Canadian Immigration Makes Country More Diverse
Canadian immigration has made Canada one the most diverse countries in the world and according to a new government report, this trend is only going to accelerate over the next two decades.
In January 2017, Statistics Canada predicted that immigrants or the children of immigrants will make up approximately 49.9% of the country’s population by the Year 2036, compared with 38.2% in 2011.
Although around 20.7% of the people who currently live in Canada are foreign-born, twenty years in the future immigrants will make up about 30% of the Canadian population, according to the Statistics Canada forecast.
Many of the major source countries for Canadian immigration include China, India and The Philippines.
As a growing number of people from Asia move to Canada, it is expected that around 60% of the Canadian foreign-born population will originate from Asia two decades from now.
Additionally, the report estimates that by 2036, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and other large Canadian metropolitan areas will be home to 90% of all the immigrants who live in Canada.
Toronto, Canada’s most populous city, already has a sizable immigrant population which is predicted to rise to 46-53% during the next 20 years.
These and other large cities tend to attract many people who move to Canada, since they have large ethnic communities, more Canadian employment opportunities and offer a high quality of life.
For example, Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary were ranked among the top five “Most Livable Cities in the World” by The Economist in August 2016.
With the overall population of Canada becoming more multicultural, it is only natural that the country’s workforce will also be more diverse.
According to the Statistics Canada report, around 30-40% of the people who work in Canada in the 15-64 age range will be a member of a visible minority group in 2036.
One of the key drivers of Canadian immigration and the diversification of its population and labor force is the growing shortage of skilled workers across the country.
An increasing number of Canadian workers are retiring and this is making it more difficult for many companies to fill high-demand jobs in Canada.
Consequently, skilled foreign workers with good English or French language skills are being hired for thousands of jobs in Canada that can’t be filled locally.
If you would like to live and work in Canada and want to find out if you are likely to qualify for one of several Canadian immigration programs, click here!
