Canada welcomed 248,660 permanent residents in 2011, well within the Government’s planning range of 240,000 to 265,000 new permanent residents for the year and consistent with the average of about a quarter of a million immigrants admitted to Canada annually since 2006 – the highest sustained level of immigration in Canadian history.

“Canada’s per-capita immigration rate remains one of the highest in the world,” said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney. “Immigration has always been a sustaining feature of Canada’s history and continues to play an important role in building our country.”

In 2011, Canada welcomed 156,077 economic immigrants and 56,419 family class immigrants.