Honourable senators, I rise to bring to your attention a brand-new report from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, or ICC, titled The Leaky Bucket 2024: A Closer Look at Immigrant Onward Migration in Canada. I hosted a briefing earlier this week on the report, which paints a troubling picture of what’s happening in Canada with newcomers.

Canada is viewed internationally as a top destination for immigrants. I am proud of our impressive track record at attracting, retaining and integrating immigrants into the greater Canadian family. Unfortunately, what the ICC’s report tells us is that there are cracks in the foundation and we need to take a long, deep look into some of the challenges associated with retention.

As the report advances, it states:

Historically, immigration has been a vehicle for Canada to advance GDP growth, ease labour shortages, improve the worker-to-retiree ratio, and enrich multiculturalism. Onward migration, particularly in the early years, jeopardizes Canada’s ability to meet these goals. When immigrants leave, investments in settlement and integration programs are lost.

As we learned, Canada is losing one in every five immigrants to onward migration in the long term. We also discovered that nearly half of onward migrants who came to Canada under the economic immigration category and international students are fleeing the country at alarming rates, limiting our ability to benefit from their skills and education.

Furthermore, we learned that Canada is losing 35% of francophone immigrants in the long term. That is cause for concern, given that the federal government just announced a more aggressive policy on francophone immigration outside Quebec.

That is why the institute is recommending that we expand integration services for francophone immigrants to include a focus on retention.

The institute is also recommending that the government integrate retention targets into its immigration policy blueprint. The report proposes:

To effectively address retention, policy-makers need a deeper understanding of both the short- and long-term consequences of onward migration. An understanding of who is leaving Canada when will . . . help to inform tailored policies and programs . . . .

Honourable senators, Canada will always remain an attractive destination for immigrants, and Canadians will continue to welcome immigrants with open arms and open hearts. However, it’s clear that we need to improve the ways we retain and integrate the people the government carefully selects to make Canada their home. Our economy’s growth and our nation’s prosperity depend upon it.

Thank you, meegwetch.