Published February 4, 2025
Family size among Syrian refugees was somewhat higher than the Canadian average. Families who were government sponsored had slightly larger families than their privately sponsored counterparts. Although the number of individuals coming through each immigration stream was about the same, significantly more families were sponsored privately.
The significant majority of refugees had secondary education or lower. Refugees who were privately sponsored were much less likely to have no education level listed. They were also more likely to have a university education.
Food insecurity across all demographic categories rose between 2021 and 2022. Recent immigrants experienced food insecurity rates about four percentage points higher than the average population. Of the demographic groups selected, only the adult Indigenous population had a higher rate of household food insecurity than newcomers.
Admissions of Resettled Refugees by Education Level and Refugee Type January 2015 - October 2024
Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. “Resettled Refugees – Monthly IRCC Updates - Canada - Resettled Refugees by Province/Territory of Intended Destination, Education Level and Immigration Category - Open Government Portal.” Accessed January 30, 2025. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/4a1b260a-7ac4-4985-80a0-603bfe4aec11/resource/ebe5f55e-0343-4d73-996a-c7cc9dc76f7d.
Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. “Resettled Refugees – Monthly IRCC Updates - Canada - Resettled Refugees by Province/Territory of Intended Destination, Education Level and Immigration Category - Open Government Portal.” Accessed January 30, 2025. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/4a1b260a-7ac4-4985-80a0-603bfe4aec11/resource/ebe5f55e-0343-4d73-996a-c7cc9dc76f7d.
Admissions of Syrian Refugees by Immigration Category and Family Composition, November 4, 2015 - September 5, 2018
Source: IRCC Permanent Residents, September 2018 Data
Food insecurity by selected demographic characteristics
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 13-10-0835-01 Food insecurity by selected demographic characteristics https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310083501.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 13-10-0835-01 Food insecurity by selected demographic characteristics https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310083501.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 13-10-0835-01 Food insecurity by selected demographic characteristics https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310083501.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 13-10-0835-01 Food insecurity by selected demographic characteristics https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310083501.
Overall Destining of Afghan Refugees by Province (as of October 12, 2023)
Suggested Citation: National Newcomer Navigation Network, "Refugee Family Size, Refugee Education, Food Insecurity", January 2025, https://www.newcomernavigation.ca/en/data/refugee-family-size-refugee-education-food-insecurity.aspx