Canada the best Immigrant Heaven!

Canada Immigration Forum (discussion group)


 
       
Subject: Canada the best Immigrant Heaven!
  Really???



OTTAWA - Canada may see itself as a nation of immigrants, but more than 10 times as many of us move to the U.S. every year as Americans who move here, a new report from Statistics Canada reveals.

The report, released Thursday, focuses on Canadians who moved, temporarily or permanently, to five countries: Australia, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

It found that, each year between 2000 and 2004, an average of 68,900 Canadians moved south of the border. By contrast, only about 6,100 Americans obtained permanent resident status in Canada each year during the same period.

Doug Bowering, a semi-retired customs brokerage consultant, moved to Florida from the Niagara Falls area in 1987.

He took advantage of a U.S. government lottery offering citizenship to the first 10,000 applicants without a number of the more stringent requirements attached.

Admittedly, the warmer weather was a big draw for the 67-year-old expat.

"I would hate to have to go back to Canadian winters, for sure," he said. But lower American taxes were also pretty appealing.

"Taxation in Canada was horrible at the time. I was paying about 55 per cent taxes. There´s no state tax in Florida. I´m probably paying about 30 per cent tax ... In ´87 when I moved ... the Canadian dollar was at about 40 per cent less than the American dollar."

He says he was also "fed up" with the political scene in Canada.

"I was just disgusted by everything that happened pretty much after Trudeau with the political scene. Things like metric being forced on us. French being forced on us ... I was just disgruntled with the situation there."

The report also says Canadians who migrated south were more highly educated than the U.S. population.

Over half of Canadian-born residents aged 25 or older and living in the United States had a university education, compared with just over one-quarter of their American counterparts.

DRAWN DOWN UNDER

Australia was also a popular draw for Canadians. Statistics Canada reported about 1,700 Canadians moved to Australia each year between 2000 and 2004.

Two in five people who relocated down under were between 18 and 29, perhaps drawn by travel, education or work opportunities.

For 29-year-old Mali Rolph, moving to Sydney in 2005 was one of those "crazy things you do for love," after her partner was offered a job there.

"It was a bit of a weird move but it worked out really, really well," she said, although she said they both still miss Tim Hortons, Kraft Dinner and Triscuits. Not to mention their families.

"The main thing is family. It´s one thing to miss Canadian food, but it´s more about living so far away from brothers and sisters and parents."

Rolph now operates her own dog-walking and training business, See Spot Run, and would like to start an online store selling training tools.

She spends her days in dog parks and on dog beaches, which sounds idyllic.

But she says the residents of Sydney work really hard and play hard, although Canadians tend to think of them as perpetually laid-back.

"Canadians have this idea that Australians are all really laid-back and kind of like, ´No worries, mate, whatever.´ But living in Sydney, it´s actually a really fast-paced rat race. Sydneysiders work really hard but they also play really hard."

Rolph said she and her partner are now applying for permanent residency and will have to be full-time residents for four years before they can apply for citizenship.

The census counted 18,910 Australian-born immigrants living in Canada in 2001. Nearly 1,000 immigrants from Australia are admitted to Canada annually.

Between 2000 and 2004, the United Kingdom received an average of 8,500 Canadians each year, while sending Canada about 5,200 Britons.

CULTURALLY RICH

Paula Adamick was born in Montreal and also lived in Toronto before moving to England to do post graduate work in 1992, and stayed.

"Culturally I find it very rich," she said about her life in London.

She is now the managing editor of Canada Post, a newspaper for Canadians living in the United Kingdom. She says the British Home Office and Canada House estimate there are about 200,000 Canadian ex-pats living in Britain.

The report also shows that the bulk of those who go abroad are in their prime working age. Over half of the Canadians in the United States were between 18 and 49 years old. In the U.K., 77 per cent of Canadian immigrants were in the same age group.

By contrast, the movement of Canadians to Italy and Poland, for example, comprised mostly older people who were born in those countries and were returning.

About three in 10 Canadians in Italy were age 50 and over. It was about four in 10 in Poland.

Statistics Canada noted that compiling information on the number of Canadians scattered around the world is difficult because there are no complete records of the permanent or temporary exit of everybody who leaves the country.

? The Windsor Star 2008



[20-03-2008,02:31]
[**.183.241.61]
Raju
(in reply to: Canada the best Immigrant Heaven!)
Interesting to be part of the 6,100 minority. Wonder if I missed something or they just don´t get it.
[20-03-2008,03:19]
[**.53.224.249]
Richard
(in reply to: Canada the best Immigrant Heaven!)
Raju do you want my comment? I do not give a shit!!!Get a life ....please...

[20-03-2008,07:21]
[**.5.119.111]
Hey
(in reply to: Canada the best Immigrant Heaven!)
Americans know virtually nothing about any other country and do not know SQUAT about Canada.

Watch Rick Mercers videos found on You Tube.

Raju did you forget the number two nominee second in delegates for the Republican party (Huckabee) thought Canada had a National Igloo that needed saving.

Raj why do you hang out here if you think this way. Hey had a point when he wrote "Get a life". silly boy.

Roy
www.cvimmigration.com

[20-03-2008,08:53]
[**.52.219.88]
Roy
(in reply to: Canada the best Immigrant Heaven!)
Good article Raju.

I didn´t know the most recent well documented Stat about the inter migration between US/Canada. I eralier had an impression of 1 to 7, now it looks like more than 1 to 10. If considering US/Canada population ratio then this number should be multiplied by that.

As usual some frustrating comments irrevalant to the subject matter...This was a topic 100% related to immigration, and many perspective immigrants here especially the ones from the US should find this as helpful. Looks like it is not any personal story or bashing, just copy paste from a published artile based on Stat Canada report.

[20-03-2008,11:06]
[***.219.255.152]
DC
(in reply to: Canada the best Immigrant Heaven!)
Raju,
I also had similar numbers in mind, when I replied on an earlier posting regarding TN visas. This is not surprising to me at all, but seems like it definitely rubbed someone the wrong way, LOL !

[20-03-2008,11:51]
[***.242.242.2]
Raj
(in reply to: Canada the best Immigrant Heaven!)

US?? I just don´t get it.

Interesting to be part of the 6,100 minority as well.

Cheers

Bill

[20-03-2008,12:04]
[***.34.111.122]
Bill
(in reply to: Canada the best Immigrant Heaven!)
Bill,

I wrote "US" as USA, not us=we. I think that´s what you weren´t getting.

Raj,

Sometimes truth hurts badly. LOL.

[20-03-2008,13:17]
[***.219.255.152]
DC
(in reply to: Canada the best Immigrant Heaven!)
Yes that´s right. By "they just don´t get it", meant that all those Americans missing from the 6,100 stats that statisticaly would be expected to be larger, just don´t get why us (i.e., Bill and me) in the 6,100 made the move. (if that makes any sense)
[20-03-2008,13:40]
[**.53.224.249]
Richard
(in reply to: Canada the best Immigrant Heaven!)
Richard,

This report didn´t emphasized on the reasons collectively except some personal stories. It just showed the general immigration pattern.

Reasons can be various starting from personal preference..economy..social security..healthcare..weather...

[20-03-2008,13:45]
[***.219.255.152]
DC
(in reply to: Canada the best Immigrant Heaven!)
I have found that Americans are always flabbergasted at the idea of us moving to Canada, and yet when we´ve mentioned our intentions to Canadians (both in Canada and living down here), they understand immediately and wish us the best.

It is impressive to be part of such a tiny minority, though I wonder if the number would be larger if more Americans actually knew very much about our neighbor to the north. Who can say. I´m just looking forward to getting there.

[20-03-2008,15:11]
[**.24.116.196]
wannabecanadian