INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS DOWN IN 2005

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(August 17, 2006)   Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) today released the international adoption statistics for 2005 to the Adoption Council of Canada. In 2005 Canadians adopted 1,871 children from abroad, compared to 1,955 the year before. China stayed by far the number one choice of Canadian families.

Although the numbers are down 4.3% in one year, the decline is part of the normal variation over the past decade. Intercountry adoptions to Canada have been stable for eleven years, running between 1,800 and 2,200 a year:

2005: 1,871

2004: 1,955

2003: 2,180

2002: 1,926

2001: 1,874

2000: 1,866

1999: 2,019

1998: 2,222

1997: 1,800

1996: 2,061

1995: 2,010

ADOPTIONS BY COUNTRY

Note: Due to privacy considerations, CIC has suppressed and replaced cells containing less than five cases with the notation “x”. As a result, components may not sum to total indicated.

Adoptions from most countries declined in 2005. However five countries showed increases between 11% and 38%: United States, Philippines, India, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Three countries also demonstrated significant increases: Taiwan, up 100%; Pakistan, up 142%; and Ukraine, up 144%.

Though adoptions from China dropped 3%, it remains by far the most popular country. It is the choice of 52% of Canadians adopting from abroad --- 973 Chinese children found homes in Canada in 2005.

Some countries are new to the top 25 list: Liberia, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Brazil, El Salvador, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Some countries have fallen off the chart since last year. The following did not make the top 25 because they had six adoptions or less (in brackets is the figure for 2004): Belarus (32), Armenia (10), South Africa (8), Poland (6), Georgia (6), and Moldova (6).

ADOPTIONS BY PROVINCE 

Unlike previous years, Québec was not the leading destination province. Ontario was first, receiving 679 children from abroad. Québec was second with 615, down from 783 in 2004.

Although the number of international adoptions across Canada was down in 2005, seven provinces registered increases: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Ontario, and Saskatchewan.

This table shows the flow of children from sending countries to receiving provinces in 2005.

As in previous years, the figures show interesting regional differences. All eight children adopted from Guyana and all five children adopted from El Salvador went to families living in Ontario. Families from Québec adopted both the most Haitian children (77%) and Cambodian children (60%). More than half of the adopted Liberian children moved to families in British Columbia.

Do people in different provinces actually prefer certain countries over others? The differences between provinces seem to be explained rather by the presence in a province of an adoption agency working with a given country. As for the large number of adoptions from Haiti to Quebec, the common language plays a role. Haiti is the only French-speaking sending country, creating a natural affinity with francophones in Quebec.

INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS BY AGE AND GENDER

INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION BY AGE AND GENDER (2004-2005)

• Includes small number of “unknown” gender cases

Of the 1,871 adoptions in 2005, 1,372 were girls, and 499 were boys. As in previous years, the large number of girls reflects the high proportion of girls in Chinese orphanages. Although there was a decrease in adoptions of children between zero and four years of age, the number of older children adopted increased. The number of children adopted between 5-9 years of age increased by 19%, while the number of children adopted between 10-14 years of age increased by 17%.

ADOPTIONS BY CENSUS METROPOLITAN AREA

In reflection of Ontario as the leading destination province for international adoptions, Toronto welcomed the most children from abroad.