Ottawa, Jan 4 (IANS): The Canadian government announced that it received 431,645 new permanent residents in 2022 to fill labour shortages, the largest number of people ever welcomed in a year in the country's history.

Prior to setting a new record for admissions in 2021, the last time Canada welcomed such a large number of newcomers was in 1913, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said in a statement on Tuesday.

"As the government focuses on addressing the acute labour market shortages we are facing today and building a strong economy into the future, one thing remains certain: immigration is a key part of the solution," Xinhua news agency quoted the IRCC statement as saying.

In 2022, IRCC processed approximately 5.2 million applications for permanent residence, temporary residence and citizenship.

That's double the number of applications processed in 2021, according to the statement.

Currently, immigration accounts for almost 100 per cent of Canada's labour force growth.

Roughly 75 per cent of Canada's population growth came from immigration, mostly in the economic category.

By 2036, immigrants will represent up to 30 per cent of Canada's population, compared with 20.7 per cent in 2011.

During the 2021 census, nearly one in four people counted were or had been a landed immigrant or permanent resident in Canada, the largest proportion among G7 countries.