Recent Immigrants in Metropolitan Areas: Canada—A Comparative Profile Based on the 2001 Census

Part B: Who Are the Recent Immigrants?

The origins of Canada’s recent immigrants

One half of recent immigrants come from Asia

One-half of the persons who immigrated to Canada between 1986 and 2001 and who were living in Canada in 2001 were born in Asia. Every region of Asia has contributed significant numbers of immigrants. Immigrants from East Asia—Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan—were the most numerous, accounting for over one quarter of immigrants who landed during 1996-2001.

The origins of the pre-1986 immigrant population are representative of Canada’s pre-1967 immigration policy that favoured immigrants from Europe. One-third of these earlier immigrants were born in Western Europe, and another one-fifth came from the United Kingdom. Of the very recent immigrants who landed between 1996 and 2001, western and southern Europe and the United Kingdom together contributed only 7%.

Figure B-1: Immigrants by period of immigration—world regions of birth, Canada, 2001 (percentage distribution)

Note: World regions are defined in the Glossary

Asian countries of birth are predominant

Immigrants to Canada come from all over the world and represent a diversity of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Over the past several decades there has been a considerable change in the source countries of immigrants. In 2001, for example, there were 963,000 residents who had very recently landed in Canada, between 1996 and 2001. The most common country of birth for these immigrants was China, accounting for 13% of these new permanent residents to Canada, and 17% including persons born in Hong Kong. The ten most common countries of birth—China, India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Iran, Taiwan, the United States, South Korea and Sri Lanka—accounted for 52% of these very recent immigrants. In comparison, only three of these countries—the United States, India and China—were in the top ten countries of birth of immigrants who landed in Canada before 1986.

Among earlier immigrants—those arriving in Canada before 1986—the United Kingdom and Italy were the most common countries of birth, accounting for 28% of this group.

In general, the birth origins of Canada’s immigrant population vary in relation to the period of immigration. European birth origins are predominant among those who immigrated in the 1950s, 1960s and to a lesser extent in the 1970s, and Asian birth origins are predominant among those who immigrated in the 1980s and 1990s. For very recent immigrants, nine of the top ten countries of birth are in Asia, as are six of the top ten countries of birth of immigrants who landed during the 1986-1995 period.

Where Canada’s recent immigrants live

Provincial settlement pattern stable

The distribution of the immigrant population over Canada’s major regions has been rather stable over time. Over one-half of each of the three successive groups of immigrants (earlier immigrants, immigrants who landed during the 1986-1995 period, and 1996-2001 very recent immigrants) lives in Ontario. The shares of British Columbia and Quebec have increased somewhat, while other regions have seen their shares decline.

The settlement preferences of immigrants, while fairly stable over time, are very different from the choices made by persons born in Canada. More than one in two recent immigrants and one in three Canadian-born live in Ontario, and one in five recent immigrants and one in eight Canadian-born live in British Columbia. Only these two provinces have a larger share of the country’s 5.4 million immigrants than of the 24 million Canadian-born. At the opposite end of the spectrum are the Atlantic provinces with 10% of the Canadian-born and only 1% of recent immigrants.

Figure B-2: Immigrants by period of immigration and Canadian-born—province or region of residence, Canada, 2001 (percentage distribution)

Concentration in major centres increasing

The destinations of recent immigrants in Canada are rather more concentrated than their places of origin. More than 70% of immigrants who landed after 1985 live in the three largest metropolitan centres, with Toronto accounting for 43% of the total. While Toronto and Montreal have attracted the same share of very recent immigrants as of their immediate predecessors (those who landed during the 1986-1995 period), Vancouver’s share increased from 16.2% of those who landed during the 1986-1995 period to 17.6% of those who landed during 1996-2001. Toronto and Vancouver are home to a larger share of recent immigrants than of immigrants who landed before 1986, while Montreal has a rather constant share of the several immigrant cohorts.

Toronto and Vancouver stand out in that both have a much larger share of Canada’s immigrant population and recent immigrant population than of the country’s Canadian-born population. Montreal and the five second-tier cities have approximately the same share of the immigrant population as of the Canadian-born population. With the exception of Victoria, the third-tier cities and the rest of the country are the place of residence for a much smaller share of immigrants than of the Canadian-born. Many of the recent immigrants in the rest of Canada live in urban centres in Ontario that are not included among the thirteen cities listed in Table B-3, such as in Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Windsor or St. Catharines. Few recent immigrants are found in rural and small-town Canada.

Clearly, the recent immigrant population is far more concentrated in large urban centres than the rest of the population of Canada. One-half of Canada’s population (residents of the thirteen cities and other urban centres in Ontario) lives in close proximity to recent immigrants with their diverse geographic origins and cultural backgrounds. For these Canadians, contact with recent immigrants is likely to be a regular, even a common occurrence. The other half of the population is much less likely to meet with recent immigrants in their place of residence.

From eleven world regions to six areas in Canada

Different settlement patterns…

The settlement pattern of recent immigrants varies greatly by country of birth. The most striking contrast is between immigrants from Western Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States on the one hand, and immigrants from the rest of the world on the other. The former, smaller group does not have the strong preference for Canada’s largest urban centres demonstrated by the majority of recent immigrants. Recent immigrants from the United Kingdom and the United States more often have opted for the other ten urban centres and the rest of Canada.

Note: In Table B-4 and Table B-5, recent immigrant totals and corresponding percentage distribution by world region are based on the ninety countries where 90% of the recent immigrant population was born. The totals provided in these two tables are slightly lower than recent immigrant totals presented elsewhere in this report or in other profiles in the series.

More than one in three recently immigrated East Asians are living in Vancouver. Toronto is the residence for an even larger share of East Asians. A very strong preference for Toronto is found among recent immigrants from South Asia and from the Caribbean.

Montreal is a preferred destination of recent immigrants from Western Asia and the Middle East, Africa, Western Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. Toronto, however, draws a larger share than Montreal of immigrants from all these world regions except Western Asia and the Middle East.

To look at the settlement patterns of recent immigrants in more detail, consult Table B-6. This table provides the number of recent immigrants for each of the thirteen cities and the rest of Canada by country of birth, for the top 30 countries of birth.

…Make for different origins in different parts of Canada

The mix of geographic origins of recent immigrants varies considerably between the three major immigrant centres, the five second-tier and the five third-tier cities for which profiles of recent immigrants have been prepared, and the rest of Canada. Vancouver and Montreal have a mix of recent immigrants by world region of origin that is very different from the general pattern.

Note: In Table B-4 and Table B-5, recent immigrant totals and corresponding percentage distribution by world region are based on the ninety countries where 90% of the recent immigrant population was born. The totals provided in these two tables are slightly lower than recent immigrant totals presented elsewhere in this report or in other profiles in the series.

Toronto’s recent immigrant population appears to have much the same composition as Canada’s. Perhaps this is not too surprising, as more than four out of ten recent immigrants live in Toronto. Toronto is home to a relatively large proportion of recent immigrants from South and Central Asia and from the Caribbean.

Eight in ten recent immigrants in Vancouver were born in Asia, and one-half in East Asia, mainly in Hong Kong and China. Montreal’s recent immigrant population is rather different from Canada’s. Only one in ten is from East Asia, and approximately one in five is from Western Asia and the Middle East or from Africa. Another one-fifth was born in Latin America and the Caribbean (notably in Haiti). A total of 11% of Montreal’s recent immigrants are from Western Europe, a higher proportion than in Toronto, Vancouver and the five second-tier cities. These origins reflect a preponderance of immigrants from French and Spanish speaking countries among recent immigrants in Montreal.

*Includes persons who reported Yugoslavia, whether they referred to the former or the new republic of the same name.

The five second-tier cities have relatively more recent immigrants from South-east Asia and the Pacific and from Eastern Europe, while the proportion of people from East Asia and from South and Central Asia is lower than the national average. The origins of recent immigrants in the five third-tier cities are rather like those in the rest of Canada, with as main differences a much larger share of East Asians, and a smaller share of East Europeans.

In the rest of Canada, one in two immigrants came from Western and Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. Outside the thirteen profiled cities there are relatively few recent immigrants who were born in East Asia or in South and Central Asia.

Immigration Category and religion

High share of economic immigrants among most recent landings

Statistics published by Citizenship and Immigration Canada show that the number of immigrants landing in Canada was much higher in the first half of the 1990s than in the previous five years. Thereafter, the number declined to just over 1 million, or 200,000 per year. All categories of immigrants landed in larger numbers during the first half of the 1990s, but the ranks of the family class swelled more than those of other classes. The number of family class entrants then fell back almost to its earlier level, and the number of refugees fell further. The number of economic immigrants, including principal applicants and their families, kept on increasing.

Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Facts and Figures 2002 (data set).

Note: The 2001 Census did not ask immigrants about the immigration categories through which they were admitted to Canada. The information in Table B-7 was obtained from records at Citizenship and Immigration Canada and pertains to the time of landing. Immigration categories are described in the Glossary.

Family class entrants are mainly sponsored spouses, and parents and grandparents with accompanying dependants. The number of spouses who entered increased from 112,000 to 194,000 before sliding back to 159,000 in the last five years of the century. The changes in the number of parents and grandparents were even greater: 110,000 during 1986-1990, 199,000 next, and finally 91,000. The decline in the numbers admitted in the latter half of the 1990s is in part due to changes in regulations in 1988 and 1992.

Skilled workers and their families make up the lion’s share of economic immigrants. Their number increased from about 300,000 in the second half of the 1980s to nearly one-half million a decade later. The number who landed as entrepreneurs and investors and their family members peaked at 111,000 in the middle period, before declining to 66,000 more recently.

Privately-sponsored refugees numbered about 75,000 in the first two periods, but less than one-fifth of that number in the last five years. Government-sponsored refugees numbered about 40,000 in the last two five-year periods after an earlier peak of 72,000. The refugee category also included 64,000 refugees landed in Canada in 1991-1995, after only several hundred in the five years before (prior to the establishment of the Immigration and Refugee Board in 1993), followed by 59,000 refugees landed in Canada during 1996-2000.

Among the economic immigrants during 1996-2000 were 2,000 provincial nominees. Manitoba was the first province to act on its new powers with respect to immigration and brought in a number of provincial nominees, in addition to economic and other immigrants admitted by the federal government and destined for Manitoba. Other provinces are also moving into the area. Quebec has had full selection powers for its skilled immigrant program for a number of years.

Nearly one in five very recent immigrants is a Muslim

Recent immigrants have given Canada several religions that were virtually absent before 1986. While all Christians combined remain the largest group among even very recent immigrants, Muslims account for 18% of this group, compared to only 3% of earlier immigrants and 1% of the Canadian-born. Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs combined account for nearly as large a share of very recent immigrants as Muslims. These three religions have virtually no followers among the Canadian-born, and those Canadian-born who did report these religions as theirs may consist largely of children of immigrants born in Canada.

Among Christian immigrants, the share of Catholics and Protestants has declined and that of orthodox religions and various smaller sects has increased. Among the Orthodox Christian religions, the Greek and Ukrainian Churches are the largest. The proportion of immigrants reporting Orthodox Christian faith has increased with the arrival of more immigrants from Eastern Europe in recent years.

One-third of the Canadian-born are Protestant, with the United Church having the largest following among the major protestant churches, accounting for 11% of the Canadian-born. Only 1% of recent immigrants are affiliated with the United Church.

The share of persons reporting no religious affiliation is about the same for immigrants as for Canadians: one in six. It is higher among very recent immigrants. The religious affiliation of recent immigrants varies according to the countries where they were born.

Note: Religions are listed in order of their share of the total population, from highest to lowest, with Christian religions grouped together.

Age and gender

Nearly one-half of very recent immigrants are working-age adults 25 to 44 years

Among very recent immigrants, those who have been in Canada for up to five years, there is a preponderance of working-age adults 25 to 44 years of age. In 2001, nearly one-half of very recent immigrants are 25 to 44 years old, compared to only 30% of persons born in Canada. Children and youth are also numerous among very recent immigrants, but there are few seniors and persons 45 to 64 years of age.

Figure B-3: Immigrants by period of immigration and Canadian-born, by age, Canada, 2001 (percentage distribution)

These differences in age structure are to some degree a result of how we define immigrants and the Canadian-born. The immigrant population grows older like the Canadian population but does not renew itself in the same way, as children born in Canada to immigrants are not considered immigrants. Thus, there are no persons under 15 years of age among immigrants who landed before 1986, and the older age groups are over-represented among these earlier immigrants. By the same token, the share of children among the Canadian-born is large as it includes children born in Canada to immigrant parents. As many of the characteristics and circumstances described in this profile vary with age, differences between immigrants (or immigrant cohorts) and the Canadian-born often are at least in part a reflection of differences in the age structure.

More women than men

The proportion of women in the recent-immigrant population is similar to but, at 52%, slightly higher than the 51% of the Canadian-born population. More than 60% of recent immigrants from Japan, Finland, Georgia, Lithuania, and the Philippines are women. For four of these five countries, the number of immigrants is relatively small, but there are 161,100 recent immigrants from the Philippines, with 32,400 more women than men.

Overall there are 100,000 more women than men among the 2.5 million recent immigrants. Other countries of birth that stand out are China (17,720 more women than men), the United States (7,900) and Jamaica (6,600).

As women on average live longer than men, they make up a large share of persons aged 65 years of age and over. However, the higher proportion of women among recent immigrants is not related to age, except in the case of the United States. Almost two-thirds of recent immigrants aged 25 to 44 from the Philippines are women. Some of them have obtained permanent resident status after a period of employment as live-in caregivers.

At the opposite end of the spectrum of the gender mix are Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and Lebanon. More than 53% of recent immigrants from these countries are men. Men outnumber women by 4,200 among recent immigrants from Iran, and by 3,800 in the case of Pakistan. The gender balance, by country of origin, has not changed greatly since 1996.

Language and education

Nine in ten very recent immigrants speak English or French

A large majority of recent immigrants 15 years of age and over reported being able to carry on a conversation in at least one of Canada’s two official languages. Even among very recent immigrants, who landed in Canada between 1996 and 2001, nine in ten reported being able to speak an official language. Knowledge of official languages was greater among those who immigrated in earlier periods—91% of those who immigrated between 1986 and 1995, and 96% of those who immigrated before 1986 indicated they were able to speak an official language.

Very recent immigrant women are somewhat less likely than men to have conversational knowledge of English or French. Among women who landed between 1996 and 2001, 13% could speak neither English nor French. The figure among men who landed during this period was 8%.

The proportion of immigrants who landed between 1996 and 2001, who are able to carry on a conversation in English, French or both English and French, decreases with age. Among younger very recent immigrants, almost all are able to speak an official language, and there is little difference between men and women. Among those between the ages of 25 and 44 years, this is almost equally the case. Among those aged 45 to 64 years, however, the percentage who can speak English, French or both is lower, and more so for women than men. Men and women 65 years of age and over are least likely to have conversational ability in English or French.

Three in four very recent immigrants speak only English, while one in ten is bilingual. A small share of 4% speaks only French. Knowledge of Canada’s languages among very recent immigrants has increased. At the time of the 1996 Census, 89% of men and 84% of women who had immigrated in the five years previous were able to converse in either English or French or both, compared to 92% of men and 87% of women in 2001.

Immigrants tend to be more unilingually English, and less unilingually French or bilingual than the Canadian-born. This is so regardless of the time at which immigrants landed, and the differences between recent and earlier immigrants are not very large. Over time, the share of recent and very recent immigrants speaking one or both languages will increase, as more immigrants learn languages and some of those who do not do so leave the country.

Two out of three very recent immigrants speak a foreign language at home

For the majority of recent immigrants, the language spoken most often at home is one other than English or French. Two-thirds of immigrants who landed between 1996 and 2001 most often speak a foreign language in their homes.

The use of foreign languages is also high among other immigrant cohorts. Well over one-half of those who immigrated between 1986 and 1995, and one-quarter of those who immigrated prior to 1986 most often speak a foreign language at home. Immigrants who speak an official language at home are far more likely to speak English than French. This reflects both the background and the settlement pattern of immigrants.

The use of foreign languages in the home was slightly more common in 2001 than in 1996, for a given length of stay in Canada. Among those who had lived in Canada from 5 to 15 years, 56% commonly used a foreign language in 2001, compared to 52% in 1996.

Many university graduates among very recent immigrants

The most striking difference between immigrants and the Canadian-born with respect to educational attainment is in the share of university graduates. More than one-third of very recent immigrants have a university degree, compared to 14% of the Canadian-born. Immigrants who landed in Canada during the 1986-1995 period and earlier immigrants also are more likely to have a degree than the Canadian-born, but the difference is smaller. As well, those two groups of immigrants are more likely than persons born in Canada to have no more than elementary schooling. Immigrants are less likely to have an intermediate level of education—some high school, a high school diploma, or a college diploma or trade certificate.

Part of this difference in level of schooling is related to the different age structure of the several groups. Earlier immigrants tend to be concentrated in older age groups in which post-secondary diplomas and degrees are less common than they are for younger people in Canada and abroad. In contrast, very recent immigrants are concentrated in the 25 to 44 age group that has a higher educational attainment. The differences also reflect immigrant selection. Education has been an important admission criterion for economic immigrants, in particular skilled workers, who made up a larger share of new immigrants during 1996-2000 than before.

When education levels are compared by age group, it appears that the younger generation has a much higher level of education, whether born in or outside Canada. For instance, only two in ten persons 25 to 44 years of age born in Canada have not completed high school, compared to six in ten persons 65 years of age and over. Well over one-half of Canadian-born persons 25 to 44 years of age have a post-secondary diploma or degree, compared to one-quarter of persons 65 years and over. A similar large shift in educational qualifications is observed among immigrants.

Very recent immigrant men have a very high level of education compared to the Canadian-born across the entire age spectrum, while for women this is the case only in the youngest age group. Thus, the high educational attainment of very recent immigrants is not merely a matter of a favourable age distribution. Among immigrants who landed during the 1986-1995 period, younger and older women are on average somewhat less educated than the Canadian-born, while men in the 45-64 age group have more post-secondary qualifications. Among earlier immigrants, men 45 years of age and over have more education than the Canadian-born.

Recent immigrants add to Canada’s pool of scientists and engineers

Immigrants with a post-secondary diploma or degree are more likely than the Canadian-born to have majored in physical sciences, engineering or a trade, while the Canadian-born are more likely to have a qualification in social sciences, education or the arts. This is so for all generations of immigrants, the differences being most pronounced for very recent immigrants. Most remarkably, 28% of very recent immigrant women with a diploma or degree have studied science, engineering or learned a trade, compared to only 12% of Canadian-born women.

The immigrant cohorts and the Canadian-born are more alike with respect to the proportions who specialized in commerce and business, and health professions and technologies. The educational choices of immigrants, recent immigrants and the Canadian-born remain much the same as in 1996.

Recent immigrants more likely to attend school

Very recent immigrants are relatively likely to be in school, to acquire language skills or Canadian credentials. School attendance is at least twice as high for this group as for the Canadian-born, in both the 25 to 44 and 45 to 64 age groups.

In the youngest age group, school attendance is also higher among very recent immigrants than among the Canadian-born, with a larger difference for men than for women. In all age groups, immigrants who landed during the 1986-1995 period are also more likely than the Canadian-born to attend school, but not to the same extent as very recent immigrants. School attendance rates for all immigrant cohorts were similar in the 1996 Census.

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