According to the 2011 Census there were 7,955 Canadians who claimed Saudi ancestry.[3]
Until August 2018, there were over 16,000 Saudi students on government scholarships in Canada.[4] There were more than 15,000 Saudi students in Canada in 2007, including 800 resident physicians and specialists who provided care to the Canadian population.[5] In 2015, Saudi Arabian students represented 3% of total foreign students in Canada.[6] Official figures provided by the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau in Canada (SACB) indicated that in 2014 there were 16,000 Saudi scholarship students in Canada and 1,000 medical trainees.[4]
Ensaf Haidar, Raif Badawi's wife and children were granted political asylum by the Government of Canada in 2013 and currently reside in Sherbrooke, Quebec.[8] Haidar and her three children with Badawi became Canadian citizens on Canada Day, 2018. On the same day, Haidar called for the niqab to be banned.[9]
