Like its southern neighbor, Canada has long prided itself on being a nation of immigrants, with its indigenous First Peoples now making up less than five percent of the population after centuries of shrinkage relative to newcomers.
Census data released last week showed that over 8.3 million of Canada’s population of 38.25 million are new Canadians or permanent residents.
Immigrants now comprise a whopping 23 percent of the population – 0.7 percent above the previous record which was set in 1921, and Statistics Canada expects immigrants to account for between 29.1 and 34 percent of Canadians by 2041 if current trends continue.
The Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has welcomed newcomers with open arms since 2015, citing a burgeoning job market, Canada's aging workforce, and the skills many immigrants bring with them when they arrive in the country. The Liberals’ New Democratic Party coalition partners and the opposition Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois are in broad general agreement in their approach to the issue.
A whopping 80 percent of the growth recorded in the labor force since 2016 has been by immigrants. “Recent immigrants, whose age structure is younger than the general population, constitute a pool of workers who can help mitigate the impacts of labor shortages in a number of sectors and regions across the country,” Statistics Canada said in a press release accompanying the fresh census data.
With immigration from European countries sagging in recent decades (accounting for just 10.1 percent of the 8.3 million figure), the percentage of newcomers from countries in Asia and the Middle East has soared, accounting for 62 percent of the total. Indians alone comprise 18.6 percent, or nearly a fifth, of all first-generation Canadians, landed immigrants and permanent residents.
Why are People Coming?
“Many people from Punjab have migrated to Canada in the last four decades due to various factors such as militancy in Punjab [from the] 1970s to [the] 1990s and later for better economic opportunities,” Gurjeet Kaur, a PhD in international politics and assistant professor at a private university in Punjab, India told Sputnik.
Kaur, who is seeking Canadian permanent resident status, says five families from her home village have already relocated to Canada in the last year alone, and that her paternal aunt’s whole family lives in Brampton, Ontario after migrating in the 1990s, doing odd jobs before moving on to the trucking industry, eventually setting up their own trucking business and several gas stations.
“Seven members of my extended family have gone to Canada for study in the last three years and all of them have found jobs there and are willing to settle there,” she added.
Kaur explained that for members of her family, the “biggest reason” driving the decision to come to Canada comes down to economic opportunities and the nation's social security network.
The academic said her life in India is not bad from the financial standpoint, but that “shrinking democratic spaces” in her home country are her personal motivator for immigration. She hopes to find “free and inclusive spaces” in Canada.
Canada is home to a large Punjab diaspora, and many Punjabis prefer the northern nation to the US due to this historical connection, Kaur said. “The perceived [lower incidence of] racism and tolerant culture of Canada is another reason for people to prefer Canada,” she added. Additionally, she feels that Canada is safer due to its tighter gun culture and lower political polarization.
Sunra Babu, another Indian, who enjoys permanent resident status after immigrating to Canada in March 2021, shared a similar story, telling Sputnik that she had a “really comfortable” life and had a good job at home before she and her husband decided to leave home.
“The only reason I wanted to immigrate to Canada was because of the political situation in India. I don’t align with the kind of political situation right now there. Also a big factor is the social construction of how my country operates. I wanted a freer life,” Babu said.
The political science major said she chose Canada over the US because her views “don’t align with the kind of society or politics that the US propagates,” and like Kaur, pointed to fears of gun violence, the social safety net (particularly health care) and the “toxicity as far as immigrants are concerned…Canada is more accepting of immigrants. Canada is softer on people from other countries,” she believes.
The same goes for the immigration process, Babu said, noting that she’ll become eligible for Canadian citizenship just two years from now.
“There were initially jitters and initial apprehension that I had as to how to settle down. But honestly, Canada has been very welcoming. People are sweet, most of them. They're nice and helpful. There are microaggressions in terms of, you know, there's mild or at least soft racism, so to speak. We are people of color. And I'm also in the province of Alberta, which is a highly conservative province,” Babu explained.
She clarified that Alberta is conservative compared to more liberal provinces like Ontario or British Colombia, but that Calgary is a metropolitan city with a lot of immigrants, mostly Indians and Filipinos, which makes things easier.
"Culture is very different. Their sports are different, the atmosphere is different, the climate is different, the food is different. So you kind of try to find your own space. Having said that, nobody has been mean to me ever since I've come. Nobody has passed [a] racist or sexist remark, it was top priority for me when I left India that I should not be treated as an outsider when I go outside,” Babu emphasized.
Things seem to be easier for children of immigrant parents born in Canada, as they are more likely to integrate easily into Canadian culture, Babu said.
Navtej Singh Virk, yet another Indian-born newcomer to the True North Strong and Free, explained that for him, Canada's education system, and opportunities for employment in biotech, his chosen field of employment, were his biggest motivator for immigration, and his desire to get permanent residency status, and eventually, citizenship.
Virk arrived in the country as a teen, with his parents sending him to the country to receive an education. Asked why his family picked Canada over the US, the student explained that "a good amount of people that my parents know were in Canada, compared to USA."
"It was hard to naturalize into a completely different culture at first," Virk said. "The food, the environment, the lifestyle are all different from home and at first I did feel a little left out but eventually got mixed with the new friends I made in Canada."
The immigrant, who lives in Toronto and works full time, explained that for him life in Canada "does seem challenging sometimes," but that his responsibility for his family keeps him going. He continues to miss a lot of things from back home, from family and friends to football matches and cheap prices for goods in stores.
"Struggle is a part of success and I know that my life is heading to the destination I choose and that alone is satisfactory for me. I would say I'm happy with my decision since I know I will have a comfortable life as long as I work for it," Virk concluded.