Canada’s population grew faster in 2008 due to an increase in net international migration

As of October 1, 2008, Canada's population was estimated at 33,441,300, up 335,900 people, or one per cent, from January 1, 2008. All provinces and territories, except Northwest Territories, recorded population increase but demographic growth remained higher in Western Canada.

Based on 2006 Census counts, the Canadian Statistics Agency confirmed that this advance in population growth was mainly due to a rise in net international migration which, at 240,700, reached its highest level since the end of the 1980s.

This upward movement in net international migration was due to an increase in both the number of permanent and non-permanent residents.

Since the beginning of the year, Canada has received 194,600 new immigrants, 12,900 more than last year for the same period.

The number of non-permanent residents in Canada also rose by more than 79,500 from January to September. Higher net numbers of non-permanent residents were observed in almost every province and territory, especially in Quebec and in the four western provinces, where the levels topped 2008 highs.

The rise of net population inflows resulting from international migration from January to September 2008 has affected population dynamics in almost all regions of the country, except Northwest Territories. Every province saw their demographic growth increase compared with the same period of 2007.

However, demographic growth remained higher in Western Canada. Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon all had growth rates higher than the national level. East of Manitoba, only Prince Edward Island outpaced the national level.

For a fourth consecutive quarter, Alberta led all the other provinces in demographic growth, posting a rate of 0.72 per cent, nearly twice the national rate. The province's growth was mainly attributable to a resurgence in interprovincial migration and a strong increase in its number of non-permanent residents. Alberta's rate of growth in non-permanent residents has been the highest of all the provinces since the fourth quarter of 2006.

Saskatchewan had the highest net interprovincial migration rate in Canada in the third quarter of 2008. Its population has been growing at a faster rate than the national level since the second quarter of 2007.

Manitoba and British Columbia both posted demographic growth above the national level in 2008. Manitoba posted its highest quarterly increase between April and July since the third quarter of 1982.

In Eastern Canada, all Atlantic provinces recorded population increases for a second consecutive quarter. Prince Edward Island continued to lead the region in demographic growth with an increase of 0.67 per cent, mainly the result of the highest net international migration rate in Canada. In the third quarter of 2008, the population of Newfoundland and Labrador experienced its highest growth rate since the second quarter of 1991, primarily as a result of strong net interprovincial migration.

For a fourth quarter in a row, Ontario's demographic growth, +0.37 per cent, was below the national level, even though the province registered its lowest net outflow in interprovincial migration since the first quarter of 2007.

Quebec's demographic growth was its highest since the second quarter of 1991. An increasing number of births and a third-quarter record in net international migration more than offset the province's large net outflow in interprovincial migration.

Yukon led the northern territories in demographic growth for a third consecutive quarter. Since the beginning of 2008, Yukon has been the only territory with net inflows in both interprovincial and international migration.

Canada's rate of natural increase in 2008 remained relatively stable compared with the same period of 2007, with the number of births and deaths increasing in a similar fashion.

Canada wraps up more than 200 different ethnic origins but ‘Canadian’ is the most famous ethnic ancestry

Another breakdown from the 2006 census by Statistics Canada shows that the number of visible minorities in Canada has not only surpassed the five million mark for the first time in history but also increased at two times in last 15 years.

According to the Canada's Employment Equity Act, the term visible minority refers to "persons, other than Aboriginal persons, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour." As per this definition, Chinese, South Asians, Blacks, Arabs, Filipinos, Southeast Asians, Latin Americans, Japanese, Koreans and other visible minority groups such as Pacific Islanders are recognized as visible minority in Canada.

The growth in the visible minority population, driven largely by immigration from non-European countries, soared 26.2 per cent between 2001 and 2006 to nearly 5.1 million, five times faster than the 5.4 per cent increase in overall population. Now visible minorities accounted for 16.2 per cent or one in every six persons in Canada, up from 13.4 per cent at the time of previous census in 2001, and 11.2 per cent at the time of 1996 census. However, it is also a fact that one in three visible minorities was born in Canada, including nearly two-thirds of Japanese, and 44.3 per cent of blacks.

And if current immigration trends continue, it could be projected that Canada's visible minority population will account for one in five of the total population by 2017.

Nearly 96 per cent of visible minorities live in metropolitan areas, compared with just 68.1 per cent of the total population. They account for 42.9 per cent of Toronto's population and 41.7 per cent of Vancouver's, by far the highest proportions among all cities.

Visible minorities also tended to be younger than the population in general with a median age — half being younger and half older — of 33 years compared with 39 for the population as a whole.

South Asians – the largest visible minority group

These latest figures also revealed an interesting fact that, for the first time, South Asians became Canada's largest visible minority group in 2006, surpassing Chinese. Nearly 1.3 million people — a 38 per cent increase over 2001 — identified themselves in 2006 as South Asian, which includes Canadians who came from countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. They accounted for 24.9 per cent of the visible minority population and 4 per cent of the total population.

The number of people who identified themselves in 2006 as Chinese increased 18.2 per cent, and accounted for 24 per cent of visible minorities, while the number identifying themselves as black, the third largest visible minority, rose 18.4 per cent, and accounted for 15.5 per cent of visible minorities. Other visible minorities included Filipinos, making up 8.1 per cent of all visible minorities, Latin Americans 6 per cent, Arabs 5.2 per cent, West Asians 3.1 per cent, Koreans 2.8 per cent and Japanese 1.6 per cent.

A total of 83.9 per cent of the immigrants who arrived between 2001 and 2006 censuses were from non-European countries.

Ethnocultural Diversity

The report also noted that Canada has more than 200 different ethnic origins, which compares with just 25 in the 1901 census. In 1901, people who reported Aboriginal ancestries and British and French origins made up the largest share of the population. By 2006, there were 11 ethnic origins with more than one million people each.

The most frequently reported ethnic origin was Canadian, with just over 10 million or 32.2 per cent of the population giving that as their ethnic ancestry, including 5.7 million who gave no other ancestry and 4.3 million who included Canadian with another origin. The other most frequently reported origins, either alone or in combination with others were English, French, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, North American Indian, Ukrainian and Dutch.

The highest proportion of people reporting their ethnic ancestry as Canadian include 60.2 per cent in Quebec, 46.2 per cent in Atlantic Canada, and in the other regions ranged from 23 per cent in Ontario to just 4 per cent in Nunavut.

Meanwhile, the proportion reporting multiple ancestries continued to rise, reaching 41.4 per cent in 2006, up from 38.2 per cent in 2001, and 35.8 per cent in 1996.

There is also a 33 per cent increase has been reported in "mixed" marriages or common-law unions involving a visible minority person with a non-visible minority or with a person from another visible minority. Such mixed unions accounted for 3.9 per cent of all unions, up from 3.1 per cent in 2001, and just 2.6 per cent in 1991. South Asians and Chinese were least likely to form a union outside their ethnic group.

Commuters and work clusters

The census found more Canadians go to work in the suburbs of major cities than in the past: Nearly 3.5 million worked in suburbs in 2006, a 12.2 per cent increase over 2001 and nearly twice the 5.9 per cent growth rate in the number of city workers, which were estimated at 2.8 million. Large suburban work clusters include Mississauga and Vaughan in Ontario, Laval in Quebec and Surrey in B.C. The census also found that more Canadians were travelling to work as a passenger or on public transit than in the past.

Canada stacks up favorably against other industrialized countries in terms of university and college education combined

In its latest report from 2006 census, Statistics Canada has revealed that country had the most degrees, diplomas and certificates, in terms of university and college education combined, among all OECD countries. Released on March 4, 2008, this report actually sixth in series and focuses on labor, occupation, workplace, mode of transportation, language of work and education.

Here in this part, few interesting figures of this report are being presented to help you know the Educational Portrait of Canada:

• The number of Canadians between the ages of 25 and 64 who chose to get a university degree has risen by 24 per cent since 2001. The biggest increase was in the number of adults who had a master’s degree.
• Among 17,382,100 Canadian in the age group of 25 to 64, some 33 per cent of women held a university degree compared to 25 per cent of men in 2006, although that number just about evens out in the 35- to 44-year old age group.
• Overall 26 per cent of Canadians aged 25 to 64 who lived in an urban setting in 2006 had a university degree, compared to 11 per cent of university graduates living in rural communities.
• Rural communities, on the other hand, had a larger proportion of their population educated in trades. About 17 per cent of rural residents had a trade certificate, compared to 11 per cent of urban Canadians.
• Majority of the university graduates are concentrated in Canada’s 16 out of 33 Census Metropolitan Area (CMAs), where this figure has surpassed the national average of 23 per cent. Ottawa-Gatineau topped the list with 35 per cent of its population are university graduates. The nation's capital region was followed closely by Toronto, where university graduates represented 34 per cent of the population and then Calgary and Vancouver, both at 31 per cent.
• The most popular field of study for male and female post-secondary students was business, management and marketing with one out of every five students choosing to study these areas. Approximately 1,357,200 women graduated in these fields compared to just over 801,600 men.
• The smallest increase was in the number of people choosing to get a degree in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or optometry.
• 51 per cent or 349,800 of “recent immigrants” (arrived between 2001 and 2006) to Canada hold a significantly higher number of university degrees than the Canadian-born population that is just 20 per cent in comparison. Among immigrants who settled in Canada prior to 2001, 28 per cent had a university degree.
• Of recent immigrants, 25 per cent hold a degree in engineering, 19 per cent in business, management, marketing and related support services, and 6 per cent in computer and information sciences.
• Almost 40 per cent of these recent immigrants hold a master’s degree while 49 per cent were PhDs qualified.
• 16 per cent of doctorate or master’s degree holders earned their degrees in Canada, while around 14 per cent got it in the United States. Another 14 per cent studied in India and 10 per cent earned their doctorate or master’s degree in China.
• An increasing trend of inter-provisional migration in university degree holders showed that about 33 per cent of the highly educated adults were moved to another province or territory between 2001 and 2006.
• Alberta benefited the most from this inter-provincial migration with the largest inflow, approximately 28,000, of post-secondary graduates, while Ontario suffered the biggest outflow of this educated workforce.
• In New Brunswick, just 53 per cent of the adult population aged 25 to 64 were post-secondary graduates in 2006 that is the lowest number of all the provinces.
• Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest number of adults in that age category with a university degree and the highest proportion of adults who did not have a high school diploma.
• Nova Scotia had the highest proportion of adults, about 20 per cent, aged 25 to 64 with a university degree.
• Prince Edward Island had the most college diplomas, at 24 per cent.
• In Quebec, about 18 per cent of the adult population had a trades certificate, the largest proportion of all provinces and territories.
• Ontario had the highest proportion (26 per cent of the adult population) of university graduates among the provinces, partly because of the high number of immigrants who settle in that province.
• Of all the provinces, British Columbia had the highest proportion that studied outside of Canada.

Language diversity changing face of Canada in new century

According to the latest language reports from Statistics Canads’s 2006 census, Canadians speak over 200 languages.

For the first time in Canadian history, allophones (people whose first language is neither French nor English) represented 20 per cent of Canada's population, while continuing slight decline in the proportion of English and French speakers reported. The proportion of Anglophones (people who reported English as their mother tongue) in 2006 was 57.8 per cent, down from 59.1 per cent in 2001, while the proportion of Francophones (people who reported French as their mother tongue) decreased from 22.9 per cent to 22.1 per cent.

In 2006, 70.2 per cent of the country's foreign-born population were allophones, up from 67.5 per cent in 2001. In total, the census enumerated 6,293,110 allophones, an increase of 18 per cent, or 958,265, from 2001. This increase was three times the growth rate of 5.4 per cent for the population as a whole between 2001 and 2006, and well above the 12.5 per cent gain in allophones during the previous five-year period.

Cantonese, Mandarin and other dialects made Chinese is the third most common first language in Canada, rose to about 1,034,000 up 162,000, or 18.6 per cent of allophones over 2001. Also, Chinese language speakers account for 3.3 percent of Canada's population, up from 2.9 percent five years ago.

Italian fourth and German remained the fifth most common first languages in Canada. The number of Canadians who speak Punjabi, the sixth most common first language, grew by 34.4 per cent since 2001. Rounding out the top ten were Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog and Portuguese. However, between 2001 and 2006, language groups from Asia and the Middle East recorded the largest gains.

Of Canada's overall population, 9 out of 10 speak English or French at home. Two-thirds (66.7 per cent) of the population spoke English most often at home in 2006, down from 67.5 per cent in 2001. Just over one-fifth (21.4 per cent) of the population spoke French most often at home at the time of the census, down from 22 per cent in 2001. Only 11.9 per cent of the population spoke a non-official language most often at home. However, this was up from 10.4 per cent in 2001, mainly the result of the increase in immigration.

Among allophones, 69 per cent of them use French or English on a regular basis and 40 per cent of them speak one or the other at home.

In Quebec, 81.8 per cent of the population spoke French most often at home, a decrease from 83.1 per cent in 2001. About 10.6 per cent spoke English most often at home, virtually unchanged from 2001. The remaining 7.6 per cent spoke a language other than English or French most often at home, an increase from 6.5 per cent in 2001.

Canada is on track to become 100 per cent immigrant-dependent for growth

Another latest report from 2006 census has been released today by Statistics Canada. This is actually fourth in series and focuses on language, immigration and citizenship while highlights the important contribution of newcomers to Canada’s growth and increasing diversity.

Here are few interesting figures that new census shows:

• An estimated 1.1 million immigrants arrived in Canada between 01 January 2001 and 16 May 2006, which shows an increase of 13.6 per cent in the foreign-born population of Canada that is four times higher than the growth rate of 3.3 per cent for the native born population during the same period.

• As of 2006, immigrants accounted for 17.9 percent of the total foreign-born population and 3.6 percent of Canada's total population of 31.2 million people. This proportion of immigrants places Canada second to and gaining on Australia, which has a 22.2 per cent foreign-born proportion that hasn't changed in a decade.

• As of 2006, the immigrant population in Canada is estimated at 6,186,950. The United Kingdom is the largest source country by birth at 579,620 people, followed by China (466,940), India (443,690), the Philippines (303,195), and Italy (296,850).

• People from Asia and the Middle East accounted for the largest number of newcomers counted in 2006, at 58.3 per cent, followed by Europe (16.1 per cent), Central and South America and the Caribbean (10.8 per cent) and Africa (10.6 per cent).

• 20 percent of the Canadian population is now composed of individuals who do not count English or French as their native language that shows a continuing slight decline in the proportion of English and French speakers. Chinese languages are now the third most spoken, followed by Italian, German, Punjabi, Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, Tamil, Urdu and Portuguese.

• 97 per cent of all newcomers between 2001 and 2006 have ended up in large urban areas, in which, more than two thirds are heading to Canada’s three largest metropolises, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. In the Toronto region, nearly one of every two people is foreign born. In Vancouver it is 40 per cent and Montreal it is 20 per cent. Only five per cent of the immigrant population lived in rural areas in 2006.

• In Toronto, the city's share of newcomers fell slightly, to 10.8 per cent from 11.4 per cent, while neighbouring Mississauga and Brampton - which are considered part of Toronto's census area - showed respective gains of 2.2 and 4.6 per cent, fuelled by the lure of larger, cheaper homes and the welcoming environment of established ethnic enclaves. Other largest cities and smaller municipalities in their vicinity received these proportions of newcomers between 2001 and 2006: Vancouver (7.20 per cent), Calgary (5.40 per cent), Montreal (4.60 per cent), Windsor (4.30 per cent), Abbotsford (3.80 per cent), Kitchener (3.80 per cent), Winnipeg (3.50 per cent), Guelph (3.10 per cent), Edmonton (3.10 per cent), Ottawa (3.10 per cent) and Hamilton (3.00 per cent).

• Immigrants in the five years preceding 2006 were also younger on average than the Canadian-born population, and thus landed in a job market already struggling to absorb foreign-trained workers.