural areas; however, this would primarily be only towards those of European and religious Christian backgrounds, while others – "Buddhist, Shinto, Sikh, Muslim, and Jewish immigrants in particular" as well as the poor, ill, and disabled – would be less than welcome.[3][4] Examples of this exclusion include the 1885 Chinese Immigration Act, the 1908 continuous journey regulation and ensuing 1914 Komagata Maru incident (targeting Sikh Canadians), and the 1940s internment of Japanese Canadians. Following 1947, in the post–World War II period, Canadian domestic immigration law and policy went through significant changes, most notably with the Immigration Act, 1976, and the current Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) from 2002.[4]

The main driver of Canadian population growth is immigration,[5] driven mainly by economic policy and also family reunification.[6][7] A record number of 405,000 immigrants were admitted to Canada in 2021,[8] with plans to increase the annual intake of immigrants to 500,000 per year.[9] New immigrants settle mostly in major urban areas in the country, such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.[10] Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees, accounting for over 10 percent of annual global refugee resettlements; it resettled more than 28,000 in 2018 and has spent $769 million in 2023 alone for free housing and meals.[11][12][13]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2021censusreportA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Pison, Gilles. 2019 February. "The number and proportion of immigrants in the population: International comparisons Archived 2022-01-14 at the Wayback Machine." Population & Societies 563. France: Institut National d'études démographiques.
  3. ^ a b Cheatham, Amelia. 2020 August 3. "What Is Canada's Immigration Policy? Archived 2020-12-18 at the Wayback Machine" Council on Foreign Relations.
  4. ^ a b Belshaw, John Douglas. 2016. "Post-War Immigration Archived 2021-01-28 at the Wayback Machine." Ch. 5 §11 in Canadian History: Post-Confederation. BC Open Textbook Project. ISBN 978-1-989623-12-1.
  5. ^ Edmonston, Barry; Fong, Eric (2011). The Changing Canadian Population. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-7735-3793-4. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  6. ^ Hollifield, James; Martin, Philip; Orrenius, Pia (2014). Controlling Immigration: A Global Perspective (3rd ed.). Stanford University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-8047-8627-0. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  7. ^ Beaujot, Roderic P.; Kerr, Donald W. (2007). The Changing Face of Canada: Essential Readings in Population. Canadian Scholars' Press. p. 178. ISBN 978-1-55130-322-2. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  8. ^ Sangani, Priyanka (February 15, 2022). "Canada to take in 1.3 million immigrants in 2022–24". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on February 15, 2022.
  9. ^ "Ottawa reveals plan to welcome 500,000 immigrants per year by 2025 - CBC News". CBC. 2022-11-01. Archived from the original on 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  10. ^ Grubel, Herbert G. (2009). The Effects of Mass Immigration on Canadian Living Standards and Society. Fraser Institute. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-88975-246-7. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  11. ^ "2019 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration" (PDF). Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  12. ^ Jason, Markusoff (January 23, 2019). "Canada now brings in more refugees than the U.S." Maclean's. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  13. ^ "Free hotel rooms, meals for refugee applicants reportedly cost $769M in 2023". Toronto Sun. December 8, 2023. Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2023.