Provincial retention statistics for immigrants after one year and five years in Canada have been made public by Statistics Canada.
Overall, the study discovered that although retention rates in the prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba were down, they were increasing in Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador).
The Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB) for 2022 is the source of the data. “The percentage of immigrant tax filers who filed taxes in the province or territory where the immigrant intended to live in Canada, as indicated in their application for permanent residence,” is how the database “examines the provincial and territorial immigrant retention rate.”
The analysis of five-year retention rates was conducted with tax filing data from 2012 to 2016, while data from 2016 to 2020 was utilized for one-year rates.
The greatest overall retention rate is seen in Ontario.
After five years, the provinces with the greatest retention rates for newcomers who arrived in 2016 were British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario, all with over 84%. The retention rate in Ontario was 93.1%.
The report also shows that the percentage of retention for newcomers who arrived between 2012 and 2016 fell sharply in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The rate fell by 11% in Manitoba (from 75.1% to 64.1%) and by 14% in Saskatchewan (from 72.2% to 57.9%).
The provinces’ one-year retention rates showed a similar pattern. The one-year retention percentage for immigrants accepted in Manitoba fell from 78.4% in 2016 to 74.9% in 2020.
Saskatchewan saw an even more dramatic decrease, falling 11.1 percentage points from 75.7% in 2016 to 64.6% in 2020.
Prince Edward Island (PEI) and New Brunswick, two Canadian provinces on the east coast, have reported an increase in the retention of immigrants who were accepted in 2016. At 56%, New Brunswick’s five-year retention rate achieved a record high. At 30.9%, PEI continued to have the lowest retention rate in Canada. Still, this is an almost 6% increase above the retention rate for individuals admitted in 2012.
The report shows that the one-year retention rate in Newfoundland and Labrador increased from 55% for those admitted in 2016 to 66.4% for those admitted in 2020. However, the one-year retention rates in both provinces did not clearly indicate any changes.
More professionals choosing to remain in Atlantic Canada
The Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIP), which was introduced in 2019, may have contributed to the greater percentage of skilled worker retention in the Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia had a significant rise of 42.4 percentage points when the AIP was introduced, going from 21.5% in 2016 to 63.9% in 2020.
2020 skilled worker retention rates in New Brunswick were 65.8%, whereas in Newfoundland and Labrador, the rate increased by 18.7 percentage points from 31.3% to 50% between 2016 and 2020.
The goal of Canada’s Atlantic provinces’ regional economic immigration initiative, the Atlantic Immigration Program, is to make it easier for foreign workers to be hired. Participants in the program receive a customized settlement plan for their family as well as a job offer from a chosen business. This aids in the rapid economic establishment and community integration of immigrants.
Where immigrants decide to establish long-term residence in Canada is largely determined by these relationships. The research states that permanent residents who entered the country through family-class sponsorship schemes had greater retention rates.
Specifically, of the immigrants accepted in 2016, 91.7% were sponsored by family members and remained in the province in which they arrived.
Why it is important
According to the report, alleviating local labor shortages has historically depended heavily on keeping economic immigrants in the area.
Due in part to existing immigrant groups, the majority of newcomers in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta settle in metropolitan cities.
This implies that maintaining a strong labor force may be difficult for some of Canada’s other provinces, particularly rural areas. Most provinces and territories (except from Quebec and Nunavut) have Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) to recruit economic immigrants who are most suited to local labor requirements, which helps encourage newcomers to settle in these areas.
Provincial governments submit applications for permanent resident status to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) through the PNP.
However, the study discovered that skilled immigrants—that is, those who enter through the PNP—likewise had a decline in their five-year retention rate, which fell from 79.6% in 2012 to 71.5% for admissions in 2016.
However, the rates of retention for economic immigrants who entered Canada via the caregiver pilot program or the Express Entry Canadian Experience Class (CEC) were exceptionally high. For instance, the retention rate of caregivers accepted in 2016 who were discovered to have filed taxes in their target province or territory was 94.9%, but the retention rate of CEC applicants was 88.1%.
