Become A Canadian could confirm that immigration to Canada has reached its all-time high in five decades. In 2023, the population of non-permanent residents (NPRs) in Canada grew by more than half a million people.
The fastest growth among NPR populations is observed among work permit holders, with over 1.6 million residents across Canada. NPRs with study permits also account for the second-largest population growth caused by immigration in Canada.
Become A Canadian could establish that the population growth of asylum claimants have also increased significantly over the past 50 years.
In the words of the former Immigration Minister Sean Fraser in a speech in late 2022:
"The reality is that Canada needs more people… In this summer alone, there were close to one million job vacancies in our economy. We need to develop advanced policies that address these labor shortages. We are interested in creating more opportunities for more people to come to Canada and contribute immensely to our economic well-being."
Become A Canadian says these words from the then-immigration minister Sean Fraser greatly motivated more immigrants to move to Canada in 2023, judging by the great NPR population growth recorded in 2023.
Statistics Showing NPR population growth over the past few years
Statistics Canada (StatCan) counted a total of 2.5 million NPRs as of October 2023 compared to the 1.7 million recorded in October 2022.
The NPR population growth in 2023 broke the previous year-to-year records, even tripling the 170,000 increase in NPR population growth between the summers of 2018 and 2019.
Become A Canadian calculated the increase in the number of non-permanent residents in Canada to be nearly 700,000 between the summers of 2022 and 2023. That is the largest increase of its kind in 50 years.