Variation in immigration level to Canada during last 150 years

• In 2012, Canada received close to 257,900 immigrants, representing an immigration rate of 7.4 newcomers per 1,000 inhabitants. This rate remained fairly stable during the last decade, ranging between 7.0 immigrants per 1,000 population in 2003 to 8.3 immigrants per 1,000 population in 2010.
• During the last century, the annual number of immigrants received by Canada varied considerably. At the start of the century, Canada admitted record numbers of immigrants in order to populate the Western provinces. In 1912 and 1913, immigration rates exceeded 50 newcomers per 1,000 population, about seven times the rate recorded in 2012.
• The number of immigrants fell sharply during the Great Depression and World War II, remaining below 30,000 immigrants per year between 1931 and 1945 and reaching a low of 8,000 immigrants in 1942. Since the 2000s, Canada has averaged more than 246,000 immigrants per year.

Description for figure 21