Immigration to Canada rebounded in July from its slump in June, bringing the total number of new permanent residents to the country in the first seven months of this year back to almost exactly the same level as last year, the latest data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reveals.
In June, the number of new permanent residents to Canada had softened by 4.9 per cent .
But monthly immigration spiked back up 6.9 per cent in July with 47,770 new permanent residents being welcomed to Canada.
That brought the total number of new permanent residents to the country in the first seven months of this year to 303,640, just a tad under the 304,125 who arrived during the comparable period in 2023.
Last year, the rate of immigration to Canada slowed during the latter half of the year but the country still ended 2023 with a record-breaking 471,815 new permanent residents for that year.
Based on the trend in immigration during the first seven months of this year, Canada could surpass last year’s level of immigration by 10.3 per cent and welcome 520,536 new permanent residents in 2024.
That projected level of immigration would also be 7.3 per cent more than the 485,000 new permanent residents Canada has indicated it will welcome into the country under its 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan.
It would even be higher than the immigration target of 500,000 new permanent residents for each of next year and 2026.
Canada’s biggest province by population, Ontario, was the most popular destination for newcomers in the first seven months of this year with 126,185 new permanent residents choosing to settle there.
That means the central Canadian province was the destination of choice of about 41.6 per cent of all immigrants to Canada during the first seven months of this year.
Economic programs, including the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), Agri-Food Immigration Pilot (AFIP), Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Caregiver programs, Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP), Federal Skilled Trades (FST) and Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) programs, the Start-Up Visa (SUV) and Self-Employed Persons (SEP) programs, and the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway accounted for about 52.5 per cent of all new permanent residents coming to Ontario during the first seven months of this year.
Those programs helped 66,240 new permanent residents arrive in Ontario during that period.
Prince Edward Island Saw Biggest Spike In Immigration In July
Another 30,045 new permanent residents arrived in Ontario through family sponsorships and 23,505 came to that province through Canada’s refugee and protected persons programs from January through to the end of July.
The other provinces and territories attracted the following number of new permanent residents during those seven months.
- Newfoundland and Labrador – 3,690
- Prince Edward Island – 2,905
- Nova Scotia – 9,690
- New Brunswick – 10,455
- Quebec – 36,915
- Manitoba – 16,190
- Saskatchewan – 15,515
- Alberta – 40,635
- British Columbia – 40,510
- Yukon – 650
- Northwest Territories – 255
- Nunavut – 30
Across the country, the Atlantic Canadian province of Prince Edward Island saw the biggest percentage jump in monthly immigration in July with an increase of 35 per cent followed by its neighbours, Newfoundland and Labrador, which saw a bump up of 19.6 per cent, and Nova Scotia where monthly immigration rose by 13.9 per cent.
Immigration did not rise in all of the Atlantic Canadian provinces, though. In New Brunswick, immigration dipped by 1.3 per cent in July compared to the previous month.
Across the country, immigration rose by 9.4 per cent in Quebec in July, 7.8 per cent in Ontario, 5.7 per cent in Manitoba, 2.5 per cent in Saskatchewan, and 16.5 per cent in British Columbia.
Immigration To Yukon Jumped In July
The only other province to see a drop in immigration in July was Alberta where monthly immigration fell 4.7 per cent that month.
Among Canada’s territories, the Yukon saw a gain of 53.3 per cent in monthly immigration in July while the Northwest Territories saw the number of new permanent residents arriving that month fall by 63.6 per cent.
For the seven months that ended in July, immigration to each one of Canada’s 10 provinces was exactly at the level where it was at the end of the comparable period last year.
Canada operates a two-tier immigration system which allows foreign nationals to gain their permanent residency through the federal Express Entry system’s FSW, FST, and CEC programs and as well as the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) of the 10 Canadian provinces.
Temporary immigration to Canada, which skyrocketed during the pandemic, is expected to come under an immigration levels plan in September, Immigration Minister Marc Miller has announced.
