With more than 8.3 million people who were, or ever had been an immigrant or permanent resident, immigration now makes up the largest share of Canada's population since the country's founding.."If these trends continue, based on Statistics Canada's recent population projections, immigrants could represent from 29.1% to 34% of the population of Canada by 2041," the new Statistics Canada report said. .The report found immigration is the main driver of population growth, due to an aging population and low fertility rates for home-born Canadians. A total of 23% of the country are immigrants, the largest among the G7 countries..That means almost one-third of children in Canada have at least one parent who was born abroad, which is up from 26.7% in 2011 and 29.2% in 2016. .While the majority of immigrants to Canada previously came from Europe, most now come from Asia and the Middle East. The data show one in five people coming to Canada were born in India, with many applicants coming to the country under a work or study visa..The last time such a large proportion of people came to Canada from the same place was in the 1971 census, when more than 20% of immigrants came from the United Kingdom. The overall share of immigrants from Europe dwindled since then, falling from 61.6% in 1971 to 10.1% in 2021..Because recent immigrants are younger on average than the rest of the Canadian population, they have been critical to filling much needed jobs in the Canadian labour market. The federal government plans to welcome 431,645 newcomers to Canada in 2022..The census also showed the two-step immigration process is becoming far more common in Canada. More than one-third of immigrants who arrived in the last five years have gone through the two-step process, compared with just 18% of those who admitted between 2001 and 2005. . The census didn't specifically ask why people from certain regions have chosen to come to Canada, according to Tina Chui, director of diversity and socio-cultural statics for Statistics Canada. But she said other studies offer some clues.."Joining family, economic opportunities, all those are kind of the reasons why people chose to come to Canada," she said at a press conference Wednesday. The large number of international students from India could also be a factor, she said.
