Newmarket has grown by 3,310 immigrants over the past five years, with the majority coming from Asian countries, according to new data released by Statistics Canada.
The data highlights that the national immigrant population has reached the highest point in more than 150 years, at 23 per cent. In Newmarket, immigrants are approximately 33.9 per cent of the population, or 28,945 in total.
“Given that the population of Canada continues to age and fertility is below the population replacement level, today, immigration is the main driver of population growth,” Statistics Canada said in a news release.
Newmarket’s overall population went up by 3,718 over the last five years.
Asian countries have become the main source of immigration in Canada, and Newmarket is no exception. Of the new immigrants in the last five years, 2,585 came from Asia, led by China (705), Iran (545) and Phillippines (380). That follows overall immigration trends in the community, with 17,185 of its immigrant population coming from Asian countries.
“Over time, Asia has become the top source region of new immigrants, and this trend continued in 2021,” Statistics Canada said. “The share of new immigrants from Africa also increased. Together, immigrants, Indigenous people — who have walked this land for thousands of years, before Europeans settled here— and their descendants have helped shape Canada as it is known today.”
Immigration was slightly down in Newmarket compared to the previous five years, with 4,150 coming in between 2011 and 2016. But Statistics Canada said it recorded the highest number of immigrants in recent years within the 2021 census, at 1.3 million overall.
Most immigrants to Newmarket and Canada came for economic reasons, according to the census, accounting for 13,790 of the 23,995 that have come between 1980 and 2021.
Similar trends exist for York Region, which saw 53,490 new immigrants between 2016 and 2021. The majority of those, 45,685, have come from Asian countries. Overall, York Region’s immigrant population is at 557,025, representing approximately 47 per cent of the total population of 1,173,334.
You can find a breakdown of Newmarket’s 2021 census through Statistics Canada.
