Canada Welcomes Highest Number of New Immigrants in 100 Years

Canada Welcomes Highest Number of New Immigrants in 100 Years

March 27, 2019 – Canada welcomed in 2018, the most immigrants in a calendar year since 1913, the latest estimates show.

Statistics Canada says 71,131 new  permanent residents came to Canada in the final quarter of 2018, bringing the total for the year to 321,065. The figure is the most in more than 100 years, with 401,000 immigrants arriving in 1913.

Canada’s population grew by 1.4 per cent increasing by 528,421 in 2018, with immigration responsible for more than 80 per cent of the figure. This is the largest annual increase in Canada’s population since the 1950s, and further reflects the strongest growth among all of the G7 countries.

Immigration’s importance is further illustrated by the fact that Canada’s natural population growth was just 103,176 in 2018, the lowest since modern records began in the 1940s.

Provincially, seven (7) out of ten (10) Canadian provinces saw immigration increases in 2018 when compared to 2017, led by Ontario.

Ontario, Canada’s largest province, saw the number of newcomers increase by more than 25,000, from 111,950 new immigrants to 137,395.

British Columbia achieved the next biggest increase where numbers grew by more than 6,500 newcomers, from 38,440 to 44,975.

Atlantic Provinces saw immigration increases from 2017 to 2018, however the numbers of newcomers remain low given the push to try and bring more people to the region. The figures were clearly indicative of the challenge with attracting new immigrants to Canada’s smaller provinces in the Atlantic region.

Quebec has seen immigration declines for the last two years. The French-speaking province saw immigration drop from 53,245 in 2016, to 52,400 in 2017 and further in 2018 to 51,115.