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By Tina Chui, Kelly Tran and Hélène Maheux, Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division, Statistics Canada
Immigration has played an important part in shaping Canada's population. Some immigrants came a long time ago and some recently. Today, immigration in Canada has a far-reaching impact on the country's population growth. It was responsible for two-thirds of our population growth in the intercensal period of 2001 and 2006. Due to the settlement pattern of the foreign-born in the recent decades, the effect of immigration is mostly felt in Canada's largest urban centres and their surrounding municipalities. The 2006 portrait of the foreign-born population was a diverse one reflecting the waves of immigrants from different regions around the world.
This report examines two concepts related to the foreign-born population. Please refer to the definitions of these two concepts.