Recent immigrants are increasingly staying in Quebec after obtaining their permanent residence, notes Statistics Canada. The province’s performance is largely explained by the high retention rate of qualified workers.
Arriving in Quebec is one thing. Moving there is another. Statistics Canada released data on Wednesday on the retention rate of immigrants across the country.
In Quebec, the rate of immigrants who were still in the province one year after obtaining their permanent residence increased from 85.1% in 2016 to 91.0% in 2020. For comparison, in Ontario, this rate decreased slightly, from 94.9% in 2016 to 92.8% in 2020.
Quebec’s results are now closer to those of British Columbia, where 91.3% of immigrants were still in the province after one year in 2020.
On the contrary, in the Prairies, the one-year retention rate has fallen since 2016, while performance varies from one province to another in the Maritimes.
Quebec’s good performance can be explained by its solid economy, its low unemployment rate and certain immigration policies, analyzes the specialist in public immigration policies at the University of Montreal, Catherine Xhardez.
“The process for coming to Quebec as a permanent resident is very selective,” she explains. There are stable thresholds, language requirements, processing times are much longer than elsewhere in Canada. So, those who choose Quebec are because they want to come to Quebec and stay in Quebec. »
Champion of skilled worker retention
All categories combined, it is generally immigrants who are sponsored by their families who stay in the same province the longest, reports Statistics Canada. Nursing assistants and family helpers are also at the top of the list.
However, Quebec is the country’s champion in retaining qualified workers or workers in specialized trades, at least for one year.
Between 2016 and 2020, the retention rate among this category of immigrants in Quebec increased from 86.3% to 91.4%, a high for all provinces combined.
In Ontario, during the same period, the rate on the contrary decreased, going from 87.3% to 81.9%. In British Columbia, this rate also decreased, from 72.3% to 67.4%.
The linguistic question could ensure that Quebec is less exposed to competition between the provinces, analyzes Mme Xhardez.
“Today, a Francophone who wants to immigrate to Canada will go somewhere other than Quebec, because it is much longer and more difficult to come to Quebec,” she observes. So, in the rest of Canada, there is perhaps more competition between the provinces. »
In other words, a qualified worker who chooses to settle in La Belle Province – especially if he is French-speaking – will be less likely to be seduced by a more promising offer elsewhere in the country.
The reception of new permanent residents is also done more “in stages”, that is to say that immigrants arrive as temporary residents (work visas, studies, etc.) before obtaining their permanent residence, adds the researcher. They therefore already have some roots when they obtain their permanent residence.
“These are people who are establishing themselves, integrating, whose children are already going to school,” she lists.
Five-year data
When Statistics Canada measures the retention rate over five years, the results are much more stable in Quebec.
The latest available data concerns the year 2016. The federal agency was able to assess whether immigrants who obtained permanent residence that year were still in their initial province five years later.
Of all the immigrants who arrived in Quebec in 2016, 8 out of 10 were still in the province in 2021, a stable rate compared to the previous five years. In Ontario, by comparison, more than 9 in 10 immigrants were still settled in the province after five years. In British Columbia, the rate also remains around 87%.
Rise in the Atlantic, decline in the Prairies
Across Canada, the most recent report from Statistics Canada also shows significant fluctuations between the Prairies and the Atlantic provinces.
Long the biggest losers in the retention rate, the Atlantic provinces have seen an increase in their capacity to offer a long-term welcome. In these regions, the establishment of the Atlantic Canada Immigration Pilot Program in 2017 made a difference, notes Statistics Canada.
“The Atlantic, for a long time, was the poor area for immigration, but it has become more dynamic and we are seeing more interesting retention rates,” notes Chedly Belkhodja, professor at Concordia University, whose research relate to the regionalization of immigration.
On the contrary, in the Prairies, the economic slowdown is reflected in retention rates. In Alberta, while in 2012, 91.5% of immigrants had remained in the province for five years, this rate rose to 84.5% in 2016. The fall was even more brutal for Saskatchewan, where the rate fell from 72.2% to 57.9% during the same period.
reference: www.lapresse.ca