Total complete applications received since July 1, 2011

On July 1, 2011, the eligibility criteria for Federal Skilled Worker applicants changed.
Between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012, a maximum of 10,000 complete Federal Skilled Worker applications will be considered for processing. Within the 10,000 cap, a maximum of 500 Federal Skilled Worker applications per eligible occupation will be considered for processing within this same time frame.
These limits do not apply to applications with an offer of arranged employment (job offer).
Applications received toward the overall cap: 2,565 of 10,000 as of October 3, 2011

Applications received per eligible occupation:

Eligible Occupation (by National Occupational Classification [NOC] code)	Number of Complete Applications Received*
0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers	229
0811 Primary Production Managers (except Agriculture)	23
1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management	(Cap reached)**
1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners	36
2121 Biologists and Related Scientists	135
2151 Architects	73
3111 Specialist Physicians	113
3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians	111
3113 Dentists	146
3131 Pharmacists	260
3142 Physiotherapists	30
3152 Registered Nurses	(Cap reached)**
3215 Medical Radiation Technologists	14
3222 Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists	10
3233 Licensed Practical Nurses	55
4151 Psychologists	11
4152 Social Workers	84
6241 Chefs	22
6242 Cooks	50
7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades	25
7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades	47
7241 Electricians (except Industrial and Power System)	23
7242 Industrial Electricians	20
7251 Plumbers	4
7265 Welders and Related Machine Operators	9
7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics	9
7371 Crane Operators	1
7372 Drillers and Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying and Construction	2
8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service	23

*The number of complete Federal Skilled Worker applications received as of October 3, 2011 is approximate.
**Once the cap has been reached, we can only accept applications for this occupation from people with an existing offer of arranged employment.
NOTE: Because application intake fluctuates, these figures are meant as a guide only. There is no guarantee that an application sent in now will fall within the cap.

Ethnic diversity and immigration

According to demographic projections, the ethnocultural diversity of Canada’s population will increase greatly by 2031. The vast majority (96%) of Canadians belonging to a visible minority group will likely live in one of the 33 census metropolitan areas, and visible minority groups could comprise 63% of the population of Toronto, 59% of Vancouver and 31% of Montréal.

Canada’s increasing visible minority population is not the only aspect of diversity projected to change. Other aspects of diversity include foreign-born, generation status, mother tongue and religious denomination.

Diversity growing

According to demographic projections, the proportion of foreign-born people in the population could increase from 20% in 2006 to between 25% and 28% by 2031. Just over half (55%) could be born in Asia.

The proportion of foreign-born in the population could increase together with immigration levels. From 1991 to 2006, the average annual number of immigrants to Canada was 229,000, making the years 1991 to 2006 one of the longest uninterrupted periods of strong immigration since 1871. Over the same period, the proportion of foreign-born in the population increased from 16.1% to 19.8%. In contrast, over a 40-year period from 1951 to 1991, the proportion of foreign-born in the population rose from 14.7% to 16.1%.

From 2006 to 2031, the foreign-born population of Canada could increase four times faster than the rest of the population. The number of foreign-born Canadians could total between 9.8 and 12.5 million, depending on immigration levels. By 2031, nearly half (46%) of Canadians aged 15 and older could be foreign-born, or could have at least one foreign-born parent, up from 39% in 2006.

Diversity will grow among the Canadian-born population in coming generations regardless of future immigration, since the children and grandchildren of immigrants will add to Canada’s diversity.

Doubling of visible minority population

By 2031, if current demographic trends continue, 47% of the second generation (the Canadian-born children of immigrants) will belong to a visible minority group, nearly double the proportion of 24% in 2006. The proportion of the third generation (the Canadian-born children of the Canadian-born children of immigrants) or later generations belonging to a visible minority group, although low, will triple from 1% to 3%.

By 2031, 29% to 32% of Canada’s population—between 11.4 and 14.4 million people—could belong to a visible minority group, which is nearly double the proportion (16%) and more than double the number (5.3 million) reported in 2006. In contrast, the rest of the population is projected to increase by up to 12%. Sustained immigration, slightly higher fertility and a young population will bolster the visible minority population’s growth.

South Asians—the largest visible minority group—could represent 28% of the visible minority population by 2031, up from 25% in 2006, whereas the share of Chinese could decline from 24% to 21%. Chinese women have one of the lowest fertility rates in Canada, unlike South Asian women. Also, people born in China are more likely than South Asians to emigrate from Canada.

Canada’s Black and Filipino populations, which were the third- and fourth-largest visible minority groups in 2006, could double in size by 2031. The Arab and West Asian groups could more than triple—the fastest population growth among all groups.

More allophones, increasing religious diversity

Allophones (people whose mother tongue is neither English nor French) accounted for less than 10% of Canada’s population in 1981. By 2006, that proportion had risen to 20%; augmented by immigration, it could reach 29% to 32% by 2031. In other words, the number of allophones could rise 7 to 11 times faster than the rest of the population, to total between 11.4 and 14.3 million people.

Diversity is also increasing in terms of religious denomination. The number of people having a non-Christian religion is expected to almost double from 8% of the population in 2006 to 14% by 2031; about half of the non-Christian population would be Muslim, up from 35% in 2006. The proportion of the population with a Christian religion could decline from 75% to about 65%. The share with no religion could rise from 17% to 21%.