Canada needs to take advantage of being ‘Diaspora Nation’ | Toronto Star

An opinion piece by Matthew Mendelsohn of the Mowat Centre, arguing that we should benefit more from the diaspora networks created by immigration. Not too much new here but bears repeating:

Diasporas provide linkages. They help information circulate. They provide cultural knowledge where it didn’t exist before. They can help establish trust and deepen social capital.

Their knowledge can lower transaction costs and reduce the time it takes to enter new markets and form new partnerships. They connect people, ideas and understanding….

We are failing immigrants and Canada when we fail to recognize the cultural knowledge, international experience and global networks of our people. We can do better.

The private sector could deepen its connections with ethnocultural chambers of commerce, professional immigrant networks, alumni networks and immigrant resource groups within firms. All these networks can help businesses better understand opportunities in emerging markets. Successful firms are already doing this.

But capitalizing on our potential requires more than the private sector. It requires governments to ensure that rules and regulations from a half century ago are not undermining our capacity to fulfil our potential as a diaspora nation.

Canada needs to take advantage of being ‘Diaspora Nation’ | Toronto Star.