Foreign-born population is increasingly ethnoculturally diverse

The foreign-born population living in Canada has become more ethnoculturally diverse since the early 1980s. This diversification could continue in the coming years, according to the projections of the diversity of the Canadian population.
In 1981, two-thirds of foreign-born persons living in Canada—including immigrants who arrived several decades earlier—were born in Europe, a consequence of past immigration flows coming mainly from that continent. Europe remained the main continent of origin of foreign-born persons living in Canada until 2006, when Asia became the most frequent place of birth of immigrants to Canada.
According to the reference scenario for the most recent projections of the diversity of the Canadian population, more than half of the foreign-born population living in Canada could be Asian-born by 2031, while the European-born portion could account for about one-fifth of the foreign-born population living in Canada.
The proportion of the population living in Canada that was born in the Americas varied little between 1981 and 2011, hovering around 15%. This proportion could remain stable over the coming decades, according to the projections of the diversity of the Canadian population. In addition, the African-born proportion of the population living in Canada nearly tripled between 1981 and 2011, increasing from 2.6% to 7.3%. This proportion could continue to increase in the coming decades, while remaining below the 10% level.

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