Immigrant women come from many countries

The 2006 Census estimated that Canada’s 3.2 million immigrant women came from over 220 countries. The largest proportion of these immigrant women, 9%, reported the United Kingdom as their place of birth, followed by the People’s Republic of China (8%), India (7%) and the Philippines (5%).
Of the total female immigrant population, 18% landed recently between 2001 to 2006, coming mainly from Asia. Among recent immigrant women, the largest share came from the People’s Republic of China (15% or 84,700 individuals), followed by India (11% or 65,900 individuals) and the Philippines (8% or 43,700 individuals).
The source of Canada’s immigrants has shifted over the years. In 1971, Europe was the birthplace of 61% of recent immigrant women (Chart 4); by 2006, recent immigrant women came mainly from Asia and the Middle East (59%).
Also in 2006, there was a slight increase in the proportion of recent immigrant women who came from Central and South America and the Caribbean, 11% compared with 9% in 2001. The top three countries of birth of recent immigrant women from these regions were Colombia (2.3% or 13,200 individuals), Mexico (1.5% or 8,900) and Haiti (1.0% or 6,000).
Although relatively small, the proportion of recent immigrant women from Africa also increased slightly in 2006, to 10% compared with 8% in 2001. In comparison, women born in Africa who immigrated to Canada in the later part of the 1960s comprised only 3% of recent immigrants in 1971.
This shift in the source of immigration to Canada since the 1970s was due to a number of factors, such as changes in Canada’s immigration programs to build on social, humanitarian and economic goals and international events affecting the movements of migrants and refugees.