A new survey by the World Education Services finds interest in immigrating to Canada has grown even more since April’s pandemic peak.
The corona virus pandemic does not dissuade people from trying to immigrate to Canada; on the contrary, a recent study indicates more curiosity is generated by it.
Nearly half of respondents in a World Education Services (WES) survey last June said COVID-19 had raised their interest in immigrating to Canada. In June, there were more people showing this growing interest than in April, when a similar survey was conducted. WES offers professional certification tests for citizens seeking immigration into Canada in an economic background. They believe they are unique in their ability to gage potential immigrants’ motives and expectations as they connect every week with thousands of interested candidates.
COVID-19 Growing interest in Canadian immigration
More people indicated that their interest in immigrating to Canada had risen with the pandemic and less people said they were dissuaded. In June, as a result of the pandemic, 45 percent of respondents said they were more interested in immigrating to Canada and six percent said they were less interested.
World economic conditions will drive attention
The WES survey also showed that many respondents had predicted less severe economic effects in Canada than in their home countries. While Canada also suffered an economic hit from the pandemic, the Labor Force Survey showed that as of July about 55% of jobs lost to COVID 19 had been recovered.
Over time, the gap in expectations increased, WES said. In June, 58 % of respondents anticipated a negative effect on Canada’s economic conditions, while more than 80% anticipated negative conditions in their home country. In April, expectations for home country of respondents were nearly the same, but just 68 per cent anticipated a negative effect in Canada.
A similar trend has been found in how respondents in their home countries feel about the effect on their professions or industries. In June, 57 per cent of respondents expected their home country to have a negative effect on employment in their profession or business, up from 47 per cent in April. Forty-three per cent of June survey respondents predicted a negative effect on employment. In other words , people usually felt that the economic effects were less severe in Canada than in their home countries.
Immigrants expected to play a critical role in rebuilding Canada
Canada faces long-term shortages of talent due to high retirement rates, and low birth levels. Until the pandemic, these problems predominated, and some researchers believe it may have made them worse.