Burnaby continues to show its strength as a major draw for immigrants, newly released Canadian census data shows.
According to the census, there are 123,795 immigrants living in the city, in addition to 16,795 non-permanent residents. Together they make up 57.2 per cent of the city's population as of 2021 — an increase compared with the 55.5 per cent noted in the last census of 2016.
In the last decade, Burnaby has added 32,645 immigrants. Of those, 57.5 per cent immigrated between 2016 and 2021. Recently released census data notes that immigrants make up about a quarter of Canada's population, a significant increase from 18.4 per cent to 23 per cent in the last decade.
Economic and educational opportunities bring a hundred thousand immigrants to the country every year. The Statistics Canada data shows that 60.5 per cent of new arrivals are economic immigrants.
While Ontario still remains a top destination for immigrants, B.C. has become an increasingly popular pick for new arrivals.
Where do most people come from?
The data reflects an increase in mobility, showing that most of the immigrant population in Burnaby (close to 75 per cent) came from Asia — 33 per cent from China, followed by about 12 per cent each from the Philippines and Hong Kong.
In the last five years, the percentage of immigrants hailing from India has grown substantially — from eight per cent to 18.2 percent.
India ranks as the No. 1 source of immigrants to Canada in the recent years, though the proportion of Indian immigrants to Burnaby is substantially smaller than the national figure.
First-generation immigrants
First-generation immigrants are those who were born in a foreign country before immigrating to Canada. The 2021 census data shows that 58.6 per cent of immigrants are first-generation (143,545), up from 56.2 per cent in 2016.
Temporary residents or permanent residents?
Up to 80,620 immigrants came to Canada directly through a permanent residency program or as landed immigrants, representing about 75.6 per cent of the immigrant population. The remaining 24.4 per cent came to Burnaby as temporary residents, most of them on work permits. An estsimated 8,715 of them had both work and study permits before becoming a permanent resident.
Visible minorities
The number of people identifying as visible minorities in Burnaby has significantly gone up.
About 67.8 per cent of Burnaby population (166,690 out of 245,725 people) now identify as visible minorities (citizens, immigrants and non-immigrants), a substantial increase compared with the 79,035 who don’t identify themselves as visible minorities.
Key takeaways from Burnaby census data:
- 23 per cent of Canadian population are immigrants.
- 57.2 per cent of Burnaby population are immigrants.
- 60.5 per cent are economic immigrants.
- 75 per cent of immigrants are from Asia- mostly from China.
- Indian immigrant population is growing substantially.
- 58.6 per cent immigrants are first-generation (born outside Canada)
- Landed immigrants make up 75.6 per cent of Burnaby population.
- 67.8 per cent of Burnaby population now identify as visible minorities
- 47.2 per cent of immigrants were between 25 to 44 years when they immigrated (working population)
