By Vancouver Sun | Link to Article
Business-class immigrants have very low levels of “attachment” to Canada — both when they arrive and especially after four years in the country.
By Vancouver Sun | Link to Article
Business-class immigrants have very low levels of “attachment” to Canada — both when they arrive and especially after four years in the country.
The Statistics Canada survey data is presented in a new book by Abdie Kazemipur, a professor of sociology at the University of Lethbridge.
Nearly all immigrants reveal a weak level of attachment to Canada after four years in the country. That includes refugees and those who come to Canada for family reunification purposes.
But business class immigrants, who are welcomed to Canada based mainly on their financial assets, not only express low attachment to Canada when they initially arrive, Kazemipur says they “show the biggest drop in attachment” after four years in Canada.
Business-class immigrants appear reluctant to attach to Canada from the get-go, which is one of the reasons many people are critical of wealthy transnationals who seem mainly interested in securing a “passport of convenience.”
Until recently, business class immigrants (also known as investor-class) were able to gain Canadian citizenship by lending the government $800,000 that would be paid back in about five years without interest.
The federal government cancelled that program this year — after complaints that it was mostly being used by wealthy Asians to set up temporary residence and buy real estate to create a “safe haven” in Metro Vancouver.
Kazemipur’s attached chart is one small part of his new book, titled The Muslim Question in Canada (UBC Press). (I will be writing more about this book on Saturday.)
The valuable chart below is not specific to immigrant Muslims, but all immigrants. Technical note: The chart uses skilled immigrants as the baseline to compare how all four immigrant classes compare in regards to “attaching” to Canada.