Cultural Access Pass is now Canoo
12.10.2016
Canoo (formerly known as the Cultural Access Pass program) is a mobile app that helps new Canadian citizens celebrate their citizenship by providing free admission to over 1400 museums, science […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TORONTO, ON — Canada is losing the very people we need the most. A new report from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) and the Conference Board of Canada, The Leaky Bucket 2025: Retention Challenges in Highly Skilled Immigrants and In-Demand Occupations, finds that immigrants continue to leave Canada at near-record rates, with highly educated and highly skilled immigrants leaving Canada at twice the rate of those with less education and lower skills.
The study, the third in ICC’s Leaky Bucket series, uses 40 years of data to uncover that one in five immigrants leave Canada within 25 years, with the highest losses occurring just five years after arrival.
“Canada wins when talented people choose to play for our team,” said Daniel Bernhard, CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. “But this research shows that too many of the people we most need – engineers, healthcare professionals, scientists, and senior managers – are packing up and leaving. They can only contribute to Canada’s success if we can keep them and their talents in the country.”
Key Findings
- One in five immigrants leave Canada within 25 years of landing. Highly educated immigrants are leaving faster: those with doctorates are nearly twice as likely to leave as those with a bachelor’s degree.
- High-skilled immigrants leave at twice the rate of low-skilled workers within the first five years.
- The fastest-growing occupations which have the greatest labour needs face the weakest retention rates: business and finance managers, ICT professionals, engineers, and architecture managers show the highest departure rates.
- Earnings growth matters: immigrants with low income growth are far more likely to leave: among doctorate-holders, those with stagnant incomes are nearly three times more likely than those whose incomes grow while in Canada.
- Atlantic Canada faces the greatest retention challenge, with more immigrants leaving from the region than anywhere else in the country.
- Most immigrants leave Canada from the first province they landed in, without giving other provinces a try.
The report paints a troubling picture: Canada’s immigration system is doing a good job of attracting talent, but not keeping it. As immigration levels stabilize and the population ages, losing highly-skilled newcomers comes with real economic costs for all Canadians – slower growth, weaker innovation, and fewer workers in key sectors.
“Reducing immigration while retention declines means we’ll just keep pouring water into the same leaky bucket,” continued Bernhard. “This is a story of profound self-defeat. When the most talented immigrants leave, our needs don’t leave with them.”
The report calls for a national retention strategy to so the immigrants Canada works so hard to attract see fit to stay and contribute long term. It recommends:
- A clear national framework to track immigrant retention and set measurable goals. Reformed, modern settlement programs focused on integrating and retaining highly skilled immigrants: licensing reform, bridging improvements, and programs that build belonging and commitment to Canada.
- Targeted retention strategies in high-demand occupations such as healthcare, construction, and ICT.
- New tools for employers to create welcoming, growth-oriented workplaces that help newcomers succeed and stay.
Read the full report at https://forcitizenship.ca/the-leaky-bucket-2025-nov-17/
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About the ICC
The Institute for Canadian Citizenship is a national charity that works for a Canada where immigrants don’t just come, but stay, become citizens, succeed, and make Canada stronger, richer, and more interesting.
The ICC’s Canoo app gives newcomers and their families free access to Canada’s most sought-after experiences as well as the tools they need to help call Canada home. Since 2010, Canoo has welcomed over 940,000 newcomer members. All recent permanent residents and new citizens can join Canoo for free by downloading the app. For more about the app and the growing list of benefits for Canoo members, please visit https://canoo.ca/.
Media Contacts
ICC / Canoo: media@forcitizenship.ca