Abbotsford’s immigrant population grew almost 32 per cent in the last five years, according to the latest data released from Statistics Canada.
The federal agency released its sixth set of results on Wednesday (Oct. 26) from the 2021 census, focusing on the immigrant population across the nation.
The data indicates that the number of landed immigrants or permanent residents living in Abbotsford grew from 33,390 in 2016 to 43,910 in 2021 – an increase of 31.7 per cent.
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The number of immigrants in Abbotsford now accounts for 28.6 per cent of the total population (153,524), compared to 23.6 per cent of the population in the 2016 census.
Across Canada, the number of immigrants amounts to 23 per cent of the total population.
Most of Abbotsford’s immigrants – close to 71 per cent – hail from Asia. The vast majority come from India, accounting for 54 per cent of the immigrant population and 15.5 per cent of the total population.
Among the other Asian populations represented are Taiwan, the Philippines, China and South Korea.
Europeans account for 15 per cent of the local immigrant population, followed by the Americas (eight per cent) and Africa (three per cent).
According to the census figures, Abbotsford’s overall population grew from 141,397 in 2016 to 153,524 in 2021 – an increase of 8.6 per cent.
vhopes@abbynews.com
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