Montreal experienced the largest absolute gain in recent immigrant population between 2001 and 2006 – 51,165 newcomers and a 44.8% jump in immigration – even though more immigrants landed in Toronto in 2006, according to the quarterly report Momentum: Demographic Insights by Toronto-based geo-demographic research provider Pitney Bowes MapInfo.
Thomas G. Exter, chief demographer with Pitney Bowes MapInfo, says that understanding these trends will become vital for marketers as they broaden their customer base and expand into new markets.
The research examined Canadian immigration trends – using Statistics Canada’s Census 2001 and Census 2006 data – and identified the cities that attracted the most immigrants and the countries from which they originated.
Toronto, Montreal and Calgary experienced the most gain in recent immigrant population in 2006, while Vancouver, Ottawa and Windsor saw a drop in recent immigrants by 10.6%, 8.1% and 5.9%, respectively.
In 2006, recent immigrants to Toronto hailed from India (77,765), China (63,860) and Pakistan (37,280), while recent immigrants to Montreal originated from China (16,180), Algeria (14,380) and Morocco (12,585). Recent immigrants to Vancouver were from China (39,790), India (18,770) and the Philippines (16,460).
