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FIRST READING: Canada is scaring away its new immigrants

With rising numbers of newcomers already planning to move out, many new immigrants aren't bothering to seek citizenship

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First Reading is a daily newsletter keeping you posted on the travails of Canadian politicos, all curated by the National Post’s own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET (and 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays), sign up here.

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As Canada ratchets up immigration to the highest levels in its history, surprising new figures from Statistics Canada are showing that nearly half of all recent immigrants are no longer bothering to seek Canadian citizenship.

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The numbers were publicized this week by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. And according to the group’s CEO Daniel Bernhard, they may be a sign that the Canadian dream is no longer working out for newcomers.

“What’s changing is that people have decided that they’re less interested in being ‘Team Canada,’” Bernhard said in a statement, adding that the figures are a “wake up” call to the Canadian immigrant experience is treating new arrivals.

In 2021, of the permanent residents who had come to Canada within the last 10 years, just 45.7 per cent had become citizens. In 2001, that figure was 75.1 per cent.

It’s not the first time that evidence has emerged to show that new immigrants are not as enthralled with Canada as in prior decades.

A March Leger survey — also commissioned by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship — found that more than one fifth of recent immigrants were already making plans to leave. Among under-34 immigrants, in particular, 30 per cent said they were “likely” to leave Canada within the next two years.

The answers when poll respondents were asked their “reservations” about Canada.
The answers when poll respondents were asked their “reservations” about Canada. Photo by Leger

As to why, newcomers are citing the same concerns with the country as native-born Canadians: Skyrocketing housing costs and diminishing access to government services such as health care.

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In the Leger poll, even among immigrants who wanted to stay, their number one reservation was “high cost of living.”

In a bid to boost GDP, the Trudeau government has already raised Canada’s immigration intake to the highest levels in Canadian history, and is on track to bring in 500,000 newcomers annually by 2025. Absent any dramatic policy changes, this influx will likely worsen many of the issues that are already beginning to scare away new Canadians.

On Tuesday, CIBC CEO Victor Dodig warned that if Canada continued packing in immigrants without a viable plan to absorb them, it could spur an unprecedented “social crisis.”

“New Canadians want to establish a life here, they need a roof over their heads. We need to get that policy right and not wave the flag saying isn’t it great that everyone wants to come to Canada,” Dodig said at an event hosted by Canadian Club Toronto.

One other factor potentially driving down rates of immigrants seeking citizenship is that Canada’s immigrant stream is increasingly coming from countries that do not tolerate dual citizenship, thus prompting many newcomers to remain permanent residents in perpetuity.

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The chief examples are India and China. Indian nationals are required to surrender their Indian passport the moment they become Canadian citizens. Chinese prohibitions on dual citizenship were illustrated most glaringly in 2021, when the Beijing government tightened its control on Hong Kong by forcing 300,000 residents with joint Canadian citizenship to either leave or tear up their Canadian passport.

Both countries now represent a significant share of Canada’s current immigrant influx. As per 2021 figures, 18.6 per cent of recent Canadian immigrants reported India as their birthplace, while 8.9 per cent reported being born in China.

For context, just three per cent of recent immigrants were born in the United States.

In 2022, Canada officially welcomed 431,645 immigrants. Notably, the last time in Canadian history that immigration levels were this high — during the settling of the prairies in the years preceding the First World War – it was also paired with surging levels of outmigration as many newcomers swiftly abandoned their new Canadian homesteads.

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“A lot of people left; outmigration was as high as in-migration for a very, very long time,” Adele Perry, a researcher of Western Canadian history, told the National Post in 2012.

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RCMP Commissioners can often spend years without anybody knowing their name. But after a consecutive string of scandals in which she was a central figure, top Mountie Brenda Lucki has just announced she is stepping down. Of the setbacks that led to this point, chief among them is the eponymous Lucki Affair, wherein evidence emerged that she tried to meddle with an investigation into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting in order to provide cover for a Liberal gun ban.
RCMP Commissioners can often spend years without anybody knowing their name. But after a consecutive string of scandals in which she was a central figure, top Mountie Brenda Lucki has just announced she is stepping down. Of the setbacks that led to this point, chief among them is the eponymous Lucki Affair, wherein evidence emerged that she tried to meddle with an investigation into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting in order to provide cover for a Liberal gun ban. Photo by The Canadian Press/Michael Bell

Liberal MP Greg Fergus has officially responded to a report from the Ethics Commissioner showing that he broke ethics rules by attempting to influence the CRTC in adding a new channel to their “mandatory carriage” list for Quebec cable subscribers. Fergus technically apologized for the breach in a letter, before spending most of the statement saying that he only did so as a champion of minority voices (the channel was predominantly Black, you see). Wrote Fergus, he only tried to influence the CRTC to “ensure that Black Canadians see themselves reflected in Parliament.”

During a recent appearance on MSNBC, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre explained that U.S. jets shot down a suspected balloon over the Yukon in close coordination with its ally “Canadia.” “NORAD is what you call a coalition,” said Jean-Pierre in explaining why the shootdown was done over foreign soil. She added, “we didn’t do it on our own, we did it in step with Canadia.”
During a recent appearance on MSNBC, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre explained that U.S. jets shot down a suspected balloon over the Yukon in close coordination with its ally “Canadia.” “NORAD is what you call a coalition,” said Jean-Pierre in explaining why the shootdown was done over foreign soil. She added, “we didn’t do it on our own, we did it in step with Canadia.” Photo by Twitter/Screenshot from MSNBC

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon just resigned. This obviously won’t affect Canada in any way, but it’s notable that Sturgeon was driven out of office by a scandal which is basically identical to a trend taking place in Canada with little to no notice. Sturgeon’s government greenlit sweeping laws on gender self-identification, with one consequence being that convicted rapists were able to request transfers into women’s prisons by identifying as trans. This is the same policy as one pursued by the Trudeau government – and with the same consequences – and yet it hasn’t even charted amid the government’s other scandals.

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Of the many things that Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is known for, properly answering questions is not one of them. After a predictable round of question-dodging during a recent CTV appearance, Mendicino’s performance prompted a producer to utter a dejected “my God.” Unfortunately for the producer, the statement was made into a live microphone.
Of the many things that Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is known for, properly answering questions is not one of them. After a predictable round of question-dodging during a recent CTV appearance, Mendicino’s performance prompted a producer to utter a dejected “my God.” Unfortunately for the producer, the statement was made into a live microphone. Photo by Twitter/CTV screenshot

Although we know that the Canadian delegation to the Queen’s funeral spent $6,000 a night on one of the most expensive hotel rooms in the U.K., we still don’t know who actually stayed there. Global Affairs Canada, Rideau Hall and the Prime Minister’s Office have all apparently taken a strict vow of silence to never, ever reveal the truth. And so, the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation is taking the government to court to find out for sure. If it succeeds, check these pages to find out if it was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Governor General Mary Simon, actress Sandra Oh, or possibly a wild card like former prime minister Kim Campbell.

Get all of these insights and more into your inbox every weekday at 6 p.m. ET by signing up for the First Reading newsletter here.

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