Dear John,
From 2000 to 2015, annual immigration was 617,800 immigrants.
From 2016 to 2024 (excluding 2020)? More than double that: 1.4 million annually.
The sharp rise in recent years reflected both planned increases in permanent immigrant inflows, as well as unprecedented and largely unplanned growth in the numbers of temporary foreign workers, international students, and asylum seekers.
The composition of immigration also changed dramatically during this period.
From 2000 to 2015, the average share of total immigrants in the permanent category was 42.1%, while the non-permanent share was 57.9%.
From 2016 to 2024 (excluding Covid 2020), permanent immigrants averaged 27.7% of total in-migration versus 72.3% for non-permanent.
Due to concerns about the impact of this unprecedented in-migration on housing affordability, employment opportunities (or lack thereof), access to health care and other issues, the federal government unveiled plans to substantially reduce immigration levels. But even with these changes, the levels of immigration over 2025-27 will still be well above historic benchmarks.
Read this full study here, and be sure to share it on social media.
Sincerely,
Niels Veldhuis
President
The Fraser Institute
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