Canada’s appeal as an immigration destination has been increasing over the past two decades, with a total of 464,265 people immigrating to the country in 2024. This figure is an increase from 2000-2001, when approximately 252,527 immigrants came to Canada. Immigration to the Great White North Between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023, there were an estimated 199,297 immigrants to Ontario, making it the most popular immigration destination out of any province. While the number of immigrants has been increasing over the years, in 2024 over half of surveyed Canadians believed that there were too many immigrants in the country. However, in 2017, the Canadian government announced its aim to significantly increase the number of permanent residents to Canada in order to combat an aging workforce and the decline of working-age adults. Profiles of immigrants to Canada The gender of immigrants to Canada in 2023 was just about an even split, with 234,279 male immigrants and 234,538 female immigrants. In addition, most foreign-born individuals in Canada came from India, followed by China and the Philippines. The United States was the fifth most common origin country for foreign-born residents in Canada.

Components of international migratory increase, quarterly: immigrants, emigrants, returning emigrants, net temporary emigrants, net non-permanent residents.

More than a quarter of new permanent residents arriving in Canada in 2024 were from India - by far the highest of any country. Less than seven percent will be from China, the second highest.

People who have been granted permanent resident status in Canada. Please note that in these datasets, the figures have been suppressed or rounded to prevent the identification of individuals when the datasets are compiled and compared with other publicly available statistics. Values between 0 and 5 are shown as “--“ and all other values are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5. This may result to the sum of the figures not equating to the totals indicated.

Ontario was the province with the most immigrants in 2024, with 197,657 immigrants. Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost territory, had 56 immigrants arrive in the same period. Immigration to Canada Over the past 20 years, the number of immigrants to Canada has held steady and is just about evenly split between men and women. Asian countries dominate the list of leading countries of birth for foreign-born residents of Canada, although the United Kingdom, the United States, and Italy all make the list as well. Unemployment among immigrants In 2023, the unemployment rate for immigrants in Canada was highest among those who had been in the country for five years or less. The unemployment rate decreased the longer someone had been in Canada, and unemployment was lowest among those who had been in the country for more than ten years, coming more into line with the average unemployment rate for the whole of Canada.

Annual number of international migrants by 5-year age groups and gender for Canada, provinces and territories.

Number of persons in the labour force (employment and unemployment) and not in the labour force, unemployment rate, participation rate, and employment rate, by immigrant status and age group, last 5 years.

Operational datasets on acquisition of Canadian citizenship, permanent and temporary residency status and visitor visas of foreign nationals.

In 2024, about 1.49 million permanent immigrants in Canada had only a high school diploma. More than four million immigrants had a university degree.

This statistic shows the total number of immigrants to Canada in 2023, by age. Between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023, 47,252 people aged between 20 and 24 years immigrated to Canada.

This table provides quarterly estimates of the number of non-permanent residents by type for Canada, provinces and territories.

Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.

International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live. It also includes refugees. The data used to estimate the international migrant stock at a particular time are obtained mainly from population censuses. The estimates are derived from the data on foreign-born population--people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population--that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside--are used as estimates. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union. For countries with information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation was used to estimate the international migrant stock on July 1 of the reference years. For countries with only one observation, estimates for the reference years were derived using rates of change in the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the single observation available. A model was used to estimate migrants for countries that had no data.

Quarterly number of interprovincial migrants by province of origin and destination, Canada, provinces and territories.

This statistic shows the total number of immigrants that arrived in Canada from 2000 to 2023, distinguished by gender. In 2023, a total of 234,538 female immigrants arrived in Canada.

People who have been granted permanent resident status in Canada. Please note that in these datasets, the figures have been suppressed or rounded to prevent the identification of individuals when the datasets are compiled and compared with other publicly available statistics. Values between 0 and 5 are shown as “--“ and all other values are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5. This may result to the sum of the figures not equating to the totals indicated. Please note that the datasets will not be updated.

Number of immigrants in the labour force (employment and unemployment) and not in the labour force, unemployment rate, participation rate, and employment rate, by sex, age group and immigrant status, last 5 months.

Temporary residents who are in Canada on a study permit in the observed calendar year. Datasets include study permit holders by year in which permit(s) became effective or with a valid permit in a calendar year or on December 31st. Please note that in these datasets, the figures have been suppressed or rounded to prevent the identification of individuals when the datasets are compiled and compared with other publicly available statistics. Values between 0 and 5 are shown as “--“ and all other values are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5. This may result to the sum of the figures not equating to the totals indicated.

From 2006 to 2024, the unemployment among residents of Canada was always higher for landed immigrants. In 2024, 7.2 percent of landed immigrants in Canada were unemployed. In comparison, 5.6 percent of people born in Canada were unemployed in that same year.

Overview: Each quarter, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) publishes Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) statistics on Open Government Data Portal, including quarterly and annual LMIA data related to, but not limited to, requested and approved TFW positions, employment location, employment occupations, sectors, TFWP stream and temporary foreign workers by country of origin. The TFWP does not collect data on the number of TFWs who are hired by an employer and have arrived in Canada. The decision to issue a work permit rests with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and not all positions on a positive LMIA result in a work permit. For these reasons, data provided in the LMIA statistics cannot be used to calculate the number of TFWs that have entered or will enter Canada. IRCC publishes annual statistics on the number of foreign workers who are issued a work permit: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/360024f2-17e9-4558-bfc1-3616485d65b9. Please note that all quarterly tables have been updated to NOC 2021 (5 digit and training, education, experience and responsibilities (TEER) based). As such, Table 5, 8, 17, and 24 will no longer be updated but will remain as archived tables. Frequency of Publication: Quarterly LMIA statistics cover data for the four quarters of the previous calendar year and the quarter(s) of the current calendar year. Quarterly data is released within two to three months of the most recent quarter. The release dates for quarterly data are as follows: Q1 (January to March) will be published by early June of the current year; Q2 (April to June) will be published by early September of the current year; Q3 (July to September) will be published by early December of the current year; and Q4 (October to December) will be published by early March of the next year. Annual statistics cover eight consecutive years of LMIA data and are scheduled to be released in March of the next year. Published Data: As part of the quarterly release, the TFWP updates LMIA data for 28 tables broken down by: TFW positions: Tables 1 to 10, 12, 13, and 22 to 24; LMIA applications: Tables 14 to 18; Employers: Tables 11, and 19 to 21; and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP): Tables 25 to 28. In addition, the TFWP publishes 2 lists of employers who were issued a positive or negative LMIA: Employers who were issued a positive LMIA by Program Stream, NOC, and Business Location (https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/90fed587-1364-4f33-a9ee-208181dc0b97/resource/b369ae20-0c7e-4d10-93ca-07c86c91e6fe); and Employers who were issued a negative LMIA by Program Stream, NOC, and Business Location (https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/f82f66f2-a22b-4511-bccf-e1d74db39ae5/resource/94a0dbee-e9d9-4492-ab52-07f0f0fb255b). Things to Remember: 1. When data are presented on positive or negative LMIAs, the decision date is used to allocate which quarter the data falls into. However, when data are presented on when LMIAs are requested, it is based on the date when the LMIA is received by ESDC. 2. As of the publication of 2022Q1- 2023Q4 data (published in April 2024) and going forward, all LMIAs in support of 'Permanent Residence (PR) Only' are included in TFWP statistics, unless indicated otherwise. All quarterly data in this report includes PR Only LMIAs. Dual-intent LMIAs and corresponding positions are included under their respective TFWP stream (e.g., low-wage, high-wage, etc.) This may impact program reporting over time. 3. Attention should be given for data that are presented by ‘Unique Employers’ when it comes to manipulating the data within that specific table. One employer could be counted towards multiple groups if they have multiple positive LMIAs across categories such as program stream, province or territory, or economic region. For example, an employer could request TFWs for two different business locations, and this employer would be counted in the statistics of both economic regions. As such, the sum of the rows within these ‘Unique Employer’ tables will not add up to the aggregate total.