The dream of making it big in Canada is turning into a battle for survival for many immigrants due to the high cost of living and rental shortages, as rising emigration numbers hints to newcomers being forced to turn their back on a country that they chose to make their adopted home.

The dream of making it big in Canada is turning into a battle for survival for many immigrants due to the high cost of living and rental shortages, as rising emigration numbers hints to newcomers being forced to turn their back on a country that they chose to make their adopted home.

Trudeau has made immigration his main weapon to blunt Canada’s big challenge of an aging and slowing population, and it has also helped fuel economic growth. That drove Canada’s population up at its fastest clip in more than six decades this year, Statistics Canada said.

But now a reversal of that trend is gradually taking hold. In the first six months of 2023 some 42,000 individuals departed Canada, adding to 93,818 people who left in 2022 and 85,927 exits in 2021, official data show.

The rate of immigrants leaving Canada hit a two-decade high in 2019, according to a recent report from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC), an immigration advocacy group. While the numbers went down during pandemic lockdowns, Statistics Canada data shows it is once again rising.

  • rab@lemmy.caEnglish
    23·
    11 months ago

    Ya I’m 29 years old born in Canada and have a really good job but living here is starting to not look sustainable. A small bag of groceries here is like 100 dollars it’s fucking mental. Rent starts at 2500. Gf and I are toying with the idea of relocating to Iceland, where the cost of living is actually lower and wages are higher lmao

    Canada has essentially just become a housing pyramid scheme, actual work has become worthless

    • guyrocket@kbin.social
      6·
      11 months ago

      Iceland, Interesting. I really want to visit but I never considered living there.

      You like colder weather? Seems like there are other places that might be a little warmer?

      • rab@lemmy.caEnglish
        4·
        11 months ago

        The weather in Iceland is absolutely terrible. That is a definite downside. A lot of people who move to Iceland leave after their first winter. But because of that, talented folks in Iceland who do my line of work usually gtfo to mainland Europe, which is creating job openings that accept English speakers.

        Iceland also has functional healthcare and no crime. You don’t even have to lock your car. I am sick of not even trusting my neighbours here in Canada.

        Iceland has a housing crisis too but I think we’d be making so much money it would be a non issue.

        Weed is also super illegal and expensive in Iceland :(

    • shartedchocolate@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      11 months ago

      Iceland is in their own dumpster fire with housing. You’re better off in continental Europe if you can get a visa. You also have the New Zealand working holiday option, which is a good time. I toyed with Iceland and have close friends there, it’s rough to get housing, cost of living is expensive because everything is shipped in.

      • rab@lemmy.caEnglish
        21·
        11 months ago

        A pint of blueberries in Iceland which was shipped in is cheaper than if I go to the blueberry farm up the road from me and pick them myself

        • grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          11 months ago

          Not sure what you are paying but I checked a retail survey of fresh fruit and berries in Iceland and they are about 21g/$ CAD fresh where the current price of fresh organic blueberries is 36g/$ at my local Edmonton Walmart.

          Iceland has a local blueberry harvest so not sure how that affects pricing but looks cheaper in Canada. Also upick are often priced above market now, its a family experience more than a way to get affordable food like when I was a kid. Just my two cents.

    • pgp@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      0·
      11 months ago

      Fight to make your country better! Otherwise, you’ll just contribute to the creation/enlargement of the same problem in some other place. Natives do not want that and start being very wary of digital nomads because of this.

      • rab@lemmy.caEnglish
        0·
        11 months ago

        I’m not a digital nomad, it would be a permenant relocation. Iceland needs immigrants too

        • pgp@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          1·
          11 months ago

          If you’re moving to Iceland and working in Iceland, that’s fair. Moving to Iceland and working for a US company, earning a US salary, that’s not.

    • agent_flounder@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      11 months ago

      Yeah not the best headline.

      Fuel, as a verb in the “stimulates” sense. Synonyms:

      • Drive
      • Trigger
      • Instigate
      • Ignite
      • Incite
    • rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social
      31·
      11 months ago

      Fuels is being used as a verb here. The title could also be reworked to say “Canada’s surging cost of living is fueling reverse immigration”
      or
      “Canada’s surging cost of living exacerbates reverse immigration”

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    2·
    11 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Trudeau has made immigration his main weapon to blunt Canada’s big challenge of an aging and slowing population, and it has also helped fuel economic growth.

    Cara works three part-time jobs, making Ontario’s minimum wage of C$16.55 per hour, and goes to an adult learning school to earn university credits.

    While the numbers are small now, lawyers and immigration consultants warn that a pick-up could cast a shroud over Canada’s appeal as the one of the favoured destinations for newcomers.

    On average in Canada about 60% of household income would be needed to cover home ownership costs, a figure that rises to about 98% for Vancouver and 80% for Toronto, RBC said in a September report.

    Myo Maung, 55, migrated to Canada from Myanmar over three decades ago and made a successful career as a real estate agent and a restaurateur.

    Stankus, who pays C$2,000, including utilities, for a one-bedroom apartment, said increasing living expenses has made it difficult to afford basic necessities.

    The original article contains 791 words, the summary contains 163 words. Saved 79%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • guyrocket@kbin.social
    1·
    11 months ago

    As an American it is tempting to push the easy button. This would mean cash out and move to some tropical 3rd world country where the dollar is strong and retire early. This would probably involve some compromises that I’m not seeing but any direction in life has some downsides.

    I know this is not the same as younger Canadians leaving because wages have not kept up but it is my version of that. I haven’t done it yet, but that day may come.

    I wonder if/when governments will start doing something about it.