New research suggests more newcomers to Canada have chosen to leave in recent years, a threat to a country that relies on immigration to drive population and economic growth.
The rate of immigrants leaving the country, or onward migration, has been steadily increasing since the 1980s and is rising among recent cohorts, suggesting newcomers “may not be seeing the benefits of moving to Canada,” according to a study on immigrant retention by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship and the Conference Board of Canada.
The report, published Tuesday, underscored the risks of Canada failing to meet expectations of newcomers, who are facing worsening housing affordability, a strained health-care system and underemployment, among other issues. It also highlighted how disillusionment among immigrants can slow down progress even in a country that consistently sets fresh records for population gains.
“It’s a reflection on our broader society and more intractable failings that we have. If immigrants are saying ‘no, thanks’ and moving on, that’s a real existential threat to Canada’s prosperity,” Daniel Bernhard, chief executive officer of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, a pro-immigration advocacy group, said in an interview. “We need to wake up and recognize that if we don’t deliver, people will leave. And if they leave, we’re in trouble.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has been using immigration to rapidly add more workers to stave off economic decline from an aging populace. But record population growth in recent years has led to growing criticism that its policies have exacerbated existing housing shortages and added more pressure on infrastructure and services like health care.
The report showed spikes in the annual rates of immigrants leaving Canada in 2017 and 2019, reaching 20-year highs of 1.1 per cent and 1.18 per cent, respectively. That’s compared to the average of 0.9 per cent of people who were granted permanent residence after 1982 who leave Canada each year. While the numbers may not sound significant, they add up over time and can lead to attrition of 20 per cent or more of an arrival cohort over 25 years.
Earlier this week, a survey by Environics Institute showed waning public support for high levels of immigration due to concerns of housing affordability and availability. That dwindling support, combined with growing dissatisfaction among newcomers, will be a fresh challenge for a government that’s trying to placate an outcry over an affordability crisis while competing in a global race for skilled workers.
The lack of enthusiasm for staying in Canada, which led to onward migration by some newcomers, is also behind a sharp drop in immigrants choosing to become Canadians, according to Bernhard. The proportion of permanent residents who took up citizenship within 10 years of arrival dropped by 40 per cent between 2001 and 2021.
“If Canada can’t reverse these issues and can’t provide these vital services and affordability, immigrants will leave,” Bernhard said. “We need to be working harder to make sure that they’re happy here, so that they contribute here, become Canadians and contribute to our shared success. We need to realize that on balance, immigrants may owe Canada less than Canada owes immigrants.”
Affordability issues aside, I think there’s another thing driving New Canadians away. Our immigration system seems to prioritize entry of people with really high levels of education and, depending on the industry, that education may not be valued/competitive in Canada, compared to their previous country. The result is that these New Canadians often end up doing much less skilled work than they trained for and would understandably be very disappointed as a result. Off the top of my head, I’ve known 3 engineers and 3 medical doctors in this situation. Meanwhile, there are industries (e.g., construction, I believe) where we have shortages of skilled workers in Canada (and thus good opportunities for New Canadians), and I’m pretty sure our immigration system isn’t really responsive
But there’s a reason why their diplomas might not have been recognized. At my friend’s workplace they’ve hired two employees who supposedly have a PhD in network engineering and they both have less knowledge than he had when he got out of CEGEP (college)…
I hear ya. In that case, I’d say Immigration Canada shouldn’t value those PhDs either. I guess I think that the immigration department should be steeped in job market and related data. E.g., what kind of skills do we need, how recognizable is foreign training (at school-specific levels) in the field in Canada
For these they can simply implement a mentorship for especially the medical sector, put them through a program that after you past sufficient knowledge/practical test, let the system’s senior evaluate and monitor for like 3~6 months. You should not just invalidate their degrees and ask them to go another 5~7 years to then back in to practice. The people that does evaluation of work should just judge base on the work and result.(say for surgery, there is 1 onsite that minitor the progress and keep marks/records, and another 2 or 3 randomly selected by the province authority to put additional marks from procedural footage/etc. And another round for post surgery recover/results/follow ups. If the best doctors in your system can’t evaluate how their new peers work is up to par, they probably shouldn’t be in that position.
Oh, and fucking pay them well for doing these evaluations.
But immigration mostly funds out universities, so its ok cause we built our system around financially abusing immigrants
Engineers and doctors are a restricted profession because those professions can kill people when exercised outside the norms and regulations we are accustomed to in Canada. Being an “engineer” in another country doesn’t automatically grant you the right to call yourself an engineer in Canada. There’s more to it than just education on paper. Engineers and Doctors receive training that is specific to the practices, codes and regulations and expected in the Canadian market they are expected to practice in.
Retraining those professional qualifications for an immigrant is really complicated. We would basically need a dedicated school or two specialized in skills transfer And recertification for hundreds of different countries across dozens of different diplomas. Plus the immigrants would need to be willing. And who’s going to pay for that? I think our educational funding should be prioritized to Canadian students first.
Highly skilled workers benefit our economy at large.