India China, Philippines, Nigeria tops Five immigrants with Canada’s residence permit in 2019 According to data from government of Canada.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Trump administration clampdown on Nigeria and other Africa countries has sparked the exodus of Nigerian immigrants to Canada as a safe havens for immigrants from other contin.
For Nigeria it’s the fifth year in a row, more Nigerian middle class emigrated to Canada than the year before as data published by the Canadian government shows the number of Nigerians issued permanent resident permits has tripled since 2015.
It’s a growth rate that outstrips some of Canada’s biggest sources of immigrants over the last five years, including India, China and Philippines.
The rise in Nigerian immigrants heading to Canada reflects the North American country’s push to expand its labor force and lower the average age of its workers as its population advances in years.
In 2019, Canada welcomed 341,000 immigrants in total (about 10,000 more it targeted) as part of its immigration policy to attract skilled workers.
For middle-class Nigerians increasingly looking to emigrate, Canada holds appeal for several reasons. Its ongoing drive to increase skill-based immigration offers a legal and long-term path not just to residency permits but also citizenship.
It’s a prospect that’s alluring given Nigeria’s ongoing economic and insecurity travails, with the political class not appearing any closer to providing the kind of leadership required to turn around the country’s fortunes.
In 2018, Nigeria overtook India as the country with the highest number of people living in extreme poverty. And, given precariously low human capital spending on education and healthcare, it’s a reality that will endure for, at least, a generation.
For Nigerians who can afford to relocate, the chance for their children to access better education standards —and the future opportunities that come with it—has also proven to be a major factor. Like most other immigrant groups, Nigerians moving to Canada mostly settle in Ontario.
The high interest in moving to Canada also means not everyone takes the legal route, with illegal border crossings via upstate New York an increasingly popular path. As of September 2019, Nigeria had, by far, the highest number of pending refugee protection claims in Canada.
It’s unlikely that immigration levels from Nigeria to Canada will drop anytime soon. With the appetite for emigration not dampening, Canada’s liberal and welcoming immigration policy is not only attractive but also at odds with other major Western countries. In the wake of Brexit, the United Kingdom has tightened immigration policies. For its part, the United States has recently banned Nigerians from receiving immigration visas as part of a new wave of restrictions from the Trump administration’s already long history of tough immigration clampdowns on Nigeria.
In contrast, Canada is projected to welcome nearly 700,000 immigrants over the next two years.
India is number one
India accounted for 25 per cent of the 341,000 immigrants welcomed by Canada. The Indian share of Canada’s newcomers has increased significantly in recent years. Back in 2015, India made up 14 per cent of Canada’s newcomers.
Immigration from China remains stagnant
While nearly 86,000 Indian nationals were granted permanent residence in 2019, China was a distant second with 30,000 of its citizens becoming new immigrants to Canada (9 per cent of all of Canada’s newcomers).
Immigration from the Philippines is declining
Immigration from the Philippines has been steadily declining over the past five years. In 2015, more than 50,000 Filipinos obtained permanent residence, but this figure dropped to 28,000 in 2019. Due to this sharp decline, the Philippines has fallen behind China as the third leading source country of Canada’s immigrants. This is because Canada has significantly reduced its intake under the Caregiver Program. The overwhelming majority of immigrants admitted through the Caregiver Program come from the Philippines.
American immigration to Canada is flat
Despite the notion that U.S. President Donald Trump is causing more people who disapprove of him to move from America to Canada, the evidence shows this is not the case. Nearly 11,000 U.S. citizens immigrated to Canada in 2019, which is consistent with figures over recent years (about 3 per cent of Canada’s new immigrants come from the U.S. each year).