Canada’s high cost of living, rental shortages encourages ‘reverse immigration’ trend

Canada: a dream country for many  is turning into a nightmare. The struggle for survival for many  immigrants as they grapple with the high cost of living, has resulted in ‘reverse immigration’.

Trends indicate that  migration  steadily increased since the 1980s,surged in both 2017 and 2019, reaching levels 31% higher than the historical average, according to a report titled ‘The Leaky Bucket’ published by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC).

As the cost of living and shortage of rental options prevailed in Canada, a total of 42,000 immigrants left the country in merely six months in 2023.

42,000 people left Canada this year

Prime minister Justin Trudeau used immigration as a primary tool to counter the country’s significant challenge of an ageing and slowing population, contributing to Canada’s economic growth.

However, in a reverse immigration trend, in the first half of 2023, 42,000 individuals departed Canada, 93,818 left in 2022, and 85,927 exited in 2021, according to official data.

The rate of immigrants leaving Canada hit a two-decade high in 2019, according to the ICC’s recent report.

While 263,000 people came to Canada over the same period, there was a steady rise in emigration.

“As Canada relies more and more on immigrants to fill acute shortages in key sectors like housing and healthcare, our ability to retain them is becoming a matter of vital national interest,” said Daniel Bernhard, CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship in the report.

“Simply put, if Canada cannot deliver for newcomers and help them become Canadian in their passports and their hearts, we may soon be discussing our prosperity in the past tense,” he added.

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