Canada welcomed more immigrants in 2019 than any year in the past century
Canada welcomed a whopping 341,180 immigrants in 2019 — the highest number of immigrants in more than a century.
Canada embraced newcomers from 175 different countries; India, China, the Philipennes, Nigeria, and the U.S. were the top five contributers, with Pakistan and Syria following close behind.
India accounted for 25 per cent of all new immigrants, primarily due to the "significant middle-class population with high levels of English" in the country.
Director of Policy & Digital Strategy Kareem El-Assal attributes the impressive variety of countries to the fact that Canada does not have per-country quotas in place.
He says, "As long as applicants meet Canada’s economic class eligibility criteria, they are welcomed by the country with open arms."
Fifty-eight per cent of newcomers entered Canada under the economic class of visa, while 27 per cent arrived through family sponsorship. The remaining 15 per cent were welcomed under the refugee class.
Ontario took in almost half of the new immigrants, with Toronto accounting for 35 per cent. British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, and Manitoba claimed the next top spots.
Historically, Canada has only welcomed more than 300,000 immigrants five times before, from 1911 to 1913 and in 2018. The twentieth-century spike in immigration was a result of European Westward expansion; the more recent influx is part of Canada's Immigration Levels Plan.
Canada shattered the plan's 2019 target by more than 10,000 immigrants.
The country hopes to welcome an additional 341,000 immigrants in 2020.
|
Sandra P. 2/25/2020 |
Contact: |
|
|
