Nearly 40,000 of Ontario’s permanent residents are asylum seekers

Ontario is no stranger to engaging with asylum seekers from outside of Canada, as a combination of solidarity and concern has been washing over the province over the last few years, as asylum claimants continue to enter the country in large numbers.

However, as other regions across Canada juggle the ongoing refugee and housing crisis alongside Ontario, one question remains — who is taking on the brunt of this humanitarian emergency?

In a recently released report by Statitsa, a global data analysis firm, Canadian refugee numbers were collected to observe which region in Canada is taking in the largest number of asylum claimants, while offering them permanent resident status. 

Using a data pool as recent as 2022, the report indicates that Ontario is actively taking in the highest number of refugees in Canada, as roughly 39,800 individuals were taken in and granted permanent residence status in 2022.

Alberta takes second place with 12,885 asylum-seeking individuals being offered permanent residence in the region, as indicated at the time of the survey.  

Additional information provided by Statista also indicates that in that same year, on a national scale, over 17 per cent of Canadian permanent residents held refugee status. As for the year prior, in 2021, the total number of asylum seekers being granted permanent resident status in the entire country was 60,215. 

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