StatsCan Study: The contribution of foreign-born mothers to Canadian births from 1997 to 2024

Of interest:

Since 2009, Canada has been experiencing a decline in fertility, which accelerated in 2017. In addition, the country saw unprecedented annual population growth from 2022 to 2024 on account of strong international migration. In this context, the study “The contribution of foreign-born mothers to Canadian births from 1997 to 2024” sheds new light on the contribution of foreign-born women (i.e., those born outside Canada) to births in Canada over the period from 1997 to 2024 using vital statistics data on births.

In 2024, more than two in five newborns (42.3%) had a foreign-born mother, a proportion that nearly doubled in just over 25 years. Also, nearly three in five babies (57.0%) born to mothers over the age of 40 years had a foreign-born mother in 2024. In contrast, among babies born to mothers aged 19 years and younger, just over 1 in 10 (12.8%) had a foreign-born mother.

Among all births in Canada, the proportion attributable to mothers born in India increased nearly fivefold from 1997 to 2024, rising from 2.1% to 10.3%. As a result, India was the leading country of origin for new foreign-born mothers in 2024, followed by the Philippines (3.1% of all births) and China (2.0% of all births).

In 2024, Ontario and British Columbia (48.7% each) had the highest proportion of births to foreign-born mothers, while the lowest proportion was observed in the Atlantic provinces (23.6%).

From 1997 to 2024, the largest increases in the number of births to foreign-born mothers were observed in Saskatchewan (+437%), the Atlantic provinces (+298%), Alberta (+264%) and Manitoba (+206%).

According to the 2021 Census of Population, the adjusted proportion of foreign-born women among women of childbearing age was estimated at 32.3%. This is slightly lower than the proportion of births to foreign-born mothers that year (33.0%), a trend that has been observed in the last five censuses of population. This suggests that foreign-born women are overrepresented among mothers who give birth in Canada compared with their proportion of the Canadian population.

From 2022 to 2024, 96% to 98% of Canada’s annual population growth was due to international migration (new immigrants and non-permanent residents), while the remainder was due to natural increase (births minus deaths). However, without the contribution of foreign-born individuals to births and deaths, the natural increase in Canada would have been negative since 2022.

Source: Study: The contribution of foreign-born mothers to Canadian births from 1997 to 2024