Somali Immigrants in Canada

In 2025, 4,845 Somali immigrants were admitted to Canada as permanent residents.

In 2025, 393,530 immigrants were admitted to Canada, Somali citizens accounted for 1.2% of the annual immigration intake.

From 2020 to 2025, a total of 21,845 Somali immigrants were admitted to Canada as permanent residents.

Somali Immigration to Canada in Recent Years

Since 2020, Somali immigration to Canada has continued through family sponsorship, humanitarian and protected persons pathways, and some economic streams amid ongoing challenges in Somalia. Somalis admitted as permanent residents numbered in the low thousands annually in the early pandemic years before increasing, with 12,170 citizens of Somalia becoming permanent residents between January 2023 and March 2025. In 2024 alone, Canada admitted around 5,790 Somalis as new permanent residents. Many Somalis settle in Ontario, particularly the Greater Toronto Area, as well as in Alberta and other provinces, drawn by established community networks, job opportunities, and family reunification. Family sponsorship and refugee or protected persons categories form the largest share, with economic immigration playing a smaller but growing role. The Somali-born population in Canada reached approximately 32,500 according to the 2021 Census, with the broader Somali-origin community larger and continuing to expand through sustained inflows in subsequent years.