‘Nil’ research done on impact of foreign students working unlimited hours: Report

2024/01/10 Leave a comment

Disheartening….

Access-to-information records showed that federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller allowed hundreds of thousands of foreign students to work unlimited hours without researching the impact on unemployed Canadians.

The minister said foreign students were not “taking jobs away from other people,” but never asked his department for data, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

Both departments were asked under access-to-information requests to disclose “all research, studies, literature reviews or other data regarding the impact on the repeal of the 20-hour work cap on foreign students on labour markets, youth unemployment or hiring of Canadian post-secondary students.”

No data was found and Miller’s office did not comment.

“The information you are seeking does not exist,” said the Labour Department.

“Right now we have nil response on the information you are requesting,” the Department of Immigration said in statement.

On Dec. 7, the minister told reporters: “I don’t think students are taking jobs away from other people, given the labour shortages that are happening in Canada.”

Back then, he estimated 80% of the 807,000 foreign students in Canada — which is about 646,000 students — were working more than 20 hours weekly.

Previously, foreign students had been limited to a 20-hour work week, but then cabinet temporarily suspended the cap on Nov. 15, 2022, and Miller extended it past a Dec. 31 expiry to April 30.

“There’s labour shortages across the country,” said Miller. “It is costly to be a student in Canada. My focus primarily is to make sure that the public policy that we have in place is one that reflects the ability of the student to actually do what they’re supposed to be doing, which is study without bankrupting themselves.”

The Immigration Department estimated 500,000 foreign students were working under the cap in 2022 and that lifting it increased those numbers by 29%.

Source: ‘Nil’ research done on impact of foreign students working unlimited hours: Report

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African Migration to the U.S. Soars as Europe Cracks Down – The New York Times

2024/01/09 Leave a comment

Have seen some other similar commentary from Black Americans as well as tension between Black immigrants and African Americans:

The young men from Guinea had decided it was time to leave their impoverished homeland in West Africa. But instead of seeking a new life in Europe, where so many African migrants have settled, they set out for what has become a far safer bet of late: the United States.

“Getting into the United States is certain compared to European countries, and so I came,” said Sekuba Keita, 30, who was at a migrant center in San Diego on a recent afternoon after an odyssey that took him by plane to Turkey, Colombia, El Salvador and Nicaragua, then by land to the Mexico-U.S. border.

Mr. Keita, who spoke in French, was at a cellphone charging station at the center among dozens more Africans, from Angola, Mauritania, Senegal and elsewhere, who had made the same calculus.

While migrants from African nations still represent a small share of the people crossing the southern border, their numbers have been surging, as smuggling networks in the Americas open new markets and capitalize on intensifying anti-immigrant sentiment in some corners of Europe.

Historically, the number of migrants from Africa’s 54 countries has been so low that U.S. authorities classified them as “other,” a category that has grown exponentially, driven recently, officials say, by fast-rising numbers from the continent.

According to government data obtained by The Times, the number of Africans apprehended at the southern border jumped to 58,462 in the fiscal year 2023 from 13,406 in 2022. The top African countries in 2023 were Mauritania, at 15,263; Senegal, at 13,526; and Angola and Guinea, which each had more than 4,000.

Nonprofits that work on the border said that the trend has continued, with the absolute number and share of migrants from Africa climbing in recent months as potential destinations in Europe narrow.

“You have countries that are less and less welcoming,” said Camille Le Coz, a senior policy analyst at Migration Policy Institute Europe. “When new routes open up, people are going to migrate because economic opportunities at home are insufficient.”

…

The African migrants continue through Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico until they arrive at the southern U.S. border. Between January and September, nearly 28,000 Africans passed through Honduras, a sixfold increase over the corresponding period in 2022, according to the Honduran government. Guinea, Senegal and Mauritania are among the top 10 countries of those migrants; only a couple dozen people from each of those countries traveled through Honduras in 2020….

Source: African Migration to the U.S. Soars as Europe Cracks Down – The New York Times

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What’s behind the dramatic shift in Canadian public opinion about immigration levels?

2024/01/09 Leave a comment

One thing to note multiple factors involved in housing availability/affordability, another to largely dismiss the impact of immigration-driven population growth. Still in the denial stage…:

In June 2023, Canada’s population reached 40 million. For the first time in history, the population grew by more than a million (2.7 per cent) in a single year. Temporary and permanent migration accounted for 96 per cent of this population growth. 

Over the past few decades, Canadians have been more positive than negative in their attitudes toward immigrants and immigration. In 2019, Canada was ranked the most accepting country for immigrants (in a survey of 145 countries) on Gallup’s Migrant Acceptance Index. 

Over the last few years, Environics public opinion data also indicated Canadians felt very positively about immigrants and immigration levels. 

Something changed in 2023.

A million newcomers in two years

A few months after reaching this population milestone, the federal government released its new Immigration Levels Plan to welcome 485,000 permanent residents in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025 and 2026. 

This announcement came on the heels of an Environics public opinion survey revealing a significant increase in the number of Canadians who believe the country accepts too many immigrants. That marks a dramatic reversal from a year ago, when support for immigration levels stood at an all-time high. 

Canadians are still more likely to disagree (51 per cent) than agree (44 per cent) that immigration levels are too high, but the gap between these views has shrunk over the past year, from 42 percentage points to just seven. That’s the biggest one-year change in opinion on this question since it was first asked by Environics in 1977. 

Rising concerns about the number of arrivals are evident across Canada, but are most widely expressed in Ontario and British Columbia

Environics has been surveying Canadians about immigration on a regular basis since 1977. The latest survey of more than 2,000 Canadians was conducted in September 2023 in partnership with the Century Initiative, a non-profit lobbying and charity group.

The survey was conducted to ensure representation by region, age, gender and educational attainment.

Apart from rising public concerns about immigration levels, there has been no corresponding change in how Canadians feel about immigrants themselves in terms of how they’re integrating and what they contribute to Canadian society. 

The public is much more likely to say that newcomers make their own communities a better place than a worse one.

Housing crisis concerns

Importantly, the belief that immigration levels are too high is largely driven by perceptions that newcomers may be contributing to the housing crisis in terms of availability and affordability. 

As researchers who study attitudes toward immigrants and immigration, we believe it is critical to pay attention to this shift.

There is a large body of research examining how perceived threat/competition predicts attitudes toward immigrants and immigration. 

This research shows that negative attitudes toward immigrants can develop when situational factors — for example, housing shortages, inflationary pressures and a rise in anti-immigration ideologies — combine to create perceptions of group competition.

Perceived competition may be rooted in real or imagined national economic challenges, as well as beliefs about access to housing, employment and other resources.

In September 2023, when Environics conducted its latest survey, there was a lot of media coverage about the housing crisis, including the scapegoating of international students. It’s possible such coverage may have hardened some Canadians’ attitudes toward immigration levels.

In reality, Canada’s housing shortage was fuelled for decades by myriad factors, including municipal zoning laws, developers’ special interests and public policy on housing. As other scholars have argued, curbing migration is not a solution to this complex issue, nor is it moral. 

Attitudes towards immigrants may change

Policymakers and community leaders should pay close attention to public attitudes toward immigration levels as they strive to build a diversified and robust immigration system and create welcoming communities for immigrants. 

The latest research demonstrates the public still feels positively toward immigrants and their many contributions to communities and Canadian society. However, there seems to be growing concerns about Canada’s capacity to effectively resettle immigrants, in part due to concerns that newcomers may be contributing to the housing crisis. 

If Canadians continue to blame immigrants for the housing crisis, their attitudes toward immigrants themselves — as opposed to immigration levels — may harden. How Canadians feel about immigration levels may also impact the type and level of supports immigrants can access as they resettle, whether they experience discrimination in the housing and labour marketsand whether they’re warmly welcomed by their communities. 

Leah Hamilton, Vice Dean, Research & Community Relations, & Professor of Organizational Behaviour, Faculty of Business & Communication Studies, Mount Royal University

Source: What’s behind the dramatic shift in Canadian public opinion about immigration levels?

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House: How Mass Immigration Hurts Black Americans – The Daily Beast

2024/01/08 Leave a comment

Have seen some other similar commentary from Black Americans as well as tension between Black immigrants and African Americans:

…First, the CBC [Congressional Black Congress] should push for inclusive standards for Black labor in skilled industries that attract disproportionate concentrations of immigrant workers. It might propose language that mirrors President Biden’s March 2022 executive order 14005 stating that the “Future is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers.”

The CBC might offer similar language in the upcoming debates on immigration legislation—specifically, to prioritize the hiring and training of underrepresented American workers in civil construction. It would reinforce the equity provisions established by Congress in the infrastructure and clean energy laws.

The construction and manufacturing industries will receive a jump-start from the $500 billion Inflation Reduction Act, the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and complementary investments from private companies. It will pay to reconstruct highways, bridges and tunnels, weatherize public buildings, install electric charging stations, construct electric battery plants and electric vehicle factories, and develop wind and solar power plants.

The projects will require the hiring and training of thousands of skilled workers, many without college degrees. Yet, Black labor historically has been excluded in civil construction. Today, as a consequence, the racial demographic in the construction industry is 60 percent white, 30 percent Hispanic, and 5 percent Black American, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In addition, sanctuary cities like New York are receiving large allocations of federal infrastructure funds. The city’s construction industry employed 374,000 people in 2020—and 53 percent were immigrants. By contrast, the unemployment rate of Black male workers was higher than any other ethnic group.

Second, the CBC should propose that sanctuary cities seeking bailouts from Washington be required to give the local population first dibs on facilities and services. The failure of authorities in such cities to prioritize their native underserved populations creates a dynamic of “taking from Peter to feed Paul” that is abhorrent.

Congress should require sanctuary cities to prioritize the local population for provisions such as homeless shelters, affordable housing units, emergency room and mental health services, education outreach, legal services, and food programs, among others. The populations from the border should have access to older facilities, if room is available.

Third, the CBC should call on the Biden administration to raise seed money for a reparations fund with the same urgency it has done for immigrants. Harris is campaigning on her success in raising $4 billion to help migrating immigrants in Central America. Why not utilize her fundraising prowess towards a development bank for the descendants of slavery and Jim Crow?

Finally, the CBC should demand that immigrants be required to learn about America’s struggle against racism and colorism. The colorism system of subtle discrimination based on fair complexions can be deeply rooted in the culture and practices of people from countries with colonial pasts. Black Americans should not be expected to endure the petty slights of color hierarchy with every new surge of immigration.

In closing, the CBC has an urgent responsibility to defend the needs of Black labor in the pending debates on border security and immigration reform. It would seem to be in the interest of both parties to hear them out.

Roger House is an associate professor of American studies at Emerson College in Boston. His commentary on Black politics and cultural history have been published in leading venues. He is the author of Blue Smoke: The Recorded Journey of Big Bill Broonzy and South End Shout: Boston’s Forgotten Music Scene in the Jazz Age…

Source: How Mass Immigration Hurts Black Americans – The Daily Beast

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Canada’s Foreign Student Surge Prompts Changes, and Anxiety

2024/01/08 Leave a comment

Makes The New York Times but broader range of expert views missing:

The education consultant in India didn’t reveal to Maninderjit Kaur, a Canada-bound student, where exactly, relative to Toronto, the college she had enrolled in was.

Ms. Kaur told my colleague, Norimitsu Onishi, that after a never-ending Uber ride — eight hours and 800 Canadian dollars later — she had ended up in Timmins, Ontario, a place she had never heard of.

But, as Nori reported, finishing a degree in this remote city was perhaps less of an isolating experience given that 82 percent of students at Northern College in Timmins are foreign nationals, mostly from India.

Recruiting foreign students who pay higher tuition fees — roughly five times as much as Canadians to obtain an undergraduate degree, according to the census agency — has always been attractive to the country’s institutions. It has also become increasingly important for the federal government, which is vying to hit a lofty goal of attracting 1.45 million immigrants between 2023 and 2025.

By announcing this record-breaking target in November 2022, as part of a strategy to plug national labor shortages, Canada signaled that it was headed in the opposite direction from many Western governments that are curtailing migration, as I reported at the time. (As of this week, most foreign students in Britain will no longer be allowed to bring their families, a move that the country’s Home Office said delivered on its commitment to “a decisive cut in migration.”)

In Canada, the surge of overseas students has fanned concerns about the readiness of university and college communities to adequately host them, and about efforts to ensure that their labor and their finances are not exploited. The immigration minister, Marc Miller, recently announced a handful of measures taking effect this month for foreign students.

For the first time since the early 2000s, the government has increased the savings threshold that foreign students must have to qualify for a study permit to about 20,600 Canadian dollars, up from 10,000 dollars. And it will continue, until at least April, to allow international students to work more than 20 hours per week, a policy it had previously walked back.

Without providing details, Mr. Miller’s ministry said it was also looking into ways that it could ensure colleges and universities, which are provincially regulated, accept only as many students as they can assist in finding housing.

“Ahead of September 2024, we are prepared to take necessary measures, including significantly limiting visas, to ensure that designated learning institutions provide adequate and sufficient student supports,” Mr. Miller said last month at a news conference in which he announced the changes. He accused some institutions of operating the “diploma equivalent of puppy mills,” depriving those foreign students of a positive academic experience in the face of outsize hardships and a lack of intervention by provincial governments.Continue reading the main story

“Enough is enough,” Mr. Miller added. “If provinces and territories cannot do this, we will do it for them, and they will not like the bluntness of the instruments that we use.”

The number of international students in Canada has skyrocketed over the last three years, with a 60 percent increase in the number of study permits processed by the immigration ministry. It completed more than one million new study permit applications and extensions in 2023, a record, up from 838,000 in 2022 and 560,000 in 2021.

Study permits aren’t strictly capped, but permanent residencies do adhere to annual quotas. In 2022, Canada welcomed about 432,000 permanent residents, and of those, 95,000 were previously international students, according to a September 2023 report by four Canadian senators urging the government to address “program integrity issues.” Those include an increasing perception that aiming for a Canadian degree is a sure pathway to citizenship.

“It’s not a pathway — it’s a minefield,” said Syed Hussan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, a migrant-led organization, similar to a union, based in Toronto.

He characterized the changes as minor “tweaks” to a system that was probably due for an overhaul.

“We’re constantly hearing issues around high tuition fees, difficulty being able to get permanent resident status, exploitation of work and exploitation by landlords,” Mr. Hussan said.Continue reading the main story

Placing firm caps on student permits is not the answer, said Anna Triandafyllidou, a migration researcher and professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, but she added that the government should do a better job of regulating migrant flow to avoid stoking “cutthroat” competition to stay in Canada.

“Otherwise you create this huge bottleneck where you admit 600,000 international students, but these have to compete with everyone else for 450,000 permanent residence permits,” she said.

It is becoming more common for migrants to spend some time living in the country before becoming permanent residents, a process known as two-step immigration, which is seen almost as a taboo in Canada, Professor Triandafyllidou told me.

Canada should recognize it has “a two-step system and just make sure that it works properly,” she said.

Source: Canada’s Foreign Student Surge Prompts Changes, and Anxiety

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Terry Glavin: Immigration and housing — the elephants in Canada’s crisis room

2024/01/05 Leave a comment

Another voice adding to the chorus:

…The difficulty with having a serious national conversation about the role “immigration” plays in this intolerable state of affairs is that it’s dominated by the property industry and its various “experts,” activists possessed by a nostalgia for the social-housing idealism of the 1970s, Century Initiative ideologues fixated on growing Canada’s population to 100 million from 40 million, and cranks obsessed with conspiracy theories about white-race extinction.

Outside this cacophony are Canadians of all ethnic and racial backgrounds who persist in expressing an understanding of Canada as an idea worth holding onto and a country where immigrants are properly expected to “fit in,” and any newcomers who arrive with hatred in their hearts and sympathy for terrorist groups should be deported.

…

It’s time for a wholly new conversation, and it might begin with an honest conversation about immigration and its impact on housing affordability, cultural identity and what we mean when we use terms like “Canadian values.” Instead of the passive “policy” that always seems to favour Beijing-aligned multimillionaires, dodgy Khomeinist money-men, unscrupulous immigration consultants and bloated university budgets, an active policy would be a better idea.

We should at least have a recognizable “immigration policy,” and it needs to start by radically cutting back on the flood of “non-permanent” arrivals. From there, rather than vetting potential immigrants out, we should be vetting immigrants in. Canada could be a safe haven for refugees from the United Nations’ police state bloc, for starters — there are millions to choose from. If you’re a suitable candidate for the invaluable gift of Canadian citizenship, we’re interested. Show us. If you have a demonstrable record of standing up for liberal-democratic values, you go to the front of the line.

That would be a good start, anyway…

Source: Terry Glavin: Immigration and housing — the elephants in Canada’s crisis room

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‘All I’m doing … is working and paying bills.’ Why some are leaving Canada for more affordable countries

2024/01/04 Leave a comment

More on increasing emigration:

Statistics Canada data estimate net emigration (which subtracts emigrants who have returned from the number of those who left) at 35,337 between mid-2022 and mid-2023, its highest number since 2017.

Some of those leaving say the high cost of housing and other essentials such as food are among the factors prompting them to seek to live somewhere where their money goes further. Analysis of federal data by the British Columbia Business Council, an association representing about 250 large B.C. businesses, suggests Canadians may be feeling those pressures for some time to come.

“Government forecasts do not expect a recovery in living standards in Canada or B.C. until at least 2027,” according to a recent report by the organization. “Canada’s real [gross domestic product] is now around $1,000 per person, or around $2,500 per household, below what it was prior to the pandemic.”

Source: ‘All I’m doing … is working and paying bills.’ Why some are leaving Canada for more affordable countries

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Brett Fairbairn: New financial rules for international students signal need for change

2024/01/04 Leave a comment

From the President of Thompson Rivers University. Issue is broader than international student support systems…

New restrictions for international students recently announced by Canada’s federal government are intended to send a message to universities, colleges, and students who want to come here to study.

The changes addressing the cost-of-living financial requirements, work hours, and study permit processing for international students signal a shift in Canada’s approach to international education. Most plainly, the changes acknowledge that students are not commodities. They are valuable contributors to our communities and the Canadian economy, and they deserve better support from universities.

Some of these changes, such as new cost-of-living requirements (students must now show they have $20,635 available instead of $10,000), have been a long time coming, having not been adjusted since the early 2000s. While the increase in required funds may initially seem daunting, it underscores a vital truth for students — living in Canada is expensive, and they have sometimes been underprepared for the cost of living here.

Other changes are intended to make universities and colleges take more responsibility for students and their well-being, especially regarding housing and mental health support, which is in short supply everywhere.

Across Canadian higher education, there needs to be more consistency and accountability in how universities and colleges approach international students. There are too many institutions that “free ride” on the hard-won reputation of higher education in Canada. Some institutions, such as Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, offer extensive enhanced support to their international students. TRU’s approach goes beyond compliance with financial guidelines — we actively foster a nurturing and inclusive environment. This commitment is reflected in comprehensive services that address academic, cultural, and personal needs, ensuring that these students are enrolled and integrated into the campus and broader community. For example, each student is assigned a dedicated international student advisor for assistance with immigration, academics and well-being, along with access to 24/7 mental health support, assistance with living arrangements, and activities for engagement and integration with the local community.

However, some institutions seem to prioritize the financial benefits that international students bring, viewing the increased enrolment of international students primarily as a source of revenue. This approach inevitably leads to inadequate support, potentially leaving students to navigate the challenges of a new educational and cultural environment with minimal assistance.

The new requirements make clear the need for universities and colleges to develop robust support systems. By doing so, universities and colleges, whether public or private, can help international students handle the pressures of adapting to a new country while pursuing their academic goals. We must foster environments where international students feel valued and supported as learners and individuals embarking on a life-changing journey in a new country.

As mentioned before, Canada’s international education brand is hard won, and the result of strategies developed by this government and the last, and we must foster it. Canada risks developing a bad reputation not only because of a handful of “viral” poor experiences of a few students but also if the status quo continues, risking even more drastic and sudden changes in government policies.

Now is the time for governments and the post-secondary sector across Canada to work together to protect our brand, retain the massive positive economic impact international students bring, and ensure we are keeping the promise we made to students of the world of what education in Canada means. Value-added services, accessible housing and employment, and a warm welcome into communities should all be part of our offer.

We also need to hear from international students about what makes their time in Canada more fulfilling. Students have an active voice, and international students, to their credit, are claiming it. We must listen and learn from them to devise better systems.

It is time for institutions and policymakers to move decisively beyond viewing international students through a financial lens and see them as integral, valued community members. This shift will enrich the Canadian landscape, strengthening Canada’s communities and our position as a leader in global education.

Brett Fairbairn is the president and vice-chancellor at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. This year, TRU World celebrated 40 years of international education.

Source: Brett Fairbairn: New financial rules for international students signal need for change

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Barutciski: Has Canada’s asylum system fallen victim to ideology?

2024/01/04 Leave a comment

Valid question, with focus on two major contributors to the increase, the removal of visas on Mexicans and tightening recently relaxed visa restrictions. And it is true that the majority of academics covering immigration and related issues tend to be on the left side of the spectrum and border on activist perspectives:

According to recent statistics, around 15,000 to 16,000 migrants have claimed asylum in Canada in each of the last three months. There will likely be more than 140,000 claims for 2023, a number several times higher than the old record before the Liberals formed government in 2015.

As the European country with the most asylum seekers, Germany is receiving similar numbers per capita — and its leaders speak openly of a crisis. Prominent progressive leaders from U.S. Democrats to Germany’s coalition Social Democrat and Green partners are realizing that current approaches to asylum are undermining our democracies and encouraging anti-immigrant rhetoric. Justin Trudeau’s Liberals appear distinctly as a global outlier.

Until a decade ago, Canada was receiving on average less than 25,000 asylum claims per year. To suggest the recent increase is related to a global displacement crisis, as repeated by the federal government and others trying to downplay the situation, is to ignore the distinct demographics of the Canadian inflow.

The global statistics reflect mostly displaced people who remain within their countries of origin, along with specific conflict situations (e.g. Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine); these are not the migrants claiming asylum in Canada.

Mexico remains the top source country for asylum claims in Canada, yet the federal government continues to allow Mexicans to enter the country without visas. Along with several thousand claims from Indian citizens, the unusual situation has been highlighted by Quebec media, which have reported that many international students are claiming asylum.

The boom in temporary residents includes migrants who intend to stay permanently, so it should be expected that the inevitable failure of many to secure permanent status will lead to visa overstaying and even abusive asylum claims. As asylum seekers overwhelm homeless shelters or sleep on the streets, their overall number clearly contributes to population growth. which affects the housing crisis.

To avoid the perception of a broken asylum system, the government could take relatively quick action. Imposing visas on Mexicans. and tightening recently relaxed visitor visa issuance, are measures any responsible government would take if it realized public confidence was being undermined. Likewise, the immigration department’s “client-focused” attitude is misplaced for any bureaucratic service involved in border control.

The only logical explanation for not trying to limit the inflow is ideological: The Trudeau Liberals believe that Canada should take an abstract “fair share” and that their progressive, university-educated constituencies are onboard.

This is partly related to the longstanding politicization of universities. By overcompensating in their attempts not to appear anti-immigrant, Canada’s political and media class are reinforcing the failure of the country’s universities to promote a diversity of analysis concerning asylum dilemmas. Unfortunately, the actual study of this issue is dedicated to a political agenda focused on social engineering. The legitimacy of borders is routinely questioned and there is dogmatic refusal to accept tight enforcement via removals to maintain the system’s integrity.

It is not by chance that Canada’s responsibility-sharing treaty with the U.S., the Safe Third Country Agreement, was uniformly denounced in law journals and academic publications. It took our Supreme Court to clarify earlier this year that our continental partner is indeed safe for asylum seekers. Publicly funded university research should not be so one-sided in addressing complex border issues that otherwise attract a healthy diversity of non-academic views. The limited analytical abilities learned by students will show in how they perform their jobs after graduation, whether in public service, media, etc.

Asylum as a modern humanist notion traditionally relied on strict principles relating to individualized persecution. It cannot be a gateway for “toute la misère du monde,” as recently stated by French President Emmanuel Macron. By pushing a well-intentioned but overly generous approach, inspired by post-national ideology promoted on campuses, the current government threatens the integrity of Canada’s immigration system.

The Liberals originally came to power partly because of the upbeat humanitarian spirit they displayed while the Syrian refugee crisis destabilized allies. Similar asylum issues may ironically contribute to their downfall by illustrating their tendency to jeopardize basic state functions with ideology and incompetence. The important historical concept of asylum is the latest example that leaves the impression some Canadian institutions are approaching a breaking point.

Michael Barutciski teaches at York University’s Glendon College.

Source: Barutciski: Has Canada’s asylum system fallen victim to ideology?

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Viral video explains why immigrants are leaving Ontario in droves

2024/01/04 Leave a comment

Anecdotal reporting but numbers are confirming the trend and that current approach not working: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1710004001.

A recent viral clip uploaded by a social media content creator in Ontario sheds light on why some immigrants who choose to live in Canada are forced to leave amid the region’s competitive job market, rising costs, and pricey real estate market.

The creator behind Canada Tried and Tested describes the page as a “sincere attempt” to give viewers first-hand information on how to independently immigrate to Canada, manage day-to-day expenses after making the big move, as well as how to secure temporary housing and employment. 

A TikTok by the creator recently garnered over 70,000 views after he transparently discussed the challenges some high-skilled immigrants face after moving to Canada, specifically highlighting the “dream” versus the lived reality of working and living in the country. 

“Friends, after 2015, if the largest number of people came from any country, it was India. There is no surprise in this. If you look at the current trend, many people are leaving Canada and going back to India,” he explains in the video. 

“Many people have gone to the U.S. Many people are talking about Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, and European countries. It’s not just Indians now. Many Canadians, first-generation, second, third, and fourth generation, are also leaving Canada and going abroad,” a translation of the video reads. 

“So let’s know what is the reason. So the first thing is expectation versus reality in Canada. Because Canada has a picture of the best place to live on Earth, the best place to settle with family, etc. Canada needs people and many Indians like such advertisement,” the creator goes on. …

Source: Viral video explains why immigrants are leaving Ontario in droves

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