Many immigrants do not immediately access long-term jobs that match their formal education, and the initial years are marked by relatively low income, large households and crowded housing. As their stay lengthens, however, they more or less catch up to those who were here before, although some differences remain. The Toronto metropolitan area is by far Canada's premier urban centre for recent immigrants. In 1996 there were 878,000 recent immigrants in Toronto, over 40 per cent of all recent immigrants living in Canada, accounting for one half of immigrants in Toronto and one fifth of the population of the metropolitan area. Four out of five immigrants who landed during the 1980s had become Canadian citizens by 1996.
Recent immigrants come from all over the world.
While Asian origins are dominant among immigrants who landed after 1990, the share of Hong Kong, the largest source country, is only 11 per cent. Over forty per cent of recent immigrants destined to Toronto entered through the family class. The share who entered through the economic class is almost as large. Refugees made up slightly more than ten per cent of those who landed during 1981-1996. One half of recent immigrants are 25 to 44 years of age, and 15 per cent are children under 15.