Canada Resettled More Refugees Than Any Other Country in 2018, UN Says

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) greets refugees fleeing from Syria as they arrive at the Pearson International Airport in Toronto, on Dec. 11. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

OTTAWA—The United Nations Refugee Agency says Canada admitted the largest number of resettled refugees last year and had the second highest rate of refugees who gained citizenship.

The UNHCR’s annual global trends report shows that Canada took in 28,100 of the 92,400 refugees who were resettled in 25 countries during 2018.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau greet Syrian refugees Ahmad Al Krad, his wife Doaa Al Mahmed and their children at the Immigration Services Society in Vancouver on Sept 25, 2016. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

A family, claiming to be from Colombia, gets set to cross the border into Canada from the United States as asylum seekers on April 18, 2018 near Champlain, NY. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)

The report shows that over 18,000 refugees became Canadian citizens last year.

Canada placed ninth in the world for asylum seekers with 55,400 claims filed in 2018.

UNHCR Canada’s senior resettlement officer Michael Casasola says Canada has been a leader on welcoming refugees, but worries that asylum seekers may become a punching bag issue during this fall’s federal election.

Overall, the number of people fleeing war, persecution, and conflict worldwide ballooned to over 70 million—the highest level since the Second World War.