Over One Million Newcomers to Canada Annually

Canada’s 2022 population surged by over 1 million people, highest ever. Almost all the population growth comes from immigration. Willem Maas reflects on the Canadian case and its relevance for European countries.

Canada’s Soaring Population Growth through Immigration

Canada’s population recently hit forty million and is growing at by far the fastest rate in the G7, as it has been for at least two decades. The overwhelming bulk of the year 2022’s record population growth of 1.05 million comes from international migration: “Canada welcomed 437,180 immigrants and saw a net increase of the number of non-permanent residents estimated at 607,782. Both of these numbers represent the highest levels on record” and 2022 “marks the first 12-month period in Canada’s history where population grew by over 1 million people, and the highest annual population growth rate (+2.7%) on record since that seen for 1957 (+3.3%). This previous record population growth rate in 1957 was related to the high number of births during the post-war baby boom and the high immigration of refugees following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956” (Statistics Canada).

Unlike during the baby boom years, today in Canada (as in much of Europe, Japan, Korea, China, and elsewhere) births barely outnumber deaths, so almost all the population growth comes from non-Canadians moving to Canada. The non-permanent category includes people on work permits, study permits, those applying for asylum, and others. Though some will later leave Canada, many will eventually change their status to immigrant and then (mostly) become Canadian citizens. In most other countries, such high levels of immigration (over 2.5% of the resident population per year) would spark political unrest and protest, but the reaction in Canada remains remarkably muted.

One right-wing party founded in 2018 wants to repeal Canada’s Multiculturalism Act, cut immigration levels by half, and restrict the influx of refugees. The party received 1.6% of the votes in the 2019 elections and almost 5% of the votes in the 2021 elections but, given Canada’s plurality first-past-the-post single member districts ¹Willem Maas, “Access to Electoral Rights in Canada”, European Union Democratic Observatory, EUDO Citizenship (Florence: European University Institute, 2015), 1-20., the party failed to win a single seat. Economic analysis suggests the need for many more immigrants. None of the parties with parliamentary representation favour restricting immigration, and the governing Liberal party is currently advocating increasing the target to 500,000 immigrants per year (plus other categories such as students, refugees, and those on temporary work visas, who as discussed above often later change their status to permanent resident) – with one Liberal Member of Parliament saying “We actually need a million people a year. But that would definitely crack the system”. 

Multilevel Governance of Immigrant Integration in Canada: dynamics and challenges emerged from the Whole-COMM’s research

The Whole-Comm research in Canada demonstrates that the political orientation of the federal and provincial governments greatly influences the dynamics of multilevel governance of immigrant integration in the selected Canadian localities. Municipalities can voluntarily elect to play a role in integration but are not obligated to do so. In Ontario and British Columbia, selected municipalities conducted multiple initiatives intended to assist newcomers. These initiatives were not integrated into municipal integration strategies and were done in an ad hoc manner in response to specific appeals from the local communities. In Quebec, selected municipalities had existing integration policies and infrastructure, including municipally or regionally-sponsored integration dialogues that were intended to coordinate social service delivery for newcomers. Immigration was characterized by all interviewees as the primary solution to labour shortages and population decline in the selected localities. Yet factors like housing availability, affordability, housing size, and transportation were key issues of concern for immigrant integration. Familiarity between actors and active community mobilization facilitated immigrant integration despite the lack of ethnic diversity and the limited resources of integration particularly in smaller localities²Maissaa Almustafa, Kathryn Barber, and Willem Maas, “Immigrant integration in small and medium sized towns and rural areas: local policies and policymaking relations in Canada” (2022)..

The Whole-Comm research in Canada further demonstrates that problems of housing affordability, availability, and size are particularly acute in Ontario and British Columbia. During the study period, Canada had low unemployment rates, but foreign credential recognition and language acquisition (English or French) was a major barrier. The local actors who were involved included immigrant settlement service organizations, provincial employment ministries, faith organizations, or groups of individuals (involved in private sponsorship), provincial/regional chambers of commerce, and community service organizations. The measures and practices included employment matching and preparation services, language training programs, job banks, mentoring programs, paid internships, targeted migrant hiring initiatives by municipal and community-service organizations, skills upgrading programs and municipal integration policies. The specific target groups of these measures included immigrants (both economic and resettled refugees) as well as residents³Kathryn Barber, Maissaa Almustafa, and Willem Maas, “Post-2014 migrants’ access to housing, employment and other crucial resources in small- and medium-sized towns and rural areas in Canada” (2022)..

Relevance of the Canadian case for Europe

What about the Canadian case is relevant for Europe? According to the latest population statistics from Eurostat, seven of the 27 EU member states had a lower population in January 2023 than January 2022 – and even more had deaths outnumber births, so their population would also decrease were it not for immigration. Thinking about the political construction of migration as a ‘crisis’ in light of this demographic reality suggests that the real crisis in many countries is not too many but not enough immigrants. Furthermore, small towns and rural areas generally have the greatest need for young people – and also often have less shortage of housing than bigger cities. The various country studies and comparative themes of the Whole-COMM project are more relevant than ever.

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