Due to the increasing number of immigrants being welcomed by Canada each year, there is a growing competition within Canada’s cities.
According to Statistics Canada, Canada has welcomed approximately 341,000 immigrants in 2019, which is considered as one of the highest immigrant intake levels in Canadian history. The number of temporary residence applicants also rose by 171, 356 in 2018-2019, which is the largest increase in Canadian history.
The top five cities are Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, and Edmonton.
According to Conference Board of Canada, Toronto is on the number 1 spot for attracting nearly 118,000 immigrants or 35 percent of Canada’s newcomer index total while Vancouver is on the second spot for attracting approximately 40,000 immigrants, Montreal with nearly 35,000 immigrants, Calgary with 20,000 immigrants, and Edmonton with 17,000 immigrants.
Approximately 35 percent of newcomers to Canada prefer to settle in Toronto despite of its expensive cost of living, and most of these immigrants are looking forward to pursuing permanent residency in Canada.
Rising immigration numbers in Toronto, Ontario can also be explained by Quebec’s decision to reduce the number of immigration intake in the province. Correspondingly, Quebec’s immigration index was reduced from 50,000 immigrant intake down to nearly 40,000. This instance further resulted to Montreal’s decline on its per capita immigrant intake.
Subsequently, Vancouver is the second most popular city for immigrants. Greater Vancouver is home to various tourist attractions as tourists and immigrants can explore its mountains and beaches, and its economy is mostly driven by tourism, mining, and natural gas exploration.
However, it is important to note that there is an escalating interest of immigrants to settle on Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island. Charlottetown is the capital city of Prince Edward Island with a population of nearly 80,000. And in 2019, Charlottetown welcomed 1,900 newcomers which is 2.4 percent of its population.
A common question among potential immigrants is: do I have better chances if I decide to immigrate to a city that is not popular? The answer is complex. Selecting a city or community that is not very popular does not necessarily increase your chances to immigrate. There are several factors to consider.
It is true that the government has the intention to spread immigrants around the country in order to build a better economy, however, a lot of immigrants rely on a job offer and moving to smaller towns may delay their applications. This must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Canada is a beautiful country with lots of opportunities and despite where you decide to live, there will always be great opportunities.
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