IS CANADA NOT AS ADVERTISED?

By SHAGORIKA EASWAR

Hospital wait times are increasing and life expectancy is dropping. Rents are skyrocketing and prices of properties for sale have turned home ownership into an unachievable dream for most young people. Basic necessities are becoming out of reach for more and more Canadians.

Taken separately, each is the canary in the mine and together, they paint a frightening scenario.

In Is Canada’s standard of living starting to unravel?, a hard-hitting article in the National Post, Frank Stronach listed a few “under-the-radar warnings”.

He cited a report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal according to which, among OECD countries, Canada was at or near the bottom with regard to the total number of physicians per capita, and was dead-last when it came to receiving timely treatment in emergency care or access to a specialist.

Also, as an education assessment report from the OECD shows, the math scores of Canadian high school students continue to fall year after year – part of a steady downward slide that began about 20 years ago.

“It’s the little things that add up that give us the big picture,” he wrote.

For me, it was two little things, back-to-back.

I finally got an appointment to see an ENT specialist last December – for an ear infection I had visited my family physician for in August.

And more recently, I waited as a lady at the local grocery examined each tomato carefully before placing it in a bag. It took a few minutes, and at the end of the exercise, she had four tomatoes to show for her effort.

“Only four, see?” she said with a wry smile. “They are so expensive.”

That we went on to have a friendly exchange as she shared her recipe for roasted tomatoes and peppers with garlic is another story.

There’s a general feeling that this is not the country we came to among those who have been here for decades. And of this is not the country we want to stay in, among newcomers.

There’s a hole in the bucket is a song that we used to sing as children.

There’s a hole in the bucket,

dear Liza, dear Liza,

There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza,

There’s a hole.

Then fix it, dear Henry,

dear Henry, dear Henry,

Then fix it dear Henry,

dear Henry, fix it.

With what should I fix it,

dear Liza, dear Liza,

With what should I fix it,

dear Liza, with what?

With a straw, dear Henry,

dear Henry, dear Henry,

And so it went. The straw was too long, the axe to cut it too dull, and the stone to sharpen it too dry. Then wet it, says Liza. How should he fetch the water to wet the stone? In a bucket.

But there’s a hole in the bucket!

And this appears to be the case at hand, too. Every helpful suggestion to fix the problems that plague us is limited by another problem.

Every headline I scan, every news report I watch, spells doom and gloom.

A selection going back a few months:

• Homeownership feels out of reach for 76 per cent of Canadians who don’t own property: CIBC poll.

 • A survey had 40 per cent Canadians saying they’d go south for healthcare rather than wait. 

• Child sex assault cases fail over lack of judges.

• ER patient found dead was left for seven hours.

• A recent report shows patients in Ontario had to wait on average 59 minutes to see a doctor at a walk-in clinic last year, which is 34 minutes longer than in 2022, according to the latest data provided by Medimap, a Canadian tech company that matches patients with walk-in clinics, pharmacists and allied health professionals to simplify access to care.

• In the first three months of 2023, just 55 per cent of some of the most aggressive cancers were treated through surgery within the recommended timeframe in Ontario, a new provincial agency report shows. – Sneh Duggal in Newmarket Today

•  There’s been the more than a decade-high increase in violent crime, a 30-year high in the murder rate, and daily evidence of urban disorder, including growing empirical questions about the harm-reduction model to deal with drugs and substance abuse. – Sean Speer in The Hub.  

• Rising auto theft and home break-ins have resulted in insurance costs skyrocketing.

• 64 per cent of parents believe they would feel like a failure if their child had to incur significant debt to pursue post-secondary education according to a survey by Embark and Léger.

•  Over the last 20 years, Canadian R&D investment has been in perpetual decline, while all other G7 countries have seen increases to varying degrees. – TD economist Marc Ercolao quoted in an article in the Financial Post.

In It’s time for a grown-up conversation on immigration, domestic policy director at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute Aaron Wudrick writes that our nation has thrived as a pluralistic and multiethnic society, built through the gradual integration of people from around the world.

“While this is largely a good news story it should not obscure a hard truth: in the 21st century, the challenges associated with immigration are vastly different from those of 50 or 100 years ago, and until recently policymakers have been unwilling to discuss immigration policy accordingly. These challenges can be broadly categorized into three areas: economic impact; infrastructure capacity; and cultural friction.”

Successive immigration ministers extol the positive impact of immigrants on Canadian economy. But, as Wudrick points out, “the sheer number of new arrivals – over one million in 2022 alone – especially in the form of temporary and lower-skilled migrants, is increasingly being used as a substitute for Canadian labour, driving down wages. This downward pressure, while good news for employers trying to contain costs, has the dual effect of dragging down per-capita GDP, while disincentivizing business investment in labour-productivity-enhancing innovations.”

The blame for many woes was placed on international students and knee-jerk reactions ensued. Cap the number! Raise the low-income cut-off (LICO), the amount of funds international students are required to show in their bank accounts! Stop allowing international students to sponsor spouses!

Each of these, or all of the measures taken together, may well have an impact on the housing crisis or on hospital wait times, but unless there’s a major rethink on whom we want to welcome to Canada and more importantly, how welcome we make them feel, the impact will be minimal. Because we are not doing a holistic build from the ground up, we’re putting out little fires as they start. As Stronach put it succinctly, “when we import more and export less, when we stop making products here in Canada, and when a growing portion of the wealth we do produce gets gobbled up by our bureaucracy and interest payments on our mushrooming debt, there’s less and less money for social programs like health.”

And no one is willing to address the elephant in the room – cultural friction.

“What was once a fairly organic process that allowed for integration over years, if not generations, has been supplanted by activist government policy that preaches an official doctrine of big-M Multiculturalism, which fetishizes and subsidizes cultural differences while simultaneously erasing and downplaying Canadian history,” writes Wudrick. “In effect, the implicit social contract between Canada and newcomers has become unbalanced. Canada is and should remain a place where newcomers are free to retain their religion, language, and culture. But we must also actively invite all Canadians, new and old, to join a shared national project to ensure we are working towards living together rather than simply side by side.”

But what, exactly, is the “big picture” isn’t clear.

Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often report that they are facing hiring challenges that limit their growth prospects and affect their access to capital. In Empty Seats: Why Labour Shortages Plague Small and Medium-Sized Businesses and What to Do About It, a report by the C.D. Howe Institute, Parisa Mahboubi and Tingting Zhang analyze the severity and causes of labour shortages in Canada in a post-COVID-19 climate. 

There’s evidence that many immigrants who are already in Canada are leaving. In The Leaky Bucket, a study commissioned by The Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC), Kathryn Dennler of The Conference Board of Canada studied immigrant retention trends in Canada.

It’s not just statistics, there are people behind the numbers, and stories of heartbreak, hardships and disillusionment. Of a shattered Canadian dream.

Komaldeep Makkar, a Canadian permanent resident who moved back to Dubai, disillusioned with her experience in Canada, shared her story in a First Person column in the CBC. It was among the most-read CBC columns for 2023.  

With a bachelor of architecture and a master of urban planning, Makkar worked as an architect for multinational firms in New Delhi and Dubai. She applied for the Canadian Express Entry program in 2017, received her permanent residency visa in early 2020 and landed in Toronto with her husband in January 2021. “After a few months of job hunting, I realized that my education and nine years of experience as an architect in the Middle East didn’t matter,” she wrote.

Multiple employment counsellors advised her to remove her master’s degree, shave some years of experience and remove some high profile projects she had worked on  from her resumé to reduce her chances of appearing over-qualified.

Reading that I was reminded of the many newcomers who had shared similar experiences. “Hearing that I was ‘overqualified’ was actually an ego boost in the beginning,” said one. “Until I realized how quickly it slammed the door shut in my face. Over-qualified/under-qualified, it ends up meaning the same in the end – you are unfit to work in Canada.”

Makkar is back in Dubai, and according to the article, does not intend to return to Canada. 

There are others, posting clips of why they left Canada. And then there are those who stay, but post clips of how hard life is in Canada.

Yes, there are several that grumble about how hard it is to do the dishes or sweep floors without househelp that make you think Canada deserves better. But then there are also many stories of qualified professionals who could have made valuable contributions to Canada who are driven away by barriers. Who seek better options elsewhere.

So, which is it, empty seats or leaky bucket?

A 2022 survey shows that younger immigrants’ experience of life in Canada is mixed, with 30 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds saying that they are likely to move to another country in the next two years.

Like all immigration decisions, onward migration decisions are complex. Studies of onward migration from Canada and the European Union suggest that the following factors shape onward migration:

• Reception in Canada, like economic integration, sense of belonging, racism.

• Commitment variables, like homeownership.

• Individual and family preferences.

• Source-country characteristics.

• Immigration and economic opportunities in other countries.

Many of these are beyond the control of Canadian policymakers. But policymakers can influence immigrants’ experiences in Canada. 

As Dennler concluded, immigration levels are an important way to measure the performance of Canada’s immigration system. But ambitious immigration levels alone cannot meet Canada’s policy goals. Retention is ultimately what drives population and economic growth.

 Providing opportunities for newcomers, improving the standards of living... there’s work to be done.

There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Canada, dear Canada, there’s a hole in the bucket.

The Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) works to unlock Canada for newcomers, facilitating and encouraging the journey towards full and active Canadian citizenship.

The Leaky Bucket, a study commissioned by the Institute found that onward migration is the highest four to seven years after arrival, indicating that positive early experiences may be key to retaining immigrants in Canada and reversing the recent spike in onward migration.

The statistics on ICC’s site have a powerful message:

40% drop in uptake of Canadian citizenship between 2001 and 2021. Source: Statistics Canada.

31% decrease in Canada’s immigrant retention rate since 2017. Source: The Conference Board of Canada.

30% of newcomers under 30 plan to leave Canada within two years. Source: Léger.

100% of us lose if newcomers lose faith in Canada.

ICC’s CEO Daniel Bernhard read the numbers for Desi News.

Desi News: The number of immigrants leaving Canada is increasing among more recent cohorts of immigrants. Onward migration is steadily increasing since the 1980s, but it surged in both 2017 and 2019, reaching levels 31 per cent higher than the historical average. 

In an interview with Desi News back in 2022 you’d said, “That’s the story we tell ourselves, that our institutional strengths and political system are the best. What we’re seeing is that some of the high-calibre people we’d like to attract are finding that life is not as great as advertised. And we’re seeing a conflict between optimism and frustration. As long as there is hope that hard work will pay off, immigrants will work to make their dreams come true. But as time passes, optimism declines.”

The big question, then: Does Canada need immigrants? If yes, then what is our new selling point? What can we do to bring them back, and is there a simple, straightforward solution to retaining them?

Daniel Bernhard: Where would you like me to start?! While the rate of retention is declining, it’s important to note that it has gone from a very, very small number to what is still a very, very small number. So it’s not a full-fledged crisis, we’re not in panic mode. Yet. The number of people wanting to come to Canada is still high. It’s true that they are taking a shorter time to leave, but from among those who came 20 or more years ago, 80 per cent stay back. There’s been some pretty dramatic talk about Canada not being a desirable destination for immigration, so I want to underline this fact.

Do we need immigrants? Obviously, yes. The policy has historically been motivated by filling gaps in key sectors such as construction and healthcare, where the labour shortages are drastic. Unless we’re going to start graduating ten times or twenty times more nurses and health practitioners, we need to bring in more.

But just bringing them in is not enough. If they are not able to contribute to their full potential, if the quality of their life is not good, if they lack social connections and benefits, they will not stay. We need to work harder at making early experiences positive.

Desi News: Are you hopeful of seeing change in policies? What makes you think things will change when the ICC has pointed out pretty much the same things for a few years now?

Daniel Bernhard: In previous years, us, and many others calling for enhanced credential recognition, etc., were doing it from a position of compassion. We saw facilitating integration as a moral issue. Our new study is providing statistics – the fact that nobody thought to do this before is in itself instructive. We have shown that we should welcome immigrants and facilitate their stay out of ambition also. It’s not just a problem for immigrants but an everybody problem. Why am I hopeful of change? I can tell you that elected officials and policymakers are reading our report and many are quite shocked at the findings.

Desi News: You’d spoken of finding it hard to find employment even after studying at the London School of Economics. “I had the hardest time finding employment. I was born here, but educated elsewhere, had no internship experience in Canada. I did experience what it’s like to be out of the loop. Of course, internationally-educated immigrants face that a million times more. Newcomers to Canada now are highly educated and Canada is not adapting to the changing nature of who is coming.”

Are things any different now? Better? Worse?

Daniel Bernhard: Better in some fields. An associate physicians program was brought in BC. There wasn’t too much of an uptake, but it was a good start. In Ontario, certain measures were introduced to help foreign-trained nurses find employment and certain discriminatory regulations removed for engineers. So we’ve made some headway in regulated professions. At least there’s recognition of the fact that all these foreign-trained professionals are here.

The other area where I’ve noted progress is in reporting. There’s way more awareness around the issues immigrants face. We’re gradually shaking the idea that everyone should be utterly grateful they got to come to Canada.

At the same time, Canadian openness towards immigrants is changing. It’s not anything specific yet, most people say they’ve nothing against immigrants, just that there are too many of them. But there’s not a large rhetorical distance between seeing immigration numbers as a problem and seeing immigrants as the problem. Interestingly, this pushback is also seen among immigrants themselves.

Desi News: Healthcare. We see headlines like ER patient found dead was left for seven hours. A survey had 40 per cent Canadians saying they’d go south for healthcare rather than wait, even if it means covering the expenses themselves, just to receive prompt medical attention.

Health minister Mark Holland cautioned against doing so, saying it would “eviscerate the system”. Some might argue that there’s isn’t much left to eviscerate, and that privatizations is sneakily being thrust upon us. One solution, as you suggest, could be to bring in more physicians and healthcare professionals and ease their entry into the system. But now we’ve begun hearing that immigrants are driving the home prices up. So we go round and round.

Canadian healthcare expert Dr  Lawrence Rosenberg, author of Patients Matter Most, says the solution to shorter patient wait times in Canada is utilizing digital initiatives. He suggests several strategies, including remote patient monitoring, virtual visits, data integration across applications, and AI data screening.

What’s your preferred solution? Immigrants or technology?

Daniel Bernhard: Both! There are some things that can only be done by humans right now. And technology can ease backlogs in other areas.  I believe we’ve not done a good job of tying immigration numbers to policy outcomes. Every November, the minister must stand up in parliament and say here is the target for the next five years. They say that, add that immigration is “good for Canada” and go home. That’s a difficult thread to follow.

I’ve been suggesting this, what if they said we need X number of nurses and doctors, Y number of construction workers. We’re going to produce so many in the country and fill the gaps through immigration.

That would help Canadians understand better. Historically, all of the homes were built by immigrants but today, immigrants are under-represented in construction trades. If we were serious about it, we could, as other countries have done, use immigrants to our advantage. We could pay better, provide more humane working conditions, and reap the benefits. I’m trying to understand the problem, to see it from the point of view of someone who feels he was competing with 50 people for a home, he doesn’t want to compete with 51. But the answer is to build more homes.

We really need to do a better job of connecting the dots. They need to think about policies this way. To explain them this way. To implement them this way. Right now, that’s not happening.

If a majority of students were studying to be X-ray technicians, for instance, there wouldn’t be a problem. Also, there used to be eight pathways to permanent residence, now there are over 120. It’s so scattered. A simplification is necessary. If we don’t fix it, public support collapses. There’s an urgency to make it clear how immigration can be used as a tool strategically.

Desi News: The changing face of Canada: Some say newcomers are not “Canadian” enough. How is that a problem in a country that was proud of the cultural mosaic as opposed to a melting pot?

Daniel Bernhard: There have always been people who were skeptical of the multicultural mosaic. Some would actually go so far as to ask, who supported it? But it comes into focus with rising concerns that immigrants are not contributing enough. Nobody looks at  a doctor, nurse or a daycare worker and wonders if they play hockey or not. Nobody has a problem with them. It only becomes an issue, a point of discussion, when you see down-and-out students hanging around together at bus stops or doing food deliveries. Immigrant success is a key factor in Canadians understanding the value of their contributions. For us to see them not just as consumers of resources but as assets.

Desi News: You’d said in 2022 that data shows Canadians being pretty supportive of immigrants. Would you say that is still the case?

Daniel Bernhard: Polling data shows increasing skepticism of immigration levels. As of now, the response to immigrants themselves is relatively positive. No one is saying immigrants are running around driving up crime rates. What you hear is that immigrants are good people, we’re happy they are in our community. But that could change.

Desi News: Your broad recommendations to stem the flow, to retain talent?

Daniel Bernhard: We have to be more intentional about selection. Not just white collar professionals but in areas where Canada needs them.

We have to bust through barriers to economic integration.

And we have to provide opportunities for immigrants and non-immigrants to spend time together. The ICC app, canoo, now has over 2000 experiences that newcomers – permanent residents who have been in Canada for five years or less – can enjoy for free. These include trips to museums, art galleries, concerts, ballet, games, rail rides. We think these help bring some lightness in their lives at a time when they might be experiencing challenges settling in. Life is more than just jobs, jobs, jobs. It’s also about acceptance and understanding. They get to sit next to somebody who has been here longer and those interactions build understanding – on both sides. Over 342,000 such experiences were enjoyed just last year, and that’s an under-count as it doesn’t include railway figures. We would like to get to a million, two million.

So it boils down to finding the candidates with the greatest likelihood of succeeding, then creating an environment where they actually get to do so and finally, getting to know them as people. So many of them are exceptional individuals.

 • ICC is a national non-profit organization co-founded by former governor general Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul. It works to inspire Canadians to be inclusive, create opportunities to connect, and encourage active citizenship. Since 2005, the ICC has also supported more than 300,000 new Canadian citizens with programming to encourage a sense of belonging and build a more inclusive Canada.