Family class, economic immigrants up in 2012

OTTAWA - New figures show a jump in family class immigration to Canada last year.

Citizenship and Immigration says just under 65,000 people sponsored by their family members arrived in Canada in 2012.

That's a 15 per cent increase over 2011 levels, which had been the lowest in five years.

There were also 2.9 per cent more economic immigrants than the year before, with over 160,000 arriving in Canada.

Immigration to Canada has been increasing since 2006, with a high in 2010 of over 280,000 permanent residents.

The department says in 2012, just over 257,000 permanent residents arrived, up roughly 9,000 from 2011.

A detailed breakdown of immigration levels is expected to be released on Wednesday.

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