According to a report by the Canadian newspaper Ming Pao, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada released the latest immigration statistics for January to June 2013. Although China continues to hold the top spot among the top ten countries for Canadian immigration visa issuances, it ranked third in terms of the highest number of immigration applications, falling behind the Philippines and India. Regarding the countries with the highest number of naturalizations, China also ranked third, while India had the highest number of people naturalized.
In the ranking of countries by immigration visas issued, China ranked first with 18,944 people, an increase of 3% compared to the same period last year. India ranked second with 18,807 people, less than two hundred fewer than China, representing a 7% increase. The Philippines ranked third with 14,239 people, a decrease of 21% compared to the same period last year.
In terms of countries with the most immigration applications, the Philippines ranked first with 17,216 people, a decrease of 7% compared to the same period last year. India ranked second with 10,982 people, a decrease of 17% from last year. China had only 8,818 people, a decrease of 25% compared to the same period last year, which is the largest decline among the top three countries. The number of immigration applications from the top ten countries in the first two quarters of this year has decreased compared to the previous year without exception. This is attributed to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada closing several application channels and raising the standards for reopened categories, such as the Federal Skilled Worker Program, which has impacted application interest.
Regarding the ranking of countries with the most naturalizations, India ranked first with 7,129 people, a decrease of 15% from last year. The Philippines had 6,554 people, the same as the same period last year, while China had only 4,465 people, a decrease of 34% compared to the same period last year. Among the top ten countries for naturalization, China experienced the largest decline in naturalizations.
