Americans are flocking to Canada in record numbers
The number of Americans immigrating to Canada hit a 30-year-high last year. According to an analysis of numbers by the Montreal-based Association for Canadian studies, 10,942 Americans settled in Canada in 2006.
That’s up two per cent from 2005 (9,262) and nearly double the number that arrived in the year 2000 (5,828.)
Why Americans are heading north
Jack Jedwab, the executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies, conducted the analysis of the data. According to Jedwab, looking at the categories of immigration provided some insight into the motivation of Americans choosing Canada.
In 2001, 37.9 per cent of Americans were in the economic category, 28.3 per cent in 2003, 39.7% in 2004 and about 41 per cent in 2005 and 2006. Those figures are well below the overall percentage of immigrants to Canada that are in the economic category. In 2004, about 56.7 per cent of Canadian immigration was in the economic category, compared with 59.6 per cent in 2005 and 54.9 per cent in 2006.
“Still, economic immigration to Canada was closer to the average in that regard than it has been in the previous five years,” Jedwab said in the report.
He also pointed out that there has been an increase in the number of refugees coming from the U.S. in the last couple of years.
“It appears to be the result of refugees who are being admitted as Americans that are often the dependants (mostly children) of people who have spent a number of years in the U.S. and have had children who were born in the U.S.,” said Jedwab. “When the parent crosses the border and makes a claim that is accepted, the dependants are also admitted and listed as American since that is the country of their birth (this is done instead of separating families.)”
Brain drain ‘undoubtedly narrowing’
While 41 per cent of Americans admitted to Canada last year were in the economic category, about 39 per cent of Canadians admitted to the U.S. in 2006 were in the comparable category.
“When looking at the differences over the past few years in the real numbers between the two countries, Canada is undoubtedly narrowing the brain drain,” said Jedwab.
He also said Canada is receiving an increasingly well educated segment of arrivals from the U.S., implying that people coming this way are looking for either better quality of life both economically and probably from a social and political standpoint.
Americans are Canada’s most educated immigrants
In 2006, nearly half of the immigrants (49.5 per cent) to Canada from the U.S. possessed a bachelor’s degree or more. That’s higher than any other region, and a switch from 2000 when immigrants from Asia and Pacific were the best educated.
Where are Americans settling?
Ontario is the most popular destination, followed by British Columbia and Quebec. Here’s the provincial breakdown for 2006:
Nova Scotia: 244
Other Atlantic: 224
Quebec: 1,006
Ontario: 5,705
Manitoba: 195
Saskatchewan: 142
Alberta: 980
British Columbia: 2,435
Territories: 11
The flow of Canadians to the U.S.
The number of Canadians heading south also saw a slight decline. In 2006, 23,913 Canadians immigrated to the United States, a drop from the 29,930 that did so in 2005.
In 2006, Canadians accounted for 1.4 per cent of all immigrants to the U.S. compared with 1.9 per cent in 2005.
Americans admitted to Canada accounted for 4.4 per cent of all immigrants in 2006 compared with 3.5 per cent in 2005.
That’s up two per cent from 2005 (9,262) and nearly double the number that arrived in the year 2000 (5,828.)
Why Americans are heading north
Jack Jedwab, the executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies, conducted the analysis of the data. According to Jedwab, looking at the categories of immigration provided some insight into the motivation of Americans choosing Canada.
In 2001, 37.9 per cent of Americans were in the economic category, 28.3 per cent in 2003, 39.7% in 2004 and about 41 per cent in 2005 and 2006. Those figures are well below the overall percentage of immigrants to Canada that are in the economic category. In 2004, about 56.7 per cent of Canadian immigration was in the economic category, compared with 59.6 per cent in 2005 and 54.9 per cent in 2006.
“Still, economic immigration to Canada was closer to the average in that regard than it has been in the previous five years,” Jedwab said in the report.
He also pointed out that there has been an increase in the number of refugees coming from the U.S. in the last couple of years.
“It appears to be the result of refugees who are being admitted as Americans that are often the dependants (mostly children) of people who have spent a number of years in the U.S. and have had children who were born in the U.S.,” said Jedwab. “When the parent crosses the border and makes a claim that is accepted, the dependants are also admitted and listed as American since that is the country of their birth (this is done instead of separating families.)”
Brain drain ‘undoubtedly narrowing’
While 41 per cent of Americans admitted to Canada last year were in the economic category, about 39 per cent of Canadians admitted to the U.S. in 2006 were in the comparable category.
“When looking at the differences over the past few years in the real numbers between the two countries, Canada is undoubtedly narrowing the brain drain,” said Jedwab.
He also said Canada is receiving an increasingly well educated segment of arrivals from the U.S., implying that people coming this way are looking for either better quality of life both economically and probably from a social and political standpoint.
Americans are Canada’s most educated immigrants
In 2006, nearly half of the immigrants (49.5 per cent) to Canada from the U.S. possessed a bachelor’s degree or more. That’s higher than any other region, and a switch from 2000 when immigrants from Asia and Pacific were the best educated.
Where are Americans settling?
Ontario is the most popular destination, followed by British Columbia and Quebec. Here’s the provincial breakdown for 2006:
Nova Scotia: 244
Other Atlantic: 224
Quebec: 1,006
Ontario: 5,705
Manitoba: 195
Saskatchewan: 142
Alberta: 980
British Columbia: 2,435
Territories: 11
The flow of Canadians to the U.S.
The number of Canadians heading south also saw a slight decline. In 2006, 23,913 Canadians immigrated to the United States, a drop from the 29,930 that did so in 2005.
In 2006, Canadians accounted for 1.4 per cent of all immigrants to the U.S. compared with 1.9 per cent in 2005.
Americans admitted to Canada accounted for 4.4 per cent of all immigrants in 2006 compared with 3.5 per cent in 2005.
