Indian Citizens Dominate Canada’s 2019 Permanent Resident Arrivals

Colin R. Singer
February 4, 2020

2020-02-04 – Canada’s new permanent resident total for 2019 is set to be well over 340,000, with Indian citizens dominating the figures.

With December’s numbers still to be published by the federal government, the number of permanent residents welcomed in the first 11 months of the year is 320,300.

The figure is effectively the same as the 321,055 welcomed in the whole of 2018, with the totals for the previous three years all under 300,000.

Source: Government of Canada

Of the total for the first 11 months of 2019, 80,685 were Indian citizens.

Even if Canada registers the lowest monthly total of the year in December, the cumulative figure is highly likely to exceed the target of 330,800 new permanent residents published in the most recent immigration levels plan, released in October 2018.

Canada’s monthly totals of permanent residents ranged between 18,635 and 36,615 in the first 11 months of 2019. The second half of the year saw more than 30,000 new permanent residents welcomed in all but one month.

Canada Immigration Levels Targets

2019	2020	2021
330,800	341,000	350,000

In terms of new permanent residents by citizenship, Indians continue to dominate the totals.

The 80,685 Indians welcomed in the first 11 months of 2019 represents a quarter of the total figure.

The figure is more than double the number of Indians admitted just three years previously, in 2016.

It is also more than 10,000 more than the total figure for 2018, with one more month’s number still to be added.

The numbers show how crucial India has become as a source country for new Canadian immigrants.

Source: Government of Canada

The second most highly represented nationality is Chinese, with a total of 28,560 newcomers, which is 9 percent of the total, while the Philippines is third, with 26,200, or 8 percent.