Top Ten (10) Source Countries Of Immigrants To Canada In 2020
Before the advent of COVID-19 lockdowns in Canada and around the world in mid-March, Canada was welcoming high levels of immigration, with India taking the lead as one of the major source countries
In fact, few days prior the lockdowns, Canada’s immigration minister announced a new ambitious plan to welcome over 1 million newcomers between 2020-2022.
While Canada’s immigration landscape has since faced interruptions, the country is processing immigration application to the best of its ability.
New data released by Canada’s Immigration Ministry provides an early assessment at where Canada’s new immigrants were coming from in the early months of 2020.
Up until the end of April, Canada welcomed 74,000 newcomers.
India Continues To Lead The Way
As has been the case over the past few years, India remained the major source country of Canada’s new permanent resident (PR) visa holders.
They accounted for twenty-four (24) per cent of new permanent residents in the first four months of 2020.
India is the leading source of Canada’s immigrants since many of its citizens are proficient in English language and possess other key characteristics that help them become qualified for Canadian immigration such as having college and/or university credentials and professional work experience.
Many Indian immigrants also move to Canada from the United States since it can be difficult for H1-B visa holders to obtain Canadian permanent residence in the U.S.
A Look At The Top 10 Source Countries
The following is a list of top 10 source countries of the 74,000 immigrants that gained Canadian permanent residence in the first four months of 2020:
- India
- China
- Philippines
- USA
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Syria
- France
- Iran
- Brazil
Up to this point, immigration from China has been somewhat higher in 2020 than in recent years. Chinese immigrants have accounted for close to Ten (10) per cent of new permanent residents compared with nine (9) per cent in 2019.
Filipino immigration to Canada has also remained slightly consistent (Seven (7) per cent in 2020 compared with Eight (8) per cent in 2019).
As was the case in 2019, the United States and Nigerian immigrants are rounding out the top 5.
Particularly, people from those countries have a major advantage in Canada’s immigration system due to their ability to speak the English-language fluently, which accounts for a major criteria of the federal Express Entry system, Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs), and other programs.
How COVID-19 Pandemic Will Impact Immigrant Source Countries?
It remains to be seen how coronavirus crisis will impact the source countries of immigrants to Canada during the rest of 2020.
Currently, coronavirus-related disruptions is limiting the ability of new permanent residents to immigrate to Canada from abroad. This may change the distribution of immigrant source countries in the second half of 2020.
On the flip side, there may prove to be little or no impact on Canada’s immigrant source countries. Reasons for this may include that people within Canada who receive permanent residence later in 2020 are also from the same source countries, those living overseas are eventually able to move to Canada, and the new invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residence that have been sent out since the beginning of the pandemic also go to citizens of these major source countries.
Despite the negative impacts of the travel restrictions, it is still in the interests of applicants to go ahead and lodge their Express Entry profiles and immigration applications during the pandemic if they have the capability to do so.
Submitting a profile or application gives candidate a chance to receive an invitation to apply, or approval for Canadian permanent residence, and the chance to immigrate to Canada as soon as they are able to do so.
Even if you encounter some challenges, IRCC is being more lenient during this time to help candidates achieve their Canadian immigration goals.
