Last Updated on septembre 8, 2016

Canada received the highest number of immigrants for at least 45 years in the first three months of 2016, according to the latest figures.

A Statistics Canada report shows 86,216 new immigrants entered the country between January 1 and April 1, as the Liberal government made good on its election pledge to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees.

The figures are the highest since the current way of counting immigrants was introduced, back in 1971.

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“Canada has never received this number of immigrants in a single quarter,” the StatsCan report points out. The previous record was set in the third quarter of 2010, when 84,292 new immigrants came into the country.

As a result, Canada’s population growth also spiked during the first quarter of 2016, rising by 106,966 people to 36,155,487.

This was the largest rise for a first quarter since 1989, when a population increase of 115,420 was recorded.

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These high levels of immigration should come as no surprise, as Immigration Minister John McCallum told parliament in March that he expected record numbers of newcomers in 2016.

McCallum’s report predicted up to 305,000 immigrants would be admitted, spearheaded by Syrian refugees.

If the first quarter numbers were repeated throughout the year, approaching 330,000 new immigrants will have been accepted come January 2017.

McCallum’s report predicted a slight drop in the number of economic class migrants in a shift towards a humanitarian and family reunification immigration policy.

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Canada’s Immigration Plan in Numbers

Immigration Category	Category	Low	High	Target
Economic	Federal Economic- High Skilled	54,000	59,000	58,400
	Federal Economic- Caregivers	20,000	22,000	22,000
	Federal Economic- Business	500	900	800
	Provincial Nominee Program	46,000	48,000	47,800
	Quebec Skilled Worker	25,500	27,000	26,200
	Quebec Business	5,2000	5, 500	5,400
	Economic Total	151,200	162,400	160,400
Family	Spouses, Partners & Children	57,000	62,000	60,000
	Parents & GrandParents	18,000	20,000	20,000
	Family Total	75,000	82,000	80,000
Refugees & Protected Persons	Protected Persons in Canada & dependants in abroad	10,000	11,000	10,000
	Resettled Refugees	41,000	46,000	44,800
	Government-Assisted Refugees	24,000	25,000	24,600
	Blended Visa Office-Referred	2,000	3,000	2,400
	Privately Sponsored Refugees	15,000	18,000	17,800
	Refugees & Protected Persons Total	51,000	57,000	55,800
Humanitarian and Other	Humanitarian and Other	2,800	3,600	3,600
Overall Total		280,000	305,000	300,000

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Since coming to power in October 2015, the Liberal government has admitted 27,580 Syrian refugees into the country through both private and public sponsorship. The previous Conservative government’s plan was to admit 11,000 over three years.

The influx has not happened without teething problems, including some criticism of the process by one of the leading groups trying to facilitate private sponsorship.

But overall the program has boosted Canada’s reputation among the nations of the world, where negative attitudes towards immigrants makes the process of accepting more refugees difficult.

A recent report concluded Canada’s positive attitude towards immigration was born out of the country’s long history of welcoming new people, and its way of involving the whole society in immigration policy.

Several reviews are underway as part of a wide-ranging look at Canada’s immigration policy.

Some of the expected changes include a look at how skilled IT professionals can be brought in more quickly, how international students are scored under the Express Entry system, and how the Temporary Foreign Worker Program can be altered to avoid exploitation.

Interested employers: Kindly contact us here to receive further information.

Interested candidates: Find out whether you qualify to Canada by completing our free on-line evaluation. We will provide you with our evaluation within 1-2 business days.

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