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🌍 Immigration · Nova Scotia
Immigration to Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia gained 9,564 new permanent residents over the last four quarters (8.7 per 1,000 people). It had 55,701 temporary residents on July 1, 2026, 5.0% of its population.
New permanent residents per year 0 10K 1972 · Immigrants: 1,709 1972 1973 · Immigrants: 1,923 1974 · Immigrants: 3,064 1975 · Immigrants: 2,342 1976 · Immigrants: 2,004 1977 · Immigrants: 1,854 1977 1978 · Immigrants: 1,219 1979 · Immigrants: 967 1980 · Immigrants: 1,885 1981 · Immigrants: 1,271 1982 · Immigrants: 1,470 1982 1983 · Immigrants: 937 1984 · Immigrants: 939 1985 · Immigrants: 1,049 1986 · Immigrants: 974 1987 · Immigrants: 1,170 1987 1988 · Immigrants: 1,212 1989 · Immigrants: 1,452 1990 · Immigrants: 1,454 1991 · Immigrants: 1,542 1992 · Immigrants: 1,927 1992 1993 · Immigrants: 2,599 1994 · Immigrants: 3,084 1995 · Immigrants: 3,726 1996 · Immigrants: 3,397 1997 · Immigrants: 3,111 1997 1998 · Immigrants: 2,590 1999 · Immigrants: 1,624 2000 · Immigrants: 1,674 2001 · Immigrants: 1,747 2002 · Immigrants: 1,609 2002 2003 · Immigrants: 1,257 2004 · Immigrants: 1,707 2005 · Immigrants: 1,711 2006 · Immigrants: 2,197 2007 · Immigrants: 2,722 2007 2008 · Immigrants: 2,668 2009 · Immigrants: 2,446 2010 · Immigrants: 2,414 2011 · Immigrants: 2,286 2012 · Immigrants: 2,352 2012 2013 · Immigrants: 2,241 2014 · Immigrants: 2,779 2015 · Immigrants: 2,687 2016 · Immigrants: 5,482 2017 · Immigrants: 4,366 2017 2018 · Immigrants: 5,147 2019 · Immigrants: 6,398 2020 · Immigrants: 6,249 2021 · Immigrants: 3,552 2022 · Immigrants: 13,838 2022 2023 · Immigrants: 12,305 2024 · Immigrants: 13,765 2025 · Immigrants: 10,985 2026 · Immigrants: 9,564 2026
Temporary residents by permit type 0 20K 40K 60K 2021-07 · Work permit only: 14,768 2021-07 · Study permit only: 9,366 2021-07 · Work + study permits: 4,011 2021-07 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 332 2021-07 · Other permit holders & family: 1,363 2021-07 2021-10 · Work permit only: 15,574 2021-10 · Study permit only: 10,660 2021-10 · Work + study permits: 3,488 2021-10 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 329 2021-10 · Other permit holders & family: 1,452 2022-01 · Work permit only: 12,927 2022-01 · Study permit only: 11,048 2022-01 · Work + study permits: 3,600 2022-01 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 300 2022-01 · Other permit holders & family: 1,322 2022-01 2022-04 · Work permit only: 12,336 2022-04 · Study permit only: 10,769 2022-04 · Work + study permits: 3,993 2022-04 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 317 2022-04 · Other permit holders & family: 1,346 2022-07 · Work permit only: 14,256 2022-07 · Study permit only: 10,896 2022-07 · Work + study permits: 4,818 2022-07 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 312 2022-07 · Other permit holders & family: 1,566 2022-07 2022-10 · Work permit only: 16,798 2022-10 · Study permit only: 12,142 2022-10 · Work + study permits: 5,344 2022-10 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 335 2022-10 · Other permit holders & family: 1,802 2023-01 · Work permit only: 16,666 2023-01 · Study permit only: 12,784 2023-01 · Work + study permits: 6,587 2023-01 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 362 2023-01 · Other permit holders & family: 1,886 2023-01 2023-04 · Work permit only: 17,272 2023-04 · Study permit only: 12,394 2023-04 · Work + study permits: 7,359 2023-04 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 538 2023-04 · Other permit holders & family: 1,998 2023-07 · Work permit only: 20,974 2023-07 · Study permit only: 12,643 2023-07 · Work + study permits: 8,859 2023-07 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 531 2023-07 · Other permit holders & family: 2,286 2023-07 2023-10 · Work permit only: 25,390 2023-10 · Study permit only: 14,212 2023-10 · Work + study permits: 8,810 2023-10 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 577 2023-10 · Other permit holders & family: 2,614 2024-01 · Work permit only: 25,251 2024-01 · Study permit only: 14,076 2024-01 · Work + study permits: 9,674 2024-01 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 625 2024-01 · Other permit holders & family: 2,906 2024-01 2024-04 · Work permit only: 25,917 2024-04 · Study permit only: 13,441 2024-04 · Work + study permits: 10,351 2024-04 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 667 2024-04 · Other permit holders & family: 3,201 2024-07 · Work permit only: 27,407 2024-07 · Study permit only: 13,017 2024-07 · Work + study permits: 10,473 2024-07 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 733 2024-07 · Other permit holders & family: 3,267 2024-07 2024-10 · Work permit only: 30,696 2024-10 · Study permit only: 13,075 2024-10 · Work + study permits: 8,751 2024-10 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 826 2024-10 · Other permit holders & family: 3,377 2025-01 · Work permit only: 29,930 2025-01 · Study permit only: 12,715 2025-01 · Work + study permits: 8,504 2025-01 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 910 2025-01 · Other permit holders & family: 3,261 2025-01 2025-04 · Work permit only: 30,100 2025-04 · Study permit only: 12,406 2025-04 · Work + study permits: 8,443 2025-04 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 1,002 2025-04 · Other permit holders & family: 3,279 2025-07 · Work permit only: 32,043 2025-07 · Study permit only: 12,007 2025-07 · Work + study permits: 7,686 2025-07 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 1,084 2025-07 · Other permit holders & family: 3,238 2025-07 2025-10 · Work permit only: 35,934 2025-10 · Study permit only: 11,591 2025-10 · Work + study permits: 5,312 2025-10 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 1,197 2025-10 · Other permit holders & family: 3,324 2026-01 · Work permit only: 35,513 2026-01 · Study permit only: 11,101 2026-01 · Work + study permits: 4,865 2026-01 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 1,317 2026-01 · Other permit holders & family: 3,239 2026-01 2026-04 · Work permit only: 33,840 2026-04 · Study permit only: 10,808 2026-04 · Work + study permits: 5,198 2026-04 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 1,456 2026-04 · Other permit holders & family: 3,088 2026-07 · Work permit only: 35,238 2026-07 · Study permit only: 10,708 2026-07 · Work + study permits: 5,042 2026-07 · Asylum claimants & protected persons: 1,484 2026-07 · Other permit holders & family: 3,229 2026-07
Work permit only Study permit only Work + study permits Asylum claimants & protected persons Other permit holders & family
IRCC
Permanent and temporary newcomers to Nova Scotia, 2015–2025 0 5,918 12K 18K 24K 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 New permanent residents Study permit holders Work permits (TFWP + IMP) Asylum claims
Calendar years from IRCC open data (rounded to the nearest 5). Study and work counts are permit holders whose permit became valid that year.
IRCC
New permanent residents to Nova Scotia each year 0 10K 2015 · PR admissions (IRCC): 3,420 2015 2016 · PR admissions (IRCC): 5,510 2016 2017 · PR admissions (IRCC): 4,515 2017 2018 · PR admissions (IRCC): 5,985 2018 2019 · PR admissions (IRCC): 7,595 2019 2020 · PR admissions (IRCC): 3,520 2020 2021 · PR admissions (IRCC): 9,150 2021 2022 · PR admissions (IRCC): 12,660 2022 2023 · PR admissions (IRCC): 11,805 2023 2024 · PR admissions (IRCC): 14,285 2024 2025 · PR admissions (IRCC): 9,175 2025 2026 · PR admissions (IRCC): 7,485 2026*
*2026 covers January to August 2026 only, so it is not a full year. IRCC rounds every number to the nearest 5.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0040-01 , Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0008-01 , Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0121-01 , Permanent Residents by Province/Territory and Immigration Category , Study permit holders by province/territory, study level, and year in which permit(s) became effective , Study permit holders on December 31st by province/territory and study level , Temporary Foreign Worker Program work permit holders by province/territory of intended destination, program and year in which permit(s) became effective , International Mobility Program work permit holders by province/territory, program and year in which permit(s) became effective , Asylum Claimants by Province/Territory of Claim, Gender and Claim Month , [ARCHIVED] Province or Territory of Residence - New Citizens (in Persons)
FAQ
Questions How many immigrants come to Nova Scotia each year? Nova Scotia gained 9,564 new permanent residents over the four quarters from Q3 2025 to Q2 2026 (Statistics Canada).
How many temporary residents live in Nova Scotia? 55,701 on July 1, 2026, about 5.0% of the population.
How many permanent residents settled in Nova Scotia in 2025? 9,175 new permanent residents chose Nova Scotia as their destination in 2025, -35.8% from 2024 (IRCC).
How many international students are in Nova Scotia? 9,240 people had a study permit for Nova Scotia become valid in 2025 (IRCC).