Immigrants in Canada's Census Metropolitan Areas

by Grant Schellenberg, Trends and Conditions in Census Metropolitan Areas, August 2004, Catalogue No. 89-613 No. 3

Context

Immigration has long been, and continues to be, a central feature of Canada’s demographic landscape. In 2001, the share of Canadians who were born outside of the country – at 18% - was higher than it had been in 70 years. Furthermore, immigration has increasingly become an urban phenomenon, with the vast majority of new immigrants settling in one of Canada’s larger metropolitan areas. Any discussion about immigrants is, almost without exception, a discussion about immigrants in large urban areas.

Objective(s)

This report paints a statistical picture of immigrants in Canada's metropolitan areas. It does so by examining the settlement patterns of recent immigrants across metropolitan areas as well as settlement patterns within those areas. Information on the characteristics of recent immigrants is presented, including their use of public transit, enrolment in educational institutions, and entry into home ownership. Finally, the labour market experiences of recent immigrants are documented.

Findings

Virtually all the immigrants who arrived in Canada during the 1990s settled in one of Canada's 27 metropolitan areas. Settlement was disproportionately located in the three largest centres – Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver and most immigrants settle in their intended destination in Canada and do not move from one metropolitan area to another during the resettlement process.

The report points to potential implications of immigration for public services – namely housing, education and public transit.

With respect to labour force characteristics and earnings, the report reinforces the findings of previous studies: recent immigrants were much more likely to work for low wages, were less likely to be high earners and had higher unemployment rates.

Data source(s)

Census 2001.

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