A PNP study on the retention of newcomers in their first landing province was published recently. Statistics Canada derived all the data from tax records and the Immigrant Landing File. Also, it considered three retention indicators to analyze the inclination of a province or territory to retain newcomers.
Interestingly, the study revealed that the retention of PNP immigrants in the province where they arrived first is usually high. Before we further elaborate, let us summarize the Provincial Nominee Program.
Each province or territory uses the PNP to function and nominate and invite skilled workers to settle in their province.
This program is a leading method to bring about a fairer distribution of newcomers in Canada. The chief objective behind this program is to mainly seek out more immigrants outside Canada’s three bigger cities. In addition, it also looks forward to assisting organizations in the provinces to combat the existing labor demands.
Another chief aim of this program is to sustain and assimilate the immigrants in the specific nominating provinces or territories.
Immigrants receiving a provincial nomination must show their intention to reside in the nominating province to acquire Canadian Permanent Residence.
However, after an individual arrives in the province, the nominee will not be limited from leaving Canada.
PNP study on retention of newcomers in their first landing province
Around 89 percent of provincial nominees who arrived in 2019 had resided in their province or territory toward the end of their first year of arrival. However, the province or territory demonstrated a larger difference, with 69 percent in Prince Edward Island and 97 percent in Ontario. Moreover, in British Columbia, the rate was 95 percent, 92 percent in Alberta, 88 percent in Manitoba, and 78 percent in Saskatchewan.
Out of all the nominees residing in the province at the year’s end, around 80 percent stayed in the same province even five years later. In the same way, the provinces witnessed variations from 39 to 94 percent.
However, immigrants residing in Canada for a long-term period will seldom settle in their first province after arrival.
In 2010, the provincial immigrants had a retention rate of 95.8 percent for their first year among all provincial nominees. Similarly, the retention rate for five years was 88.7 percent, while it was 84.4 percent for ten years.
Even though this is the reality, these figures reflect a greater percentage. Overall, this implies that most provincial immigrants typically reside in their first landing province even after ten years of immigration.
Provinces with the maximum retention rates
The variations prevalent within the economic opportunities and circumstances within provinces will largely influence the retention rates of a specific province. Besides, the provincial size will further impact the retention rate. This is primarily due to a larger province’s locational choices for newcomers to pursue provincial economic advantages. As a result, this reduced the immigrants’ requirements to get out of the province. Additionally, the size of the city is what is most essential. This is evident because cities like Vancouver and Toronto have the maximum retention rates.
Overall, British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario had the highest retention rates. Conversely, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest retention rates.
Nevertheless, there was still a sizable retention rate disparity between the provinces even after accounting for a wide range of control variables.
Which province attracts the most immigrants?
Provinces are at an advantage with provincial nominees who initially arrive and intend to reside there after arrival. Besides this, they can also benefit from immigrants who initially decide to move and settle in a province after landing in a different province.
The second type of migration from a different province in Canada has most of its migrants in Ontario.
In Ontario, there were 23% more provincial nominees by the end of the initial full year after the landing year than in the province then. Ontario had 56% more candidates by the end of the fifth year after the landing year.
Particularly, considering the outflow of provincial candidates from the province as well as a surge of nominees, Ontario was the only province or territory to see a major net advantage from this procedure due to the large intake of nominees from other provinces.
If you seek information on how to begin your Canada immigration application process, you can email our MakeHomeCanada experts at [email protected].
