The stirring lyrics from La Marseillaise will likely echo through French communities across Canada on July 14, which commemorates Bastille Day. If you are looking to celebrate Bastille Day in Canada this year, your best bet is to head to Montréal, home to just over half of the 121,525 people who had immigrated from France to Canada at the time of the 2021 Census of Population.
A surge in immigration from France
Immigration from France to Canada has been trending upward since the beginning of the millennium.
From 2001 to 2005, 12,000 people immigrated from France to Canada. This number rose to 14,550 from 2006 to 2010 and then to 18,675 from 2011 to 2015.
During the 2021 Census of Population, we counted 27,175 new immigrants arriving from France from 2016 to 2021, surpassing the number of immigrants from France who settled in Canada prior to 1980 (25,950).
Indeed, over half (55.5%) of immigrants from France to Canada have arrived since the beginning of the new millennium.
Just over three in four immigrants from France call Quebec home
Immigrants from France are found in every province and territory of Canada.
Not surprisingly, just over three in four (76.7%) immigrants from France were living in Quebec at the time of the 2021 Census of Population. Montréal had by far the largest share of immigrants from France at 63,235 people, with 15,295 arriving from 2016 to 2021. Quebec City had the next largest immigrant community from France at 10,240 people.
There were also significant communities of immigrants from France in Toronto (8,235 people) and Vancouver (4,360).
Calgary (1,385 people) had the largest immigrant community from France in the Prairies in 2021, while over half of the immigrants from France living in New Brunswick called Moncton home (550 people).
In 2021, 230 immigrants from France were living in the territories, with most living in Yukon (170 people).
Most visitors from France arrive in Montréal
France was Canada’s second most important tourist market with 641,500 visits in 2024, up 3.8% from one year earlier but 5.6% below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels of 2019. In 2024, The busiest airports for overseas arrivals from France were Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver international airports, with the international airport in Montréal seeing around five times as many arrivals from France as in the Toronto and Vancouver international airports combined.
France was the second most visited destination by Canadian residents travelling overseas in 2023, following Mexico. Canadian residents made 723,000 visits to France in 2023, up 30.3% from 2022 but 29.1% lower than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Canada’s exports to France are turbo-jet charged
Canadian businesses exported $4.4 billion worth of goods to France in 2024, making it Canada’s fifth most important European export market for the year. Canada exported over $1 billion worth of aircraft and aircraft parts to France in 2024. Other important exports included $366.8 million of natural uranium, fuel for France’s nuclear energy industry, $136.4 million of vaccines and $114.7 million of colza seed.
French imports to Canada are more refined
Canada imported $9.9 billion worth of goods from France in 2024. Similar to exports to France, Canadian imports of aircraft and aircraft parts from France amounted to over $1 billion in 2024. French cultural staples such as grape wine ($579.0 million), perfumes ($277.3 million) and handbags ($102.7 million) were among the more notable imports.
Canada’s second-closest neighbour
While France “proper” lies across the Atlantic, residents of the territorial collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a group of islands 25 kilometres south of Newfoundland and Labrador, are French citizens.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon had a population of 5,819 in 2022, down 3.1% from 2016. Some of these residents have immigrated to nearby Canada. During the 2021 Census of Population, we counted 355 immigrants from Saint Pierre and Miquelon, with over half living in Quebec (190), while 110 lived in Atlantic Canada and even some living across the continent in British Columbia (20).
From 2016 to 2021, 15 people immigrated from Saint Pierre and Miquelon to Canada.
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