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Foreign Worker Immigration to Canada
Canada has long been a country that welcomes newcomers. The latest immigration statistics confirm how more and more people from all four corners of the globe are making a fresh start in Canada. During the first nine months of 2005, the total number of immigrants increased 10% over the same period in 2004, taking the total to over 206,000. Within that figure, the number of foreign workers entering the country grew by 5% to over 80,000.
More than 25% of these foreign workers made homes for themselves in the western provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. This region has a very high demand for skilled labour as strong economic growth in recent years has caused a significant shortage of specific skills.
Which countries are these workers coming from?
Canada’s largest source of foreign workers was the United States, with Mexico a close second. This partly reflects how NAFTA is allowing workers in North America to move around more freely.
In terms of most significant percentage changes, France saw a year-on-year increase of 13% in the number of workers leaving the country for Canada, followed by Japan at 11% and France at 9%.
The table below provides more details where Canada’s foreign workers come from.
Foreign Worker Flows by Top Ten Source Countries
Country of Last Permanent Residence |
2004 |
|
2005 |
|
Diff |
||||||||||
Total |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
YTD |
Q4 |
YTD |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
YTD |
YTD |
YTD 2005 / YTD 2004 |
|||
United States |
16,234 |
3,399 |
4,809 |
4,786 |
12,994 |
3,240 |
1 |
3,113 |
4,840 |
5,029 |
12,982 |
1 |
0% |
||
Mexico |
11,476 |
2,620 |
5,843 |
2,861 |
11,324 |
152 |
2 |
3,047 |
6,265 |
3,036 |
12,348 |
2 |
9% |
||
France |
6,546 |
1,493 |
2,365 |
1,667 |
5,525 |
1,021 |
4 |
1,668 |
2,756 |
1,827 |
6,251 |
3 |
13% |
||
Jamaica |
5,935 |
974 |
2,132 |
2,763 |
5,869 |
66 |
3 |
1,117 |
2,263 |
2,692 |
6,072 |
4 |
3% |
||
Japan |
5,446 |
1,217 |
2,309 |
1,522 |
5,048 |
398 |
6 |
1,644 |
2,644 |
1,295 |
5,583 |
5 |
11% |
||
United Kingdom |
7,530 |
1,259 |
1,877 |
1,936 |
5,072 |
2,458 |
5 |
1,344 |
1,806 |
1,731 |
4,881 |
6 |
-4% |
||
Philippines |
5,713 |
1,307 |
1,367 |
1,706 |
4,380 |
1,333 |
7 |
1,333 |
1,557 |
1,621 |
4,511 |
7 |
3% |
||
Australia |
7,211 |
1,625 |
1,317 |
1,147 |
4,089 |
3,122 |
8 |
1,520 |
1,467 |
1,236 |
4,223 |
8 |
3% |
||
India |
2,944 |
705 |
609 |
1,002 |
2,316 |
628 |
9 |
850 |
773 |
751 |
2,374 |
9 |
3% |
||
Germany |
2,379 |
465 |
610 |
913 |
1,988 |
391 |
10 |
603 |
634 |
916 |
2,153 |
10 |
8% |
||
Total – Top Ten Only |
71,414 |
15,064 |
23,238 |
20,303 |
58,605 |
12,809 |
|
16,239 |
25,005 |
20,134 |
61,378 |
|
5% |
||
Total – Other Countries |
21,902 |
4,133 |
6,705 |
7,124 |
17,962 |
3,940 |
4,360 |
7,371 |
7,509 |
19,240 |
7% |
||||
Total |
93,316 |
19,197 |
29,943 |
27,427 |
76,567 |
16,749 |
20,599 |
32,376 |
27,643 |
80,618 |
5% |
||||
Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada Website www.cic.gc.ca