Canada, one of the favourite destinations of Indian students is not as popular amongst immigrants today as it was 20 years ago, says a recent study.
A recent study by Statistics Canada revealed that fewer recent immigrants in Canada are pursuing Canadian citizenship compared to 20-plus years ago, says CIC News.
The research, spanning from 1996 to 2021, indicated a nearly 30 per cent decline in citizenship rates among recent immigrants, with the majority of this decrease observed over the past decade.
The research discovered that the proportion of recent immigrants (those residing in Canada for 5, 10, or 15 years) acquiring citizenship had been decreasing since 1996, when 75.4 per cent of immigrants pursued citizenship. By 2021, this figure had dropped to 45.7 per cent of immigrants, with the most significant decline occurring between 2016 and 2021.
The study also found some variance in these citizenship uptake rates between different groups of recent immigrants, says CIC News.
For example, recent immigrants with a higher income level (between $50,000 - $100,000 CAD) were 14 per cent more likely to take up citizenship than those with lower income (lower than $10,000 CAD).
This trend also demonstrated the more that recent immigrants were educated—among those with a high school degree as their highest education level, 30.4 per cent took up citizenship, as compared to 51.8 per cent citizenship uptake among those with a university degree.
According to the study, differences were noticeable based on the country of origin of immigrants. The most significant recent decrease in citizenship rates was seen among immigrants from East Asia (with a decline of 58%) and Southeast Asia (with a decrease of 40.7%). This was followed by immigrants from West Asia (with a decline of 29.3%), Eastern Europe (with a decrease of 28.9%), and Central America (with a decrease of 28.2%).
The study highlights policy changes from 2006 to 2016, such as tougher citizenship tests, language skill requirements, and higher application fees, which may have affected citizenship uptake rates.
It also points to the COVID-19 pandemic as a major factor, possibly responsible for up to 40 per cent of the decline in citizenship rates from 2016 to 2021. The pandemic likely exacerbated the decrease in citizenship uptake during this period.
Moreover, the study says that events specific to Southeast and East Asia may have contributed to the sharp decline in citizenship rates among immigrants from these regions, indicating potential external factors at play.
