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Census Atlas profile

Who lives in Canada.

36,991,981 people lived in Canada on Census Day 2021. 23.0% were immigrants, the highest share since Confederation, and 17.6% were second generation (born in Canada with at least one parent born abroad).

Data 2021 CensusNext update Census 2026 (from Feb. 2027)

Population, 202136,991,981+5.2% since 2016
Immigrants23.0%3.7% arrived 2016–2021
Visible minority26.5%
Median household income (2020)$84,000rent $1,070/mo

Immigrants as a share of residents

By province and territory.

Province or territoryImmigrants
Ontario30.0%
British Columbia29.0%
Alberta23.2%
Manitoba19.7%
Quebec14.6%
Yukon13.6%
Saskatchewan12.5%
Northwest Territories10.3%
Prince Edward Island7.8%
Nova Scotia7.5%
New Brunswick5.8%
Nunavut3.2%
Newfoundland and Labrador2.8%

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population; Statistics Canada, 2021 Census boundary files (simplified).

Recent immigrants (2016 to 2021)

Share of residents.

Province or territory2016 to 2021
Alberta4.6%
Manitoba4.5%
Ontario4.2%
British Columbia4.0%
Saskatchewan3.9%
Prince Edward Island3.2%
Yukon2.8%
Quebec2.4%
Nova Scotia2.2%
New Brunswick2.1%
Northwest Territories2.0%
Newfoundland and Labrador0.8%
Nunavut0.7%

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population; Statistics Canada, 2021 Census boundary files (simplified).

Profile

Who lives in Canada, in charts.

Visible minority groups

Share of the population in private households. Statistics Canada term, defined in the Employment Equity Act.

GroupSharePeople
South Asian7.1%2,571,400
Chinese4.7%1,715,770
Black4.3%1,547,870
Filipino2.6%957,355
Arab1.9%694,015
Latin American1.6%580,235
Southeast Asian1.1%390,340
West Asian1.0%360,495
Multiple visible minorities0.9%331,805
Korean0.6%218,140
Visible minority, n.i.e.0.5%172,885
Japanese0.3%98,890

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population.

Languages spoken most often at home

Non-official languages, single responses.

GroupSharePeople
Mandarin1.4%530,945
Punjabi (Panjabi)1.4%520,390
Yue (Cantonese)1.1%393,430
Spanish0.9%317,365
Arabic0.8%285,915
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)0.8%275,045
Urdu0.4%158,040
Iranian Persian0.3%125,840
Russian0.3%125,780
Korean0.3%125,525

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population.

Top 15 ethnic or cultural origins

People can report more than one origin, so shares add up to more than 100%.

GroupSharePeople
Canadian15.6%5,677,205
English14.7%5,322,830
Irish12.1%4,413,120
Scottish12.1%4,392,200
French11.0%3,985,945
German8.1%2,955,695
Chinese4.7%1,713,870
Italian4.3%1,546,390
Indian (India)3.7%1,347,715
Ukrainian3.5%1,258,635
Dutch2.7%988,585
Polish2.7%982,820
Québécois2.7%981,635
British Isles2.6%938,950
Filipino2.5%925,490

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population.

Immigrants: top places of birth

Share of all residents born in each place (immigrants only).

GroupSharePeople
India10.7%898,050
Philippines8.6%719,580
China8.6%715,835
United Kingdom5.6%464,135
United States of America3.1%256,090
Pakistan2.8%234,105
Hong Kong2.6%213,855
Italy2.4%204,065
Iran2.2%182,940
Viet Nam2.2%182,095
Jamaica1.7%145,360
Korea, South1.7%138,355

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population.

Recent immigrants (2016 to 2021): top places of birth

Share of all residents.

GroupSharePeople
India18.6%246,995
Philippines11.4%151,490
China8.9%118,035
Syria4.8%63,130
Nigeria3.0%40,360
United States of America3.0%39,875
Pakistan2.7%36,255
France2.0%27,175
Iran1.9%25,650
United Kingdom1.7%22,755

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population.

Immigrants by period of arrival

CategoryShare of residents
Before 19804.2%
1980 to 19902.5%
1991 to 20004.2%
2001 to 20105.3%
2011 to 20153.1%
2016 to 20213.7%

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population.

Immigrants admitted 1980 to 2021, by category

Share of residents.

CategoryShare of residents
Economic immigrants53.9%
Immigrants sponsored by family29.6%
Refugees15.2%
Other immigrants1.3%

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population.

More data

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About this data. Adapted from Statistics Canada. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product. Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population. Counts are randomly rounded to multiples of 5 or 10 and very small areas are suppressed by Statistics Canada; we show those as “not available”. Ethnic or cultural origin allows several answers per person, so shares add up to more than 100%. Origin and language data describe ancestry and language use; they are not a measure of who is Canadian. These pages describe what happened, using official statistics. They do not predict policy, estimate anyone’s chances, or rank communities. See methods and definitions.