New Permanent Residents
March 2, 2004
Canada welcomed 63,127 new permanent residents (principal applicants, spouses and dependants) in the third quarter of 2003, an increase of almost 20% in comparison with the same quarter of 2002. This brought the year-to-date total to 167,598, representing 76% of the lower end of the 220,000 to 245,000 range established in the Immigration Plan for 2003. Economic immigrants accounted for almost 60% (36,432) of new permanent residents in this quarter. This included 31,532 skilled workers, 2,552 business immigrants, 1,405 provincial and territorial nominees and 943 live-in caregivers. Almost 30% (18,493) of new permanent residents in this quarter were family class immigrants, and slightly over 10% (7,626) were refugees and other protected persons.
Several provinces and territories in Canada now have an agreement with the federal government that allows them to nominate immigrants who can make a specific contribution to the economy of their province or territory. By the end of the third quarter, the 2003 year-to-date totals for provincial and territorial nominees had doubled to 3,295 in comparison with the 1,646 reported for the same period in 2002. Year-to-date totals for live-in caregivers receiving permanent resident status increased by 31% in 2003 in comparison with the previous year. In the first three quarters of 2003, economic immigrants (principal applicants, spouses and dependants) accounted for almost 60% (96,607) of year-to-date landings, family class immigrants for slightly more than 30% (53,240) and refugees and other protected persons for 10% (16,815).
Source Countries
In the third quarter of 2003, two out of every five new permanent residents arrived from one of the top five source countries. China was the highest ranking source country with 15% (9,350) of new permanent residents in this quarter, a 26% increase over the same quarter of the previous year. India ranked second with 7,307 landings, a 9% increase over the 6,693 immigrants who came in the same quarter of 2002. Pakistan regained its third-place ranking in this quarter with 3,395 landings. The Philippines (in third place in quarter two of 2003) ranked fourth this quarter with 3,270 landings. By the end of the third quarter, positive year-to-date increases were noted for China (5%), the United Kingdom (7%) and the United States (3%) in 2003 compared to the previous year.
Destination
In the third quarter of 2003, most provinces saw significant increases in their number of new permanent residents in comparison with the same quarter of the previous year. In the third quarter of 2003, the number of immigrants destined for Ontario increased by 14% to 34,606, Quebec by 25% to 11,778, British Columbia by 15% to 9,155, Alberta by 45% to 4,472 and Manitoba by 72% to 1,816 compared to the third quarter of 2002. Overall, there was very little change in each province’s share of new immigrants this quarter in comparison with the third quarter of 2002. Quebec’s share of new immigrants was 19% in the current quarter compared to 15% for British Columbia, 7% for Alberta and 3% for Manitoba. Ontario, however, with a 55% share of new permanent residents in the current quarter, experienced a 2% decline in comparison with the third quarter of 2002.
By the end of the third quarter of 2003, Manitoba showed a 29% increase in year-to-date totals for new permanent residents compared to the same period of the previous year. The arrival of higher numbers of provincial nominees selected by the province under the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program significantly contributed to this increase. During the first three quarters of 2003, Ontario experienced an 18% decline in the number of new permanent residents in comparison with the same period of 2002. The third quarter year-to-date totals for immigrants settling in the provinces of New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and British Columbia declined slightly in 2003 in comparison with the same period of the previous year while the number destined for Alberta increased slightly (2%). No real change in year-to-date totals was noted between 2002 and 2003 for the provinces of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Quebec.
