India was once again the number one source of new permanent residents to Canada last year, growing its contribution to the Canadian population by 18.2 per cent, to 139,775 newcomers in 2023 from 118,245 the previous year.

 In the second spot on the list of the Top 10 Most Important Sources of New Permanent Residents to Canada was once again China. 

But the massive Asian country’s contribution to the Canadian demographic nudged down ever so slightly last year, falling to 31,780 new permanent residents from 31,845 the previous year.

Afghanistan, which had been in the number three spot at the end of 2022, slipped to fourth last year as its contribution of new permanent residents to Canada fell by 15 per cent, to 20,180 in 2023 from 23,780 the previous year, while the Philippines’ contribution spiked 22 per cent to 26,955 last year from 22,095 in 2022.

In the fifth spot on the list, the African country of Nigeria provided 17,455 new permanent residents to Canada last year, down 21.1 per cent from 22,130 in 2022.

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Pakistan’s contribution to Canadian population growth remained almost the same last year as in 2022, nudging up only 2.2 per cent to hit 11,860 from 11,600 the previous year.

Cameroon Provided More Than 80% More New Permanent Residents To Canada Last Year

The biggest surprise last year was Cameroon. The central African country on the Gulf of Guinea on the continent’s west coast provided 86.5 per cent more new permanent residents to Canada last year, 11,685 of them, than the 6,265 it had provided in 2022. That puts Cameroon seventh on the list.

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In the eighth spot on the list, Iran saw a modest decline in the number of new permanent residents it provided to Canada last year, a drop of 3.9 per cent to 10,680 in 2023 compared to 11,110 in 2022.

Eritrea, a northeastern African country on the Red Sea coast, though, provided far more new permanent residents to Canada last year. Its contribution to the Canadian population grew by 39.4 per cent, to 10,675 new permanent residents last year from 7,660 the previous year.

Rounding out the Top 10 list, the United States, Canada’s southern neighbour, held almost steady with a modest increase of 2.2 per cent in the number of new permanent residents it provided to Canada last year. 

In 2023, 10,640 Americans became new permanent residents of Canada, up slightly from 10,415 the previous year.

Under its latest Immigration Levels Plan, Canada aims to welcome 485,000 new permanent residents in 2024, 500,000 in 2025 and another 500,000 in 2026, a total of 1.485 million immigrants over those three years.