Chinese Immigrants to Canada
In 2025, 21,095 Chinese were admitted to Canada as permanent residents.
From 2020 to 2025, a total of 162,255 immigrants from China landed in Canada.
In 2025, a total of 21,095 Chinese citizens were admitted to Canada as landed immigrants; accounting for 5.4% of total admissions in that year.
Chinese Immigration to Canada in recent years
Immigration to Canada from China has remained steady but has shown some fluctuations over the past six years, with China consistently ranking as one of the top source countries, though often behind India and sometimes the Philippines. Admissions dipped during the early COVID-19 period around 2020-2021 due to travel restrictions and global slowdowns, but recovered as economic and family reunification pathways reopened. In 2024, China contributed about 32,385 permanent residents, placing it second among source countries. In the first half of 2025 (January to June), 11,480 Chinese nationals obtained permanent residency, ranking third behind India and the Philippines. Overall, Chinese immigrants have primarily entered through economic streams like Express Entry and skilled worker programs, family sponsorship, and transitions from international student or work permits. In 2024, China ranked second in economic immigration with 17,775 admissions and third in family reunification with 8,320. This reflects China’s large pool of highly educated applicants benefiting from Canada’s points-based system, alongside family ties from earlier waves of migration.
Census: Foreign-born population
In 2016, Chinese immigrants were he second largest foreign-born group in Canada.
According to the 2016 Census, Chinese immigrants (649,260) were the second largest foreign-born group in Canada.
Chinese immigrants in Canada – 2001 and 2011
In 2011, the immigrant population comprised 20.6% of Canada’s population, so one in five people were immigrants.
The number of immigrants from China grew 63.9% from 332,825 in 2001 to 545,535 in 2011, making Chinese the second largest foreign-born group in Canada.
Over 49% of Chinese immigrants resided in Ontario in 2001 and 2011; most of them (224,915 or 84%) lived in the Greater Toronto Area in 2011.
In 2011, 30.7% of the Chinese immigrants resided in British Columbia; most of them (159,200 or 95%) lived in the Greater Vancouver Area.
Prince Edward Island experienced the highest percentage increase of Chinese immigrants (1556%) from 90 in 2001 people to 1,490 in 2011.
Note:
Please note that we used data from the National Household Survey (NHS) knowing that its quality is still under criticism because this survey was conducted on a voluntary basis, so its validity, reliability and comparability with other instruments, such as population censuses, have become an issue. In fact, before the first release of the NHS results, Statistics Canada issued warnings and cautions when using the NHS data, so use the data cautiously.
Citizens from the People’s Republic of China landed in Canada in recent years
CHINESE IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA (2016)
