Young immigrants may leave Canada due to high cost of living: survey

A new Leger poll suggests 30 per cent of new, young immigrants could leave the country in the next two years, with Canada's rising cost of living listed as a top concern.

According to a national survey conducted by Leger for the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC), 30 per cent of new Canadians aged 18-34, and 23 per cent of university-educated new Canadians, said they are likely to move to another country in the next two years.

While the Canadian adults and new Canadians surveyed both generally believed Canada provided a good quality of life for immigrants, researchers said Canadians were more likely to have a positive outlook on Canada's prospects for immigrants than the immigrants themselves.

"Canada is a nation of immigrants — and one of the stories we tell ourselves is that we are welcoming to new immigrants, wherever they may be from," ICC CEO Daniel Bernhard said Wednesday in a press release. "But while this may be generally true, new survey data points to the fact that many new Canadians are having a crisis of confidence in Canada — and that should be ringing alarm bells all over Ottawa."

When asked whether they thought Canadians don't understand the challenges immigrants face, 72 per cent of new Canadians agreed, in comparison to 54 per cent of Canadians.