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Canada Immigration by Country

What are the most common countries of birth for Canadian residents who were not born in Canada?
Includes permanent and temporary residents
Source: 2021 Census
Change = change since 2011
Quiz by SunsetSunrise
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Last updated: January 7, 2023
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First submittedOctober 21, 2014
Times taken51,525
Average score70.0%
Rating4.43
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# People
Change
Country of Origin
898,050
57%
India
864,325
18%
China
719,575
43%
Philippines
464,140
-17%
United Kingdom
256,090
-19%
United States
234,105
45%
Pakistan
204,065
-22%
Italy
182,940
45%
Iran
182,090
8%
Vietnam
145,355
13%
Jamaica
# People
Change
Country of Origin
138,350
4%
South Korea
136,240
1%
Sri Lanka
135,030
-13%
Poland
128,800
-8%
Portugal
126,475
-26%
Germany
121,525
8%
France
99,940
16%
Haiti
97,590
329%
Syria
95,725
15%
Lebanon
90,585
5%
Mexico
+9
Level 32
Apr 21, 2015
We Indians are everywhere...that too largest immigrants
+7
Level 42
May 13, 2015
Well, you arn't foreigners or immigrants. Technically the Englishmen who founded Canada would be.
+7
Level 56
Oct 30, 2015
english and french men
+13
Level 69
May 10, 2016
Common misconception. Englilshmen did not "found" Canada. The French-settled nucleus was inherited by Great Britain and then further populated by American colonists. Not politically correct of me at all.
+16
Level 74
Apr 8, 2017
Since Indians is not the PC term I read zuni's comment to read as people from India, not Native American. And since it has been hundreds of years and hundreds of millions of people later since Europeans and Asians started spreading out to parts unknown (later called the Americas and Caribbean islands), calling anyone not of Native American decent foreigners or immigrants is ignorance at it's best.
+19
Level 67
May 30, 2017
At the end of the day, aren't we all immigrants anyway?
+3
Level 79
Aug 16, 2023
Uh, no not really
+4
Level 71
May 30, 2017
Lol, you mean those people who died 300 years ago? He would be no less foreign than them. Learn the difference between an immigrant and a pioneer.
+2
Level 75
May 30, 2017
Interesting quiz. You might want to tweak the title, since such people aren't normally considered "foreigners."
+50
Level 82
Nov 5, 2017
Clearly refering to people from the country of India. Goodness me, you people.
+5
Level 68
Mar 19, 2017
I am surprised Australia doesn't make this list. At least where I live, there are a lot of Australians here on temporary work permits.
+1
Level 59
Nov 12, 2020
I thought so too ┐( ∵ )┌
+2
Level 29
Jul 27, 2023
This list only includes those who become Canadian citizens, not temporary workers. There are about 25k Australian immigrants in Canada, making them #60 on the list of countries of origin. Personally I live in the GTA and don't know any Australian immigrants, but I've met plenty of immigrants from almost every country on this quiz except Haiti & France (not surprising since most of them live in Quebec). Not sure where you live, but I think most Australian immigrants concentrate in BC and aren't really that common in the rest of the country.
+7
Level 84
Mar 20, 2017
What's the driving factor for Jamaica? Seems like a bit of a climate shock.
+6
Level 73
Apr 21, 2017
The migrant worker program brings lots of Jamaicans to Canada in the summer to work in vineyards and orchards. Might not be the whole story but its gotta be at least part of it.
+7
Level 72
Dec 25, 2019
I live near Toronto, and in my city at least 15% of the people are Jamaicans
+11
Level 85
Nov 5, 2017
Jamaicans as a former British colony was a preferential immigrant group until the 1970s. In addition many Jamaicans moved to the UK after independence and then later moved to Canada for better opportunities..
+1
Level 74
Nov 8, 2017
Also, some Jamaicans have claimed refugee status because of homo/transphobic persecution.
+28
Level 72
Mar 1, 2019
bobsleding
+1
Level 59
Nov 12, 2020
Haha good one ;)
+1
Level 80
Jan 8, 2023
Sanka, ya dead mon?

Ya, Mon.

+1
Level 29
Jul 27, 2023
A lot of Caribbean immigrants come to Canada, and Jamaica is the most populous Anglophone country in the Caribbean, so naturally has the largest diaspora in Canada. Most Jamaicans come to Toronto (NYC and London have large Jamaican diasporas as well), while most Haitians go to Montreal (because of shared French language). There are also large diasporas of other Anglophone Caribbean countries here (including 85k Guyanese, 65k Trinidadians; at one point 3 of my 4 neighbours were Guyanese/Trinidadian, but two of them moved away now). Jamaicans by far make up the largest share of Black Canadians, for example about 1/3rd of my church is Black, of which more than half of them are Jamaicans. Actually, a lot of local "Toronto slang" is originally from Jamaican origin, which interestingly is why Toronto and London slang share some similarities.
+1
Level 75
Apr 25, 2017
Since they live in Canada, wouldn't they be Native Canadians? If you are going to make the claim that the term Native Americans covers all of the Americas, then pretty much everyone in the western hemisphere is a Native American.
+4
Level 70
May 22, 2017
First Nations people are not immigrants or foreigners, and not everyone born in the Western Hemisphere is a Native American, many people have not a single ancestor, (say from 1,000 years ago) who lived in the Americas.
+13
Level ∞
May 22, 2017
How long do one's ancestors have to inhabit an area to be considered native? Its probable that several waves of people came across the land bridge into Canada, so even the First Nations were probably not really "first".
+3
Level 71
May 30, 2017
Actually they were immigrants once too when they crossed over from Siberia.
+5
Level 71
May 30, 2017
Correction they WERE foreigners, currently however they're dead. And their descendants like me are not foreigners, my family has been here for 400 years, this is my country.
+2
Level 62
Jan 31, 2023
How did this get on this topic when clearly in the quiz Indian is referring to people from India...not Indigenous peoples of Canada.
+1
Level 71
May 30, 2017
Are Europeans really that foreign to Canada, considering the Vikings were in Newfoundland and Nunavut over a thousand years ago?
+5
Level 68
Jan 7, 2023
I don't think those subpopulations left any descendants, or at very least left zero sign of continuation of cultural traits in the native peoples of that area. Norse settlement in both Baffin Island and Newfoundland were marginal outposts of the marginal colony of Greenland. Pretty sure that the site in Baffin Island was just a temporary trade depot, and the site in Newfoundland was a couple of families and lasted 50 years tops.
+2
Level 37
May 30, 2017
how I managed to forget america, i do not know
+8
Level 56
May 30, 2017
All these people fighting over who's a foreigner and who isn't while the quiz clearly states a definition. Go figure!
+6
Level 21
May 30, 2017
If you live in Vancouver you will have to speak Mandarin to survive. Basic needs like shelter, a job and personal space will be taken from you by hoards of Chinese immigrants. Sorry that your Prime Minister sucks Canada. Your best bet is to merge with America.
+4
Level 77
May 30, 2017
Honestly, I'd rather have to learn Mandarin than Spanish. Canada, here I come!
+23
Level 85
Nov 5, 2017
Trudeau vs Trump?? I'd go with the former even if I had to learn Mandarin which is a ridiculous proposition.
+26
Level 50
Aug 10, 2018
Best bet is to merge with America? That's a horrible idea for any country.
+19
Level 23
Feb 13, 2020
i would learn mandarin in a heart beat, if it means not having a leader like Trump!
+15
Level 42
Jul 16, 2020
Canada merging with America would be the very worst thing any Prime Minister would make. Canada is much better being independent.
+1
Level 79
Aug 16, 2023
It would be "hordes" of Chinese immigrants, not "hoards," but more important are congratulations on coming up with a intellectually breathtaking argument that nobody's ever heard before. I'm quaking in my boots just thinking about the Chinese coming for my personal space! Next time use a few more brain cells before downing another forkful of whatever nativist garbage you've been gorging on.
+1
Level 40
May 30, 2017
You're going to have to rig it so that answers like "England" and "Scotland" do not come up empty. Have "United Kingdom" or it's wrong is not copacetic.
+2
Level 48
Apr 8, 2021
i just type UK
+4
Level 67
May 30, 2017
Portugal? Seriously? Why?
+2
Level 66
May 31, 2017
This was also my question. Any takers?
+7
Level 47
Jun 1, 2017
Two prominent Portuguese waves contributed to the high amount of Portuguese living in Canada today. First wave occurred in the late 1960's - mid 1970's, and peaked in 1973 (or 1974?) where in that one calendar year, over 16,000 Portuguese immigrants immigrated to Canada. A large number of these were baby boomers so a lot of them are still alive. The second wave occurred in the late 1980's and possibly extending into the early 1990's. I have not researched what events in Portugal lead to the mass emigration away from Portugal so I cannot comment further. Hope this helps!
+6
Level 85
Nov 5, 2017
Many came from the Azores islands. Previous to the revolution that overthrew Salazar, Portugal was quite poor especially the Azores islands.
+3
Level 72
Jul 20, 2019
they're mainly from the Azores
+1
Level 29
May 23, 2022
Can confirm, I know lots of Portuguese-born people but they're basically all from Azores or Madeira
+2
Level 57
May 31, 2017
I completely forgot about India haha
+2
Level 48
Feb 21, 2019
I've never met anyone from/born in Portugal.
+2
Level 82
Jun 20, 2019
I have. But not in Canada.
+2
Level 40
Apr 1, 2021
A very high proportion of portuguese born canadians are in the golden horseshoe and Montréal metropolitan region. It's unlikely to meet them outside of those urban areas.
+1
Level 70
Apr 5, 2021
lots of portugese in montreal
+3
Level 46
Dec 7, 2019
And where is Ukraine? About 1.2 million of Ukrainians or Ukrainian descendants live in Canada, and this number is even bigger than the Chinese figure above. Poor test...
+7
Level 63
Jan 20, 2020
This is about immigrants, not descendants.
+2
Level 55
Jan 8, 2023
I concur. I've met so many Ukrainians immigrants that now call Canada home. Like a surprisingly large amount.
+1
Level 46
Jan 20, 2021
Jamaica but not Mexico? I'm shook.
+4
Level 29
May 23, 2022
Mexicans are the largest temporary worker group in Canada, but most don't become citizens
+2
Level 54
Apr 4, 2021
More Sri Lankans than Bangladeshi? That seems unlikely.
+2
Level 71
Apr 4, 2021
I was also a bit surprised at that, but I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't far off the list. Jiaozira kinda explained it to me on this quiz: the Bangladeshi population in Canada still isn't huge but it's growing very rapidly.
+3
Level 70
Jan 9, 2023
remember that many sri lankans (especially tamils) sought asylum in canada due to the multiple escalations of the sri lankan civil war
+1
Level 29
Jul 27, 2023
130k Sri Lankan immigrants vs. 70k Bangladeshis. Most of the South Asians in Scarborough are Sri Lankan Tamils, and Sri Lankans are common across the GTA in North York, Mississauga, Brampton, etc. I know many Sri Lankan immigrants but only met a couple of Bangladeshis---most Bangladeshis are concentrated mainly in southern Scarborough.
+1
Level 75
Apr 4, 2021
Is this 'Canada Month'?
+8
Level 58
Apr 6, 2021
Cool quiz, but what is with the Eurovision logo? lol so random
+1
Level 31
Jun 13, 2021
Quite surprised Haiti isn’t there
+1
Level 29
May 23, 2022
Theres about 90k Haitian immigrants in Canada so they almost made it
+2
Level 66
Dec 19, 2021
Very surprised Jamaica is least guessed. I thought it was fairly well known that Toronto has a huge caribbean community
+2
Level 70
Jan 7, 2023
I love the addition of the percentage change since 2011. It's nifty to differentiate between immigration waves post-WWII versus more recent waves.
+6
Level 77
Jan 13, 2023
Jamaica gets ONE bobsled team and all of a sudden everyone wants to move to Canada.
+1
Level 63
Jan 31, 2023
Lmao
+1
Level 50
Jan 31, 2023
Something tells me that a lot of non-Canadians are playing this quiz considering the low number of people who guessed Jamaica and Lebanon XD
+2
Level 70
Jan 31, 2023
I'm not too surprised, the Jamaican and the Lebanese populations are more highly concentrated in Ontario.
+1
Level 40
Feb 4, 2023
What do the percentages mean?
+1
Level 60
Apr 24, 2023
change = change since 2011, it states that in the description