Northern America

Migration in Northern America³⁴³ is dominated by migration into the region, primarily to the United States. The latest available international migrant stock data (2020)³⁴⁴ show that nearly 59 million migrants were residing in Northern America from a variety of regions (Figure 17). This number has increased by around 3 million since 2015, when around 56 million migrants were living in the region. As of 2020, most of these migrants were from Latin America and the Caribbean (around 26 million), followed by Asia (18 million) and Europe (around 7 million). During the last 30 years, the number of migrants in Northern America has more than doubled, driven by emigration from Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia, as well as by economic growth and political stability in Northern America. The number of Northern American migrants living within the region or elsewhere was very small compared with the foreign-born population in the region. In contrast to regions such as Asia and Africa, where intraregional migration is significant, more Northern American-born migrants lived outside the region (around 3 million) than had moved elsewhere within the region (a little more than 1 million) in 2020.

Source: UN DESA, 2021.
Notes: This is the latest available international migrant stock data at the time of writing. “Migrants to Northern America” refers to migrants residing in the region (i.e. Northern America) who were born in one of the other regions (e.g. Europe or Asia). “Migrants within Northern America” refers to migrants born in the region (i.e. Northern America) and residing outside their country of birth, but still within the Northern American region. “Migrants from Northern America” refers to people born in Northern America who were residing outside the region (e.g. in Europe or Africa).

The share of female and male immigrants in the United States and Canada is about the same, with female immigrants only slightly larger. When it comes to the proportion of emigrants, however, Canada has a much larger share of female emigrants compared to males. In the United States, there is about an equal share of female and male emigrants.

Source: UN DESA, 2021.
Notes: This is the latest available international migrant stock data at the time of writing. “Proportion” refers to the share of female or male migrants in the total number of immigrants in destination countries (left) or in the total number of emigrants from origin countries (right).

The United States hosted the largest number of asylum-seekers and refugees in Northern America in 2022 (Figure 19). The country was home to nearly 1.8 million asylum-seekers and more than 363,000 refugees at the end of 2022. The United States was also the largest recipient of new individual asylum applications globally in the same year (over 730,000).³⁴⁵ Canada, meanwhile, hosted more than 113,000 asylum-seekers and nearly 66,000 refugees in 2022.

Source: UNHCR, n.d.a.
Note: “Hosted” refers to those refugees and asylum-seekers from other countries who are residing in the receiving country (right-hand side of the figure); “abroad” refers to refugees and asylum-seekers originating from that country who are outside of their origin country.

All internal displacements in Northern America in 2022 were triggered by disasters (Figure 20). Most occurred in the United States, where 675,000 movements were recorded, nearly half of which were prompted by Hurricane Ian. Disaster displacement numbers in Canada in 2022 were much lower than those recorded in the United States; however, we will likely see a much larger number of disaster displacements in Canada in 2023 due to the intense and widespread wildfire activity that took place in the summer months.

Source: IDMC, n.d.; UN DESA, 2022.
Notes: The term “displacements” refers to the number of displacement movements that occurred in 2022 not the total accumulated stock of IDPs resulting from displacement over time. New displacement figures include individuals who have been displaced more than once and do not correspond to the number of people displaced during the year. The population size used to calculate the percentage of new disaster and conflict displacements is based on the total resident population of the country per 2021 UN DESA population estimates, and the percentage is for relative illustrative purposes only.

Key features and developments in Northern America³⁴⁶

As labour shortages take a toll on the economies of both Canada and the United States, both countries have devised or enacted strategies to attract migrant workers to fill critical labour gaps. Demographic shifts as populations age and fertility rates decline, the COVID-19 pandemic – which halted international mobility – as well as previously more restrictive immigration policies in the United States have all contributed to a shortage of workers.³⁴⁷ In response, Canada, for example, has enacted long-term plans to recruit migrants to address its labour needs. In November of 2022, the Canadian Government announced that it would aim to attract 1.45 million immigrants between 2023 and 2025 to fill jobs in key and essential sectors, such as health care and manufacturing.³⁴⁸ In the United States, while immigration grew in 2022 and helped to boost job recoveries in areas such as construction and hospitality, the number of foreign workers still remained below pre-2017 levels.³⁴⁹ Some estimates put unfilled jobs in the United States at over 10 million, and a shortage of immigrants to address these shortages has – some argue – negatively affected the country’s economy.³⁵⁰ In an effort to address these shortages in some essential sectors, even as a more comprehensive immigration policy has been stalled for years, the current United States administration announced plans to issue almost 65,000 more H-2B temporary agricultural visas in the 2023 fiscal year.³⁵¹

The impacts of climate change are intensifying in parts of Northern America, resulting in significant displacement, loss of lives and property damage. Climate shocks and extreme weather events such as hurricanes as well as record high temperatures are becoming more common, posing significant risks to people across the region.³⁵² The 2022 IPCC report shows that Atlantic Canada and the south-eastern United States will be at risk from sea-level rise and acute hurricanes and storms, even at 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming.³⁵³ Recent wildfires in both the United States and Canada attest to the worsening impacts of climate change. Between 2020 and 2022, for example, the acres of land burned due to wildfires in the western United States far outpaced the average of 1.2 million acres burned since 2016.³⁵⁴ In Canada, tens of thousands of people had been displaced and millions of acres burned by June 2023, as wildfires raged for weeks.³⁵⁵ In addition to wildfires, parts of Northern America have borne the brunt of hurricanes. Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in Cuba before tracking toward the United States, resulted in more than 300,000 displacements, most in Florida.³⁵⁶ The United States has been taking pre-emptive measures to protect some of the communities that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In 2022, it was announced that the Government would give money to five Native American tribes in the states of Alaska and Washington to assist with their relocation away from coastlines and rivers.³⁵⁷

Irregular migration to the United States remains an ongoing challenge and major policy issue, with increasing numbers of arrivals from atypical origin countries. There were 2.4 million encounters at the United States–Mexico border in 2022, the highest on record.³⁵⁸ “Encounters” constitute both apprehensions and expulsions, and these statistics also include many migrants who tried to enter the United States several times without authorization.³⁵⁹ For years, most irregular migrants were overwhelmingly from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras but in 2022 and for the first time, there were more encounters with migrants from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.³⁶⁰ There were also a large numbTooltip texter of arrivals from Haiti, Brazil and from countries outside the region such as India and Ukraine.³⁶¹ The shift in origin country geography has also been attributed to Title 42, which suspends the right to claim asylum under United States and international law on the basis of preventing the spread of COVID-19.³⁶² In May 2023, the current United States Government allowed the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency declaration to expire, effectively ending Title 42, which had been put in place by the previous Government.³⁶³ The United States now returns to the pre-pandemic Title 8, a decades-old immigration law, which carries “steep consequences for unlawful entry, including at least a five-year ban on re-entry and potential criminal prosecution for repeated attempts to enter unlawfully.”³⁶⁴ At the same time, the United States announced in April 2023 the expansion of regular pathways for migrants from South and Central America, in an effort to curb irregular migration.³⁶⁵ Through the Safe Mobility Initiative, those who are eligible would be considered for both humanitarian and other pathways to the United States or other countries taking part in the programme.³⁶⁶ Some of the pathways available include refugee resettlement, temporary employment pathways and family reunification processes.³⁶⁷ Both IOM and UNHCR (with others) are partners with the United States in this process.

Leaders from 21 countries in Northern America and Latin America and the Caribbean signed the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection in 2022, signalling a major way forward in setting goals for cooperation on migration management across the two regions. The non-binding declaration was widely welcomed, including by international organizations such as IOM and UNHCR. It is considered an important political measure that builds on existing instruments and principles, such as the Global Compact for Migration and regional platforms such as the Regional Conference on Migration, among others, to facilitate the implementation of this Declaration.³⁶⁸ The Declaration is also a recognition that migration cannot be managed unilaterally, and migration challenges and opportunities must be addressed through international cooperation.³⁶⁹The Declaration sets out several common goals, including: stabilizing migration movements and providing assistance to countries of origin, transit and destination, as well as return; expanding regular pathways for migration and international protection; advancing migration management that is humane; and promoting more coordinated responses to emergencies.³⁷⁰

Canada continues to resettle more refugees than any other country globally. With 47,600 resettlement arrivals in 2022, a 133 per cent increase from 2021 (20,400), Canada received the largest number of resettled refugees in the world.³⁷¹ Many came from Afghanistan (21,300), the Syrian Arab Republic (7,600) and Eritrea (6,100).³⁷² In 2022, the United States resettled 29,000 refugees, double the figure in 2021. Most were from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (9,000), the Syrian Arab Republic (4,300) and Myanmar (2,900).³⁷³ The continued low levels of refugee resettlements to the United States is, in part, a remnant of the restrictive immigration policies of the previous administration, which cut resettlement numbers, while curtailing the Government’s ability to accept refugees.³⁷⁴