The number of non-permanent residents continues to explode in Canada and Quebec, contributing to faster population growth than in recent decades. Temporary immigrants, all categories combined, numbered nearly 2.2 million people in the country, Statistics Canada said Wednesday morning.
These are people who are currently in the territory and not annual flows. These are the first estimates to be based on the actual 2021 census, Statistics Canada said during its technical briefing for journalists.
Around one in ten temporary residents was an asylum seeker. Other categories of temporary immigrants grouped under this non-permanent resident data include foreign students, with or without work permits, and family members. Work permit holders only constitute half of all non-permanent workers, or one million people.
The number of people on temporary permits who arrived in the last four quarters (between 2022 and 2023) also rose to 600,000 people. It therefore exceeded for the first time the permanent immigrants received during the same period.
More details will follow.
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