Immigrant population by selected places of birth, admission category and period of immigration, 2021 Census

Table notes

Immigrants whose place of birth is Canada are excluded from the population universe.

Place of birth

For more information on the place of birth variables, including information on their classifications, the questions from which they are derived, data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Place of Birth, Generation Status, Citizenship and Immigration Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2021.

The official name of Bolivia is Plurinational State of Bolivia.

The official name of Venezuela is Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The official name of Moldova is Republic of Moldova.

Ireland is also referred to as Republic of Ireland.

The official name of United Kingdom is United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. United Kingdom includes Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland (excludes Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and British Overseas Territories).

The official name of Kosovo is Republic of Kosovo.

Serbia excludes Kosovo.

The official name of Tanzania is United Republic of Tanzania.

The full name of Sudan is the Republic of the Sudan.

The official name of Iran is Islamic Republic of Iran.

The official name of Syria is Syrian Arab Republic.

West Bank and Gaza Strip are the territories referred to in the Declaration of Principles, signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993. Includes responses of Palestine.

China excludes Hong Kong and Macao.

The full name of Hong Kong is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.

The official name of North Korea is Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The official name of South Korea is Republic of Korea.

The full name of Macao is Macao Special Administrative Region of China.

The official name of Laos is Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Period of Immigration

Period of immigration refers to the period in which the immigrant first obtained landed immigrant or permanent resident status.

For more information on immigration variables, including information on their classifications, the questions from which they are derived, data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Place of Birth, Generation Status, Citizenship and Immigration Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2021.

The category '2016 to 2021' includes immigrants who were admitted to Canada on or prior to May 11, 2021.

Admission category

'Admission category' refers to the name of the immigration program or group of programs under which an immigrant has been granted for the first time the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities.

'Applicant type' refers to whether an immigrant was identified as the principal applicant, the spouse or the dependant on their application for permanent residence.

'Immigrant' refers to a person who is, or who has ever been, a landed immigrant or permanent resident. Such a person has been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. Immigrants who have obtained Canadian citizenship by naturalization are included in this group. In the 2021 Census of Population, data on admission category and applicant type are available for immigrants who were admitted to Canada between January 1, 1980 and May 11, 2021.

'Economic immigrants' includes immigrants who have been selected for their ability to contribute to Canada's economy through their ability to meet labour market needs, to own and manage or to build a business, to make a substantial investment, to create their own employment or to meet specific provincial or territorial labour market needs.

'Worker programs' includes immigrants who have been selected for their ability to meet labour market needs. They were assessed on the basis of their skills and work experience, either as skilled workers, skilled trades workers or based on their Canadian work experience, including skilled work experience and work experience as caregivers.

'Skilled workers' includes immigrants who have been selected for their ability to meet specific labour needs as skilled workers. They were assessed on the basis of selection criteria such as their education, language abilities, and work experience in management, professional or technical jobs.

'Skilled trades workers' includes immigrants who have been selected by the federal government for their ability to meet labour needs in specific trades. They were assessed on the basis of selection criteria such as their education, language abilities and work experience in qualifying skilled trades jobs. They must have had a valid offer of full-time employment in a skilled trades occupation by a Canadian employer or a certificate of qualification in a skilled trades occupation issued by a provincial or territorial authority. They must have had the intention to reside in a province or territory other than Quebec. The first immigrants admitted under a program classified in this category landed in 2013.

'Canadian experience class' includes immigrants who have been selected by the federal government and were granted permanent resident status on the basis of their Canadian work experience. They were assessed on the basis of selection criteria such as their Canadian education, language abilities, and Canadian work experience in management, professional or technical jobs. In 2013, regulatory changes merged the worker and graduate streams so that Canadian work experience became central to the program. They must have had the intention to reside in a province or territory other than Quebec. The first immigrants admitted under a program classified in this category landed in 2009.

'Caregivers' includes immigrants who were granted permanent residence after providing care for children or care for seniors, people with disabilities, or people with chronic disease in Canada and for a determinate period of time. Most immigrants classified under this category worked as caregivers in a private residence in Canada during their qualifying period of temporary work. The first immigrants admitted under this category landed in 1982. Since then, this category has included caregivers under the Foreign Domestic Movement (1981-1992), the Live-in Caregiver Program (1992-2014), the Caring for Children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs pilots (2014-2019), and the Interim Pathway for Caregivers (2019). As of June 18, 2019, caregivers can apply for permanent residence through the Home Child Care Provider Pilot or Home Support Worker Pilot if they meet eligibility requirements.

'Atlantic immigration program' includes immigrants who want to work and live in one of the four Atlantic Provinces. They have been selected by the federal government and were granted permanent resident status on the basis of their Canadian experience. They were assessed on the basis of the following selection criteria: language, education, job offer, work experience (except for eligible international graduates of a recognized post-secondary institution in Atlantic Canada) and settlement fund requirements. The Atlantic Immigration Program is a pathway to permanent residence for skilled foreign workers and international graduates from a Canadian institution. It is an employer driven program to fill labour needs in the region. The first immigrants admitted under a program classified in this category landed in 2017.

'Business programs' includes immigrants who have been selected for their skills and potential to own and manage or to build a business, to make a substantial investment, or to create their own employment.

'Entrepreneurs' includes immigrants who have been selected for their skills and potential to own and manage or to build a qualifying business in Canada. This category includes the Start Up Visa Program.

'Investors' includes immigrants who were granted permanent resident status on the condition that they make a substantial investment in Canada. They must have had a minimum net worth and their investment was used in Canada for economic development and job creation. The first immigrants admitted under a program classified in this category landed in 1986. Investors selected by the federal government was closed in 2015. Investors selected by the Quebec government remains open.

'Self-employed' includes immigrants who were granted permanent resident status on the condition that they can, and intend to, create their own employment in Canada and contribute significantly to the Canadian economy or to the country's cultural or athletic life.

'Provincial Nominee Program' includes immigrants who have been nominated by a province or territory for their ability to contribute to the local economy and meet specific labour market and economic development needs. They were assessed on the basis of selection criteria such as their education, work experience and specific skills, and must have had the ability to economically establish. The federal government makes the final selection decision, but each participating province and territory determines its own criteria to nominate people who meet their labour market and economic development needs such as students, business people, skilled workers or semi-skilled workers. They must have had the intention to reside in the province or territory that nominated them. The province of Quebec and the territory of Nunavut don't have a provincial or territorial nominee program. The programs for each participating province and territory were put in place in different years. The first immigrants admitted under a program classified in this category landed in 1996, nominated by the province of Manitoba.

'Immigrants sponsored by family' includes immigrants who were sponsored by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and were granted permanent resident status on the basis of their relationship either as the spouse, partner, parent, grandparent, child or other relative of this sponsor. The terms 'family class' or 'family reunification' are sometimes used to refer to this category.

'Refugees' includes immigrants who were granted permanent resident status on the basis of a well-founded fear of returning to their home country. This category includes persons who had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in particular social group or for political opinion (Geneva Convention refugees) as well as persons who had been seriously and personally affected by civil war or armed conflict, or have suffered a massive violation of human rights. Some refugees were in Canada when they applied for refugee protection for themselves and their family members (either with them in Canada or abroad). Others were abroad and were referred for resettlement to Canada by the United Nations Refugee Agency, another designated referral organization or private sponsors.

'Protected persons in Canada or dependants abroad' includes immigrants who applied for refugee protection status while in Canada and who were granted permanent resident status on the basis of a well-founded fear of returning to their country of origin, as well as immigrants who were granted permanent resident status as their family members abroad. The first group includes persons who had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion (Geneva Convention refugees). The term 'refugees landed in Canada' was formerly used to refer to the protected persons in Canada. Data for this category are only available for immigrants who have landed since 1990.

'Resettled refugees' includes immigrants who have been selected abroad while outside of their home country or country where they normally lived and who were granted permanent resident status on the basis of a well-founded fear of returning to that country. The United Nations Refugee Agency, another designated referral organization or a private sponsor referred them for resettlement to Canada. This category includes persons who had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in particular social group or political opinion (Geneva Convention refugees) as well as persons who had been seriously and personally affected by civil war or armed conflict, or have suffered a massive violation of human rights.

'Other immigrants' includes immigrants who were granted permanent resident status under a program that does not fall under the economic immigrants, the immigrants sponsored by family or the refugee categories.