When Nicaraguan-born Franco Rayo moved to New Brunswick in 2017 as an international student, he was open to the idea of making Canada a home.
Rayo received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of New Brunswick in 2018 and got a job in auditing that pays $ 45,000 a year. With two degrees from the United States and Canada, Rayo said it was difficult to find a job and the compensation he was offered was disappointing.
“My problem was that I was offered a job at the elementary level,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s because I’m from another country.
With his wife and young son, Rayo says he immersed himself in his savings to maintain the lifestyle he wanted for his family.
Their situation eventually prompted Franco, 33, and his wife, Natalie Rayo, 29, to make a drastic change in their lives. About a year after the pandemic, the family of three packed their bags and headed to Nicaragua.
While the rising cost of living – with inflation rising to 6.7 percent – affects all Canadians, the reality is that new immigrants still earn less than the general population.
Now, a recent study conducted by Leger in partnership with the Canadian Citizenship Institute suggests that pressure may prevent the detention of new immigrants.
“Canada is telling a story that this is a newcomer’s paradise, and we wanted to see how true that was,” said Daniel Bernhard, chief executive of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC).
Plans to leave
The federal government does not monitor the detention of migrants, but according to Statistics Canada, 50% of international students did not have tax records for one year after graduation, suggesting they left the country.
In the ICC survey, 23% of new Canadians with a university degree said they plan to leave the country in the next two years.
For new Canadians under the age of 35, that number is 30 percent. However, it is not clear how this compares with the intentions of previous years.
The survey was conducted between 24 and 28 February with 2013 respondents using an online panel. Although the exact margin of error cannot be calculated, by comparison, a probability sample of 2,000 respondents will have a margin of error of ± 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.
Rayo is now settling in Managua with his family and running his own business, although he has maintained his status as a permanent resident of Canada. His wife, Natalie, who grew up in New Brunswick, says they enjoy a better quality of life than Moncton, feeling less financially pressured.
“I didn’t expect to move to Nicaragua, but when it came down to our future, my husband and I and my son, that was the best option for us,” she said.
At the national level, there are consequences if immigrants decide not to stay. The country is facing a labor shortage, and politicians hope immigration will help fill the labor gap – with plans to transfer more than 400,000 new immigrants to permanent residents this year.
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of elderly people aged 65 and over is growing six times faster than children aged 0 to 14, a finding with serious consequences for the economy.
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The cost of living will force immigrants to leave, the study shows
However, immigrants have reported employment challenges in the past, and many have been forced to work in low-skilled jobs, despite their foreign powers.
According to Canadian statistics, the average income of immigrants admitted to Canada in 2018 is $ 31,900 a year later. Although this is the highest since 1981, it is still 18% lower than the average income of the general population.
Now newcomers are also facing a housing affordability crisis and record high inflation, which raises the question: how attractive is Canada to immigrants?
Berhard said the results of the study should give Canadians a “break”.
“We need to ask ourselves what benefits Canada has for immigrants because we are in competition with the rest of the world,” he said.
“People are not able to earn to their true potential,” he said. “The standard of living they can reasonably expect or even have in their home country is becoming less and less achievable.
In the survey, 64% of new Canadians agree with the statement “rising living costs in Canada mean that immigrants are less likely to stay in Canada.”
According to Canadian statistics, 31% of recent immigrants have spent more than 30% of their income on shelter, compared to only 18% of the total population.
There are insufficient data on the detention of immigrants
Economist Michal Scuterwood of the University of Waterloo says it is difficult to draw any conclusions from the study due to a lack of data from previous years.
He stressed the need for the federal government to monitor how many people leave the country and why they choose to leave, he said.
“A huge part of the challenge for Canada and politicians is not only attracting immigrants with high levels of human capital, but also retaining them,” Scooterwood said.
The economist says there is a risk of losing the most skilled immigrants in the United States, where wages may be more lucrative.
However, Scooterwood does not believe that the cost of living is likely to drive immigrants out en masse.
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“When people make choices about where to move or whether to move at all, what they do is assess their economic well-being in one place compared to elsewhere,” he said, adding that many countries around the world are also struggling inflation at the moment.
“Migration is very expensive and inflation is temporary,” he said. “The idea that people will suddenly be uprooted to go somewhere else, I don’t think is credible.”
Demonstration of immigrant experience
When Manpreet Kaur and Harmeet Singh immigrated to Canada in 2018, the couple had difficulty finding information on how to navigate the country as new immigrants.
This led them to create their own YouTube channel.
“We were thinking of making videos and [sharing] our journey, “Singh said.
Harmith Singh, left, and Manprit Kaur, right, immigrated to Canada in 2018. The couple has a YouTube channel called Canada Couple Vlogs, which delves into what life is like in Canada and how to navigate the immigration system. (Harmiet Singh)
The couple’s YouTube channel “Canadian Couple Vlogs” has over half a million subscribers and has videos on everything from how to move to Canada to what life is like after immigration. They even have a video of why immigrants choose to leave Canada.
“No one shares their failures and no one shares the challenges they face in Canada,” Singh said.
From cold winters to the cost of living, Singh said there are many challenges that immigrants in Canada face that they need to be aware of before moving.
Singh and Kaur had mentally prepared for some of these challenges, expecting to receive a financial blow in the beginning.
Although the couple managed to find work within a few months of arriving, Singh says the lack of Canadian work experience is an obstacle to applying for a job. Fortunately, his experience working for Walmart in India helped him get started with Walmart Canada, he said.
If it weren’t for the couple’s IT work and the YouTube channel, which serves as a side job, Singh says “it would have been very difficult.”
Bernhard of the Canadian Citizenship Institute says it is not possible to fully “assess” the skills and value of newcomers that newcomers can offer. And as many employers report challenges in finding work, he says they need to become better at recognizing the skills that immigrants can offer.
“It’s not just a moral or ethical imperative. It’s also your competitive advantage in the market,” he said.
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