More than 90% of Canada’s Population Holds Citizenship, Including by Birth and Naturalization

The 2021 census of Canada regarding immigration shows that 91.2% of the current Canadian population of 33.1 million has citizenship whereas the rest are permanent or temporary residents. This percentage also includes immigrants who have gained citizenship by naturalization. However, the number of citizens by birth in Canada has decreased in comparison to the naturalized citizens due to the aging population of the country.

On the other hand, the rate at which immigrants embrace citizenship in Canada has dropped since 2011 when the naturalization rate was 87.8 %. This decrease is caused by a lot of policy changes that the government is trying to resolve to improve the naturalization rate. They have promised to lower the fee for the application. Also, the minimum criteria for physically living in the country has been restored to 3 years.

The government of Canada is focusing on increasing the naturalization rate, particularly because of the aging workforce of Canada. The immigration report states that the median age of immigrants in Canada is 33.6 years whereas that of Canadian citizens is 41.2 years. Currently, the majority of Canadian immigrants are Indian, Chinese, and Filipinos. Therefore, immigrants from Asian countries seem to be the source of Canada’s immigrant workforce which will be increasing with time, under accessible policy changes by the Canadian government.

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Aishani Pande

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