Top 10 source countries for immigrants
coming to Canada (1991 to 2001):
1. China
2. India
3. Philippines
4. Hong Kong
5. Sri Lanka
6. Pakistan
7. Taiwan
8. United States
9. Iran
10. Poland
Top 10 source countries for immigrants
coming to Canada (up until 1981):
1. United Kingdom
2. Italy
3. U.S.
4. Germany
5. Portugal
6. Netherlands
7. India
8. Poland
9. China
10. Countries of the former Yugoslavia
Canada's annual intake of immigrants is
about one per cent of its total population. The one major
exception occurred between 1911 and 1913, when the number of
immigrants entering Canada represented about five per cent
of the population.
Where do they go?
Ontario: 58 per cent
British Columbia: 17.5 per cent
Quebec: 12.6 per cent
Other provinces: 11.9 per cent
Three-quarters of immigrants end up in
Canada's largest cities: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal. Other
cities are also increasing their share of newcomers (four
per cent each to Ottawa and Calgary, 2.5 per cent to
Edmonton and two per cent end up in Hamilton).
Those headed to Toronto come from: China,
India, Pakistan, Philippines and Korea. Immigrants to
Montreal tend to come from: China, France, Morocco, Algeria
and Haiti. Immigrants to Vancouver are from: China, India,
Philippines, Korea and Taiwan.
Children
Seventeen per cent of immigrants in the
1990s were schoolchildren aged between 5 and 16. Here's how
it breaks down in the metropolitan areas:
One in six (17 per cent) of school-age children living in
Toronto and Vancouver had immigrated within the past 10
years, as had about seven per cent of Montreal's school-age
children.
Urban Ontario: The cities of Toronto, Markham, Richmond Hill
and Mississauga had proportionally higher numbers of new
immigrants (one in four) in their school-age populations.
Urban B.C.: The city of Richmond had the highest proportion
of newcomers (32 per cent ) in its school-age population.
Nearly three in 10 children in Burnaby in this age group
were newcomers, as were 24 per cent in Vancouver, 22 per
cent in Coquitlam and 11 per cent in Surrey.
Montreal urban community: Twelve per cent of school-age
children were immigrants who came in the 1990s. But within
the MUC, Saint-Laurent had the highest proportion of
newcomers (25 per cent) in their school-age population.
Visible minorities and ethnic origin
Three-quarters of immigrants arriving in
Canada during the 1990s were visible minorities.
On the flip side, three out of every 10
individuals who were visible minorities were born in Canada.
Visible minorities who are most likely to be Canadian-born:
1. Japanese (65 per cent)
2. Blacks (45 per cent)
3. Chinese (25 per cent)
4. Arabs and West Indians (21 per cent)
5. Latin Americans (20 per cent)
6. Koreans (17 per cent)
Chinese are the most populous visible
minority in Canada numbering one million. South Asians come
in at number 2 with 917,000 people.
While the census reported Canada had people
from 200 ethnicities, 39 per cent of the total population
reported their ethnic heritage as "Canadian."
Canadian was the most frequently reported
origin (alone or in combination with other origins) in
almost all provinces in 2001. The exceptions were
Saskatchewan, where German was the most frequently reported
origin; British Columbia, where English was the most
frequent origin; North American Indian in the Northwest
Territories; and Inuit in Nunavut.
Top non-official languages spoken at home:
1. Chinese*
2. Punjabi
3. Arabic
4. Spanish
5. Tagalog (Filipino)
6. Russian
7. Persian (Farsi)
8. Tamil
9. Urdu
10. Korean
*reported as Chinese, Cantonese, Mandarin or Hakka
