The number of immigrants leaving Canada has seen a "record spike" in recent years
Saturday, November 04, 2023
The number of immigrants leaving Canada has seen a "record increase" in recent years, a new study has found.
The Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) report, The Leaky Bucket, found that a growing number of immigrants to Canada are choosing to leave rather than stay.
The report finds that further migration of immigrants leaving Canada has been rising slowly for decades, but suddenly spiked in 2017 and 2019 — the most recent period for which data is available.
The report also notes that the risk of further migration is particularly high between years four and seven after arriving in Canada.
"As Canada increasingly relies on immigrants to fill acute shortages in key sectors such as housing and health care, our ability to retain them becomes a matter of critical national concern," said Daniel Bernhard, CEO of the Institute for Canadian citizenship.
"Simply put, if Canada cannot provide for newcomers and help them become Canadians in their passports and in their hearts, we may soon be discussing our prosperity in the past tense."
"Canada's future prosperity depends on immigration," said Stefan Fournier, executive director of The Conference Board of Canada. “Our research in this area shows that immigration leads to economic growth, improves the ratio of workers to retirees, and alleviates labor shortages that contribute to inflation. But as our research shows, attracting immigrants is only one part of the equation, we also need to keep them once they're here in Canada.”
How to stop the drop of immigrants?
The report recommended that the Canadian government begin to monitor the rate of further migration and invest in programs such as ICC's Canoo Access Pass that make the critical early years of immigrants' stay in Canada more enjoyable and contribute to retention for the benefit of all Canadians.
The government should support more research to help stakeholders understand settlement needs and which initiatives can ease immigrants' transition to life in Canada, she recommended.
"Support employers to recruit, hire and retain immigrant workers. All three levels of government can provide tools and training," the report said.
It added that the government should invest in infrastructure. As Canada struggles to grow its population, all levels of government must plan to expand infrastructure, including housing and health care.
