Photos: Science North, August 16
18.08.2018
ICC community citizenship ceremonies are a celebration of Canada’s newest citizens and offer unique opportunities to reflect on what it means to be active, engaged citizens. We were thrilled to […]
What is a Canoo Insights Report?
This is the next installment of our first Canoo Insights Report, a quarterly series started by Ideas & Insights at the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. Through these quarterly reports, we hope to:
- Give readers a sense of the Canoo program
- Reveal how Canoo is the bridge that unlocks the best of Canada to newcomers
- Give readers a glimpse into the moving parts of the Canoo program that make it the biggest welcome network in Canada
What is Canoo?
Canoo is a distinctly Canadian innovation that translates our country’s openness to newcomers. Through the Canoo app, Permanent Residents and new citizens get a 12-month membership that unlocks free VIP access to over 1400 locations and experiences across Canada.
Learn About the Canoo Members
Canoo was initially offered to new Canadian citizens, who make up the majority of members. With the relaunch of Canoo in May 2022, Canoo is now offered to permanent residents for the first time, and more than 15,000 permanent residents have become members since.
$45+ million
in value delivered
450K
newcomers have participated
> 40%
of members bring children on their visits
Who is eligible to become a Canoo member?
- Any Canadian who received their citizenship in the last 12 months (365 days)
- Are within the first 5 years of receiving permanent residence status
- 18 years or older
Eligible immigrants can download the Canoo app, verify their immigration status, and gain access to tens of thousands of dollars worth of benefits + knowledge on what to do in Canada. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes.
Canoo Member Lifecycle:
Download Canoo
The first step is to download Canoo through Google Play or the App store
Verification
If eligible, members will verify their immigration status on the app by scanning their PR card or citizenship certificate
Activation
Once verified, members can choose when they want the 12-month membership to begin (some may choose to activate later depending on their schedule, upcoming offers they want to use, etc.)
Check-in to Places
Once activated, members gain access to arts and cultural venues, sports events, festivals, and more than 1400+ locations
Canoo Members since 2018: 194,760
Canoo transitioned from a paper pass to a mobile app in 2018. Since becoming digital, Canoo data show that 194,760 people have become Canoo members. Of this, there are 48,250 current active Canoo members.
Time frame: May 6th, 2022 – December 12th, 2022
Total Members Since 2018
| Currently Active PRs | 17,190 |
| Currently Active Citizens | 34,510 |
| Alumni | 102,250 |
| Downloaded | 40,810 |
| Total | 194,760 |
Gender Distribution of Active Canoo Members
| Female | Male | |
|---|---|---|
| PR | 8,950 (52%) | 8,170 (48%) |
| Citizens | 17,190 (50%) | 17,320 (50%) |
1) 67 Permanent Resident Canoo members identified as “no gender” or “non-binary”;
2) 25 citizen Canoo members identified as “no gender” or “non-binary
X-axis: Immigration Status, Y-axis: Canoo Members
Age Distribution of Canoo Members
Canoo serves diverse age groups, but a majority of active members are between 25 to 44 years old: 20,218 females, 19,222 males
| Age | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| 18-24 | 1,217 | 953 |
| 25-34 | 9,630 | 8,017 |
| 35-44 | 10,588 | 11,205 |
| 45-54 | 2,696 | 3,324 |
| 55-64 | 763 | 798 |
| 65-74 | 339 | 364 |
| 75+ | 997 | 944 |
X-axis: Age, Y-axis: Canoo Members
Canoo Members with Children
In the last 12 months, the total number of adults admitted to Canoo is more than 50,000 members. Of this, 42 percent of Permanent Residents and 49 percent of new citizens brought children to Canoo partner sites.
| Has Children | No Children | |
|---|---|---|
| PR | 8,081 (47%) | 9,112 (53%) |
| Citizen | 19,684 (57%) | 14,826 (43%) |
X-axis: Immigration Status, Y-axis: Canoo Members
Time of Day Check-in
Most Canoo members, regardless of having children or not, visit places in the afternoon to evening.
X-axis: Time of Day, Y-axis: Canoo Members
Canoo members’ Countries of Origin
Active Users by Country of Origin
X-axis: Country of Origin, Y-axis: Canoo Members
Permanent Residents
(Top 10 Countries of Origin)
5,947
PR Canoo members of Chinese Origin
Citizens
(Top 10 Countries of Origin)
6,922
Citizen Canoo members of Indian Origin
In the last 12 months, the highest number of new citizen members were of Indian origin, while the highest number of permanent resident members were of Chinese origin. These trends in permanent resident and new citizen members are relatable to IRCC data on immigration and citizenship numbers, which are available to the public through the ICC’s immigration and citizenship dashboard here.
Days to Activation
Once a potential Canoo member downloads the app, how long does it take for them to activate their membership?
85% of members activate their membership within the first 30 days, and of those 67% of Canoo members check-in to their first location within the first week of activation.
% of members activating Canoo membership
Stories from Canoo
While empirical data is important, direct narratives from Canoo members are also vital. Toni Agbaje-Ojo, at the ICC, interviewed Canoo members on their experience using Canoo and covered a range of topics, from understanding what their transition to Canada was like to how Canoo helped them find a sense of belonging in Canada.
In conversation, Canoo members identified three transformative experiences:
- Exposure to new experiences, places, and people
- An increased sense of belonging in Canada
- Building memories and relationships within families, between newcomers and Canadians, and between newcomers and the cities they call home
Highlighted below are two Canoo members who explain their journey in Canada and use Canoo to create memories and feel connected to Canada.
As Canoo is evolving and becoming better every day, we hope that these quarterly reports help readers to understand what Canoo is, who are the people that Canoo serves, and get to know some of the partners and services that ultimately bring Canoo to life for newcomers.
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