Migration: International, 2010 and 2011

View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Archived

This page has been archived on the Web.

by Jonathan Chagnon

[Full article in PDF]

Skip to text

• Immigration plan and number of immigrants admitted to Canada
• Category of admission of immigrants to Canada
• Place of birth of immigrants to Canada
• Destination of immigrants
• Age and sex distribution of the immigrant population
• Notes

Text begins

This article presents a portrait of recent trends in immigration in Canada, within an historical and international context, where possible. It also provides an analysis of immigration by category of admission of immigrants to Canada in 2010 and 2011, by place of birth and provincial or territorial destination as well on the age and sex distribution of the immigrant population. Source data for this article on international migration flows to Canada come from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), unless otherwise noted, and refer only to permanent residents.¹

Immigration plan and number of immigrants admitted to Canada

CIC produces an annual immigration plan with a target range of immigrants to be admitted into Canada on a permanent basis. Between 2007 and 2011, the planned range was between 240,000 and 265,000 immigrants (Table 1). The actual number of immigrants admitted to Canada in 2010 was 280,700, slightly exceeding this target range. The high number of immigrants admitted in 2010 resulted from a combination of specific factors, including the expedited processing of applications to reduce the backlog that had accumulated over the years, an increase in the number of economic immigrant admissions that was announced mid-year, an increase in the number of refugees admitted in response to events such as the earthquake in Haiti, and the success of the Provincial Nominee Program, among other factors.² Data for 2011 indicate the admission of 248,700 immigrants, a level that falls within the established range. The target range for the number of immigrants planned to be admitted to Canada on a permanent basis in 2012 and 2013 remains the same as for the 2007 to 2011 period.

Along with random fluctuations in the number of immigrants admitted to Canada from year to year, certain patterns can be associated with specific historical events over the last century. The highest recorded number of immigrants was in 1913, when more than 400,000 immigrants entered the country, a time when settlement of the Western provinces was being encouraged (Figure 1). Fewer immigrants were admitted to Canada between 1915 and 1918, the time of World War I, and especially between 1931 and 1945, the time of the Great Depression and World War II. Immigration was again high in 1957 as 282,200 immigrants arrived in Canada, including a number of Hungarian refugees and numerous British immigrants seeking increased political stability.³

The immigration rate is the ratio between the number of immigrants admitted into a host country in a given period and the average size of the country’s population, expressed per 1,000 population. This indicator can be used to compare the level of immigration over time as well as between countries.

The immigration rate in Canada was 8.2 immigrants per 1,000 population in 2010, up from 7.5 immigrants per 1,000 population in 2009. The data for 2011 indicate that the immigration rate was 7.2 immigrants per 1,000 population, reflecting a return to a level closer to the average in recent years. The immigration rate has been fairly stable over the past decade, ranging from 7.0 immigrants per 1,000 population in 2003 to 8.2 immigrants per 1,000 population in 2010.

However, historical patterns of immigration to Canada have shown large fluctuations, such as the record high immigration rate of 52.5 immigrants per 1,000 population in 1913 and the low immigration rates of fewer than one immigrant per 1,000 population in the early 1940s. The immigration rate in the past 50 years has not exceeded the 1967 rate of 10.9 immigrants per 1,000 population. It was in 1967 that the “points” system for admission to Canada for the Economic Class category was introduced, which placed greater emphasis on economic criteria, such as education, knowledge of an official language and the ability to join the labour market. Before the 1960s, admission had been largely restricted to immigrants from Europe and the United States.

At the international level, Canada’s net migration rate,⁴ which is the difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants per 1,000 population, is relatively high compared to the rate of other industrialized countries. For example, Canada’s 2010 net migration rate of 6.9 per 1,000 population was higher than the rates of a number of industrialized countries, including Sweden (5.3), the United States (2.3), the Russian Federation (1.8) and France (1.2). Only a few countries, such as Australia (12.7) and Norway (8.6), had a higher net migration rate than that of Canada in recent years. A small number of countries, including Japan (-0.6), had a negative net migration rate, meaning that more people left the country than arrived.⁵

Overall, the number of immigrants entering Canada every year is a small percentage of the country’s total population. In 2011, the number of immigrants admitted to Canada accounted for 0.7% of the population, and for more than 50 years, the percentage has been equal to or less than 1.1%. However, the effect on the total population is cumulative and, while some immigrants will leave the population through death or emigration, many more will remain in Canada. According to the 2011 National Household Survey, nearly one in five Canadians (20.6%) was foreign-born. One study comparing the size and proportion of the foreign-born population on the basis of data projected to 2010 found that, of all the countries examined, the United States had the largest number of immigrants (42.8 million) within its population.⁶ By comparison, Canada’s immigrant population was approximately 6.8 million as observed in the data from the 2011 National Household Survey.⁷ However, recent data indicates that the proportion of the foreign-born population was higher in Canada (20.6%) and Australia (26.8%) than in the United States (13.1%).⁸ It is projected that at least one-quarter (25% to 28%) of the Canadian population could be foreign-born by 2031.⁹

Category of admission of immigrants to Canada

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), which came into effect in June 2002, is the legal federal framework for immigration, and identifies the four main categories under which permanent immigrants are admitted into the country.¹⁰ CIC is responsible for the application of this law and sets the overall target level of immigration for Canada as well as for each of the specific categories of immigrants (Table 1): ¹¹

• Economic Class: skilled workers, business immigrants, provincial and territorial nominees, the Canadian Experience Class,¹² and live-in caregivers, as well as their spouses or partners and their dependents;
• Family Class: spouses or partners, dependent children, parents, grandparents and other close relatives sponsored by Canadian citizens and permanent residents;
• Protected Persons: government-assisted refugees, privately sponsored refugees and persons who received protected person status in Canada as a result of a positive asylum claim; and
• Other: the IRPA gives Citizenship and Immigration Canada the authority to grant permanent resident status to individuals and families who would not otherwise qualify in any category—for example, in cases where there are strong humanitarian and compassionate considerations, or for public policy reasons. These discretionary provisions provide the flexibility to approve deserving cases not anticipated in the legislation.

In addition, 2008 marked the beginning of a program to modernize the Canadian immigration system. Among other things, the IRPA was amended to add the Canadian Experience Class to the economic immigration category. Immigrants applying under the Canadian Experience Class must know English or French and must have acquired skilled work experience in Canada, which may be augmented by graduation from a Canadian postsecondary institution.

During 2011, sets of ministerial instructions were implemented to support economic growth and expedite processing of requests. A first set limited the intake of new applications. Another set, for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, prioritized the applications of applicants with experience in specific in-demand occupations, to better meet the needs of the labour market. Also, the Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification was launched to address the growing backlog in the Parents and Grandparents Program, and a new set of ministerial instructions introduced a temporary pause in the intake of new sponsorship applications.¹³

CIC plans to continue modernizing the immigration system over the next few years, and other measures will be implemented to better meet Canada’s economic needs.

Although the range for the total number of immigrants did not change between 2007 and 2011, the ranges for specific categories of immigrants varied. For 2010, the plan proposed increasing the number of economic immigrants (between 156,300 and 166,800) in comparison to the previous year (Table 1). In that year, the actual number of economic immigrants admitted was 186,900, exceeding the target range and accounting for approximately two-thirds (66.6%) of all immigrants admitted in 2010. For 2011, the plan suggested a range of 150,600 to 161,300 for economic immigrants, and 156,100 immigrants have been admitted (62.8% of all immigrants), which is within the target range. In each year since 1995, more than half of all immigrants to Canada have been economic immigrants (Table 2). Since 2008, despite the recession, the proportion of economic immigrants to Canada has exceeded 60%. This is in contrast to the economic recession in the early 1980s, when admission under the economic category was possible only for immigrants with prearranged employment. During that period, there were several years when the proportion of family class immigrants was greater than that of economic immigrants.

The family class is currently the second largest category of immigrants; these immigrants are admitted to Canada for purposes of family reunification. The target range for family class immigrants was 57,000 to 63,000 in 2010 and 58,500 to 65,500 in 2011, which is lower than in 2009. The actual number of permanent residents admitted under the family class was 60,200 in 2010 and 56,500 in 2011, accounting for slightly more than one in five immigrants admitted in those years (21.5% and 22.7%, respectively). These levels are below the average of 64,800 (more than one in four immigrants, or 26.9%) observed in the previous 10 years. These percentages are also lower than in the 1980s and 1990s, when the proportion of permanent residents admitted under the family class sometimes accounted for more than 40% of all immigrants. The target range for the family class in 2012 is 59,800 to 69,000 immigrants.

The third category for which CIC provides target range is protected persons, although the number of protected persons accepted to Canada may exceed the target during times of international crisis, such as war or political conflict, natural disasters or other humanitarian circumstances. The actual numbers of protected persons admitted in 2010 and 2011 fell within the target ranges of 19,600 to 26,000 in 2010 and 23,200 to 29,000 in 2011. In 2010, Canada accepted 24,700 protected persons, which accounted for 8.8% of all immigrants admitted that year. However, the proportion of protected persons in 2010 was less than one-third of the proportion in 1980 (28.2%) and less than the proportion at any time in the 1980s and early 1990s. Data for 2011 show the arrival of 27,900 permanent residents admitted as protected persons, the highest level since 2007, accounting for 11.2% of all immigrants admitted that year. This percentage is close to the average of the previous decade (11.7%).

The IRPA gives CIC the authority to accept foreign nationals who would not otherwise meet the requirements of the Act. In 2010, 8,800 immigrants were admitted under this category, accounting for 3.2% of all immigrants admitted that year and falling within the target range of 7,100 to 9,200. Most of these persons obtained permanent residence on the basis of humanitarian considerations. In 2011, the proposed range for the “other” category was 7,700 to 9,200 immigrants, and 8,300 were actually accepted, or 3.3% of all immigrants admitted that year, which is similar to the level observed in 2010. In 2012, the target range was lowered slightly.

Place of birth of immigrants to Canada

Asia, including the Middle East, was the main source region of immigrants to Canada in 2010 and 2011, as it had been in previous years. In 2010, 7 of the top 10 countries of origin were in Asia, while 6 of the top 10 were Asian in 2011. These countries were the Philippines, India, China,¹⁴ Iran, Pakistan, Iraq and South Korea¹⁵ (in 2010 only) (Table 3). Overall, Asian countries accounted for 58.7% of all immigrants to Canada in 2010 and 59.3% in 2011.

The Philippines was the most common place of birth of immigrants to Canada in 2010 (38,300) and 2011 (36,500). This was the first time since 1983 that China was not the most common place of birth. The number of permanent residents from the Philippines rose between 2002 and 2010, while the number from China fell between 2005 and 2007, and then levelled off near the 2011 level. The gap between the two countries therefore closed steadily between 2005 and 2010.

The share of immigrants from the Philippines in 2010 and 2011 accounted for 13.6% and 14.7%, respectively, of all immigrants admitted to Canada. Nearly 9 in 10 immigrants (87.6% in 2010 and 87.2% in 2011) from the Philippines are economic immigrants, while the remaining 1 in 10 belongs to family class immigrants.

India was the second most common place of birth of immigrants to Canada in 2010 (33,500 persons), as it had been since 1995. However, it slipped to third place in 2011 (27,000 persons), behind the Philippines and China. The proportion of immigrants from India decreased from 11.9% in 2010 to 10.8% in 2011, the lowest percentage since 1999 (9.9%). Approximately two-thirds (65.8% in 2010 and 68.6% in 2011) of immigrants from India were economic immigrants and approximately one-third were family class immigrants.

In 2010, China was in third place (31,800 immigrants). That was the first time since 1980 that China was not one of the top two places of birth. In 2011, China was in second place again, even though the number of immigrants dropped to 30,000. The proportion of immigrants from China was 11.3% in 2010 and 12.1% in 2011. Economic immigrants accounted for three-quarters (73.4%) of all immigrants from China in 2010 and a slightly smaller proportion (68.8%) in 2011. Family class immigrants accounted for slightly more than one-fifth (22.0%) of all immigrants from China in 2010 and one-quarter (25.2%) of the immigrants from China in 2011.

The Philippines, China and India, which have been the top three countries since 2004, together accounted for more than one-third of all immigrants to Canada in 2010 (36.9%) and 2011 (37.6%). This percentage has been steadily rising since 2007, but remains slightly below the peak level of 2005 (37.7%) and well below the level reached in the mid-1990s (42.8%).

A number of other Asian countries in the top 10 have changed positions in recent years. Iran rose from 8th place in 2008 (6,600 immigrants, or 2.7% of all immigrants admitted that year) to 4th place in 2011 (7,500 or 3.0%). Pakistan went from the 7th place in 2010 (6,300 or 2.3%), to the 6th place in 2011 (7,000 or 2.8%). Iraq has risen significantly in recent years, from 28th place in 2006 to 8th place in 2011 (6,000 or 2.4%). More than 7 in 10 immigrants (71.2% in 2010 and 76.6% in 2011) from Iraq entered as protected persons. Lastly, South Korea dropped from 10th place in 2010 to 11th place in 2011 (4,600 or 1.9%).

In 2010, for the first time since comparable data became available (1980), Canada accepted a greater proportion of immigrants from Africa (13.8%) than from Europe (13.3%). Data for 2011 show that the gap widened between the two continents, with Africa accounting for 13.6% of all immigrants admitted compared to 11.9% for Europe.

Since 2003, the proportion of immigrants from Africa has been greater than 10%, which is twice the average recorded during the 1980s. In 2010, Morocco was among the top 10 countries of origin, with close to 6,200 persons (2.2%). In 2010, nearly 8 in 10 immigrants were economic immigrants, and slightly fewer than 1 in 5 were family class immigrants. Data for 2011 show that Morocco slipped to 12th place, as the number of immigrants from that country dropped to 4,400 (1.8%).

In 2010, Europe was the birth place of 37,400 immigrants, the lowest number since 2003. Of those immigrants, 7,600 were from the United Kingdom, putting that country in fourth place. Data for 2011 show the arrival of 29,700 immigrants from Europe, or 11.9% of all immigrants that year. This percentage is nearly three times lower than that in 1981 (34.8%).

The Americas was the birthplace of 36,800 immigrants to Canada in 2010, representing 13.1% of all immigrants admitted that year. Of those, 13,300 (4.7%) were from North or Central America, including 7,600 from the United States, putting that country in fifth place. In 2010, approximately 4 in 10 immigrants (44.6%) were economic immigrants, nearly 4 in 10 (39.7%) were family class immigrants and slightly fewer than 1 in 10 (8.7%) were protected persons. Data for 2011 show the arrival of 7,100 immigrants from the United States.

In 2010, the number of immigrants from the Caribbean and Bermuda was greater than 10,000 for the first time since 1995. The number from Haiti rose sharply following the January 2010 earthquake, and those immigrants represented 1.7% of all immigrants that year. The percentage grew to 2.6% (6,500 persons) in 2011, putting Haiti in 7th place, up significantly from 26th place in 2009. In 2011, 38.2% of all immigrants from Haiti were economic immigrants, 32.6% were protected persons and 23.8% were family class immigrants.

South America was the place of origin of 4.5% of all immigrants in 2010 and 4.3% of all immigrants in 2011. Colombia is the only South American country in the top 15 countries of origin for 2010 and 2011. The proportion of immigrants from Colombia has remained at 1.9% since 2009. In 2011, the protected persons and economic categories each accounted for approximately 4 in 10 immigrants (43.3% and 39.5%, respectively) from Colombia.

Destination of immigrants

Although most immigrants continue to settle mainly in the three most populated provinces, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, the proportion of immigrants who choose one of those provinces has been dropping steadily since the early 2000s, it fell below 75% in 2011 (74.8%), even though the proportion 10 years earlier (in 2001) was close to 9 in 10 (89.7%) (Table 4).

The percentage of immigrants who settled in Ontario in 2010 and 2011 remained the highest of all the provinces and territories. However, it has been dropping in the last few years, possibly as a result of initiatives like the Provincial Nominee Program, which encourages immigrants to settle in other provinces. The Provincial Nominee Program grants provinces and territories the authority to recruit immigrants to meet their specific economic needs.¹⁶ Nearly 6 in 10 immigrants to Canada went to Ontario in 2001, but that number has now dropped to 4 in 10 in 2010 (42.1%) and 2011 (40.0%). In 2011, 1 in 2 immigrants (51.7%) to Ontario were economic immigrants, down from 58.7% in 2010 and among the lowest levels of all the provinces and territories. Only the Northwest Territories and Nunavut had a lower proportion of economic immigrants. However, Ontario was among the provinces and territories that accepted the largest proportion of protected persons (11.8% in 2010 and 16.0% in 2011). Only in Newfoundland and Labrador was the proportion higher. Ontario also accepted more family class immigrants than the national average.

In 2010 and 2011, Quebec accepted approximately 1 in 5 immigrants, ranking it second of all the provinces and territories. In 2010, 19.2% of immigrants went to Quebec, while data for 2011 show that the proportion increased to 20.8%, the highest percentage in 20 years. Close to 7 in 10 immigrants were economic immigrants, which is above the national average.

British Columbia and Alberta were the third and fourth most popular destinations, respectively, for immigrants to Canada in 2010 and 2011. Alberta has attracted an increasing number of immigrants since the early 2000s, while the proportion of immigrants to British Columbia was falling over the last four years, so that the gap between the two provinces has gradually narrowed. The proportion of immigrants going to British Columbia and Alberta were, respectively, 14.0% and 12.4% in 2011 (15.7% and 11.6% in 2010), compared to 16.5% and 6.3% in 2000. In 2010, slightly fewer than 7 in 10 immigrants to the two provinces were economic immigrants (69.9% for British Columbia and 68.6% for Alberta); in 2011, the proportion fell slightly to 63.0% and 67.0%, respectively. As well, 29.1% of all immigrants to British Columbia in 2011 were family class immigrants, the highest proportion of all the provinces (excluding the territories).

The proportion of immigrants to Manitoba and Saskatchewan has grown significantly in recent years. In 2010, 5.6% of all immigrants to Canada settled in Manitoba; in 2011, this percentage rose to 6.4%. The proportion of immigrants who choose to settle in Manitoba has been increasing since the early 2000s, when around 2.0% of all immigrants went to that province. Saskatchewan’s proportion of immigrants reached 3.6% in 2011, up from 2.7% in 2009 and 2010. These proportions are the largest in more than 60 years, that is, since 1950 (3.9%). More than 8 in 10 immigrants to Manitoba and Saskatchewan were economic immigrants, which is among the highest levels in Canada, along with Prince Edward Island and Yukon. These trends suggest that these provinces may be targeting economic immigrants through the Provincial Nominee Program.

Less than 1% of all immigrants to Canada in 2010 and 2011 went to each of the Atlantic provinces. In 2010, 0.9% of all immigrants went to Prince Edward Island, the highest proportion in 60 years. In 2011, the percentage fell slightly to 0.7%. Since 2005, the share of immigrants to Prince Edward Island has risen. More than 9 in 10 immigrants (95.9% in 2010 and 92.5% in 2011) to Prince Edward Island were economic immigrants, which suggests that the province may benefit from the Provincial Nominee Program. In 2010 and 2011, 0.9% of all immigrants to Canada settled in Nova Scotia and 0.8% in New Brunswick. Newfoundland and Labrador remains the province (territories excluded) with the smallest proportion of immigrants (0.3%). Fewer than 6 in 10 immigrants to that province (58.8% in 2010 and 57.4% in 2011) were economic immigrants, which is below the national average. However, Newfoundland and Labrador is the province that accepts the largest proportion of protected persons (22.4% in 2010 and 21.3% in 2011).

Age and sex distribution of the immigrant population

In both 2010 and 2011, slightly more than half (51%) of immigrants to Canada were women, but the proportion varies depending on the category of admission. While the share of female economic immigrants (49.2% in 2010 and 48.7% in 2011) and the share of female protected persons (49.0% in 2010 and 49.9% in 2011) accounted for about half of the immigrants in each category, they represented a larger proportion of the family class immigrants (58.6% in 2010 and 57.9% in 2011) (Table 5).

The share of immigrants by sex varies also among the top 10 countries of origin. In 2010, the proportion of women was higher than 51% for immigrants from the Philippines (56.6%), South Korea (53.4%) and China (53.2%), while men accounted for more than 51% of all immigrants from the United Kingdom (55.5%), Morocco (53.8%) and Iran (51.4%). In 2011, women represented more than 51% of all immigrants for 4 of the top 10 countries of origin, namely Haiti (57.4%), the Philippines (53.9%), China (53.3%) and Colombia (51.5%). Conversely, men accounted for more than 51% for only one country of origin, the United Kingdom (56.8%) (Figure 2).

Slightly fewer than 6 in 10 immigrants to Canada in 2010 and 2011 (57.5% in 2010 and 57.8% in 2011) were in the 20-to-44 age group, making it the largest immigrant age group. Immigrants 45 years and older accounted for about 15% of all immigrants to Canada (14.9% in 2010 and 15.0% in 2011), while immigrants under age 20 represented more than one-quarter of all immigrants (27.6% in 2010 and 27.2% in 2011) (Figure 3).

In addition, the foreign-born population is younger than the general Canadian population. In 2011, the median age of immigrants was 30.2 years, nearly 10 years less than the median age of Canadians in general (39.9 years).¹⁷ In the last three decades, the age structure of the Canadian population has aged, while the median age of immigrants has increased only slightly. Consequently, the gap between the median ages of immigrants and Canadians in general was 2.6 years in 1981, but 9.7 years in 2011. During this period, the median age of immigrants rose from 26.9 to 30.2, while that of the general population rose from 29.5 to 39.9.

The median age of immigrants varies by category of admission. In 2010 and 2011, the median age of protected persons was the youngest (26.9 in 2010 and 27.4 in 2011) and that of immigrants in the “other” category was the oldest (33.5 in 2010 and 32.4 in 2011). The median age of economic immigrants (30.3 in 2010 and 30.2 in 2011) and that of family class immigrants (30.3 in 2010 and 30.4 in 2011) was close to the median age for all categories (30.2 in both years).

The median age also varies depending on the country of origin. Of the top 10 countries of origin in 2010, the median age was older than 32 years for immigrants from South Korea (32.6) and China (32.2), and younger than 30 for immigrants from India (29.9), Iraq (29.7), Pakistan (28.6) and the United States (22.9). In 2011, the median age was older than 32 years for immigrants from 3 of the top 10 countries of origin, namely Haiti (32.7), Iran (32.6) and China (32.4), and younger than 30 years for immigrants from three other countries of origin, namely Iraq (28.4), Pakistan (28.3) and the United States (21.9).

The overall median age of immigrants to Canada varies little by sex. In 2010, the median age of male and female immigrants was 30.5 years and 29.9 years, respectively; in 2011, it was 30.5 years for men and 29.8 years for women. In 2010, the median age of male immigrants was generally older than that of female immigrants for the top 10 countries of origin; in 2011, that was true for only half of those countries. In 2010, female immigrants from Iraq, the Philippines and the United States were older than their male counterparts; in 2011, that was true for female immigrants from Iraq, the Philippines, the United States, Haiti and Colombia.

Notes

1. Although the source data are from CIC, there may be differences in how data are aggregated in this document compared with CIC.
2. Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 2011. Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, 2011.
3. Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Forging our Legacy: Canadian Citizenship and Immigration, 1900–1977, accessed February 4, 2013.
4. See glossary for more information.
5. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 2010. “International migration database”, OECD International Migration Statistics (database): data from 2008 to 2010, accessed February 5, 2013.
6. Pison, G. 2010. “The Number and Proportion of Immigrants in the Population: International Comparisons”, Population and Societies, no. 472.
7. Statistics Canada. 2013. 2011 National Household Survey: Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity in Canada, catalogue no. 99-010-X.
8. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 2013. “Immigrant and foreign population”, OECD Factbook 2013: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics, OECD Publishing, data for 2010.
9. Caron-Malenfant, E., A. Lebel and L. Martel. 2010. Projections of the Diversity of the Canadian Population, 2006 to 2031, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 91-551-XPE.
10. Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 2012. Facts and figures 2011: Immigration overview—Permanent and temporary residents.
11. Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 2012. Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, 2012.
12. Starting in 2008.
13. Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 2012. Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, 2012.
14. In this article, China includes the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, the Hong Kong SAR, Macau and the Macau SAR. Adjustments have been made to establish historical trends. There may be differences in how data are aggregated in this document compared with CIC.
15. The official name is the Republic of Korea.
16. In 2011, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and all of the provinces had signed individual agreements with the federal government. All of the agreements are indefinite, except for the Ontario agreement, which expires in May 2015, the British Columbia agreement, which expires in April 2015, and the Northwest Territories agreement, which expires in August 2013. The Canada-Quebec Accord grants Quebec the authority to set annual immigration targets and select immigrants admitted to that province. Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, 2012.
17. Statistics Canada. 2012. Annual Demographic Estimates: Canada, Province and Territories, catalogue no. 91-215-XIE.