Study Shows That Interest in Canada Immigration Remains High Despite Pandemic
In 2020, World Education Services (WES) conducted a survey for individuals applying for education credential assessments for immigration purposes in order to understand the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on interest in immigrating to Canada. In 2021, WES conducted a follow up survey to examine whether interest has shifted since their 2020 survey. The 2021 survey included 13,138 valid responses and the 2020 survey included 13,953 valid responses. In this post, we elaborate on the results of these two surveys.
Key Findings
1. Interest in Canada remains high
Between 2020 and 2021, the percentage of respondents who said that the pandemic would have no impact on their Canadian immigration plans increased from 48.3% to 51.5%. This indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic did not negatively affect the respondents interest in immigrating to Canada. Additionally, the percentage of respondents who indicated that the pandemic would either have "no impact" or made them "more interested" was over 90%.
2. Respondents predicted a positive impact on the availability of jobs in their occupation or sector in Canada
The percentage of respondents who predicted a negatively impacted labour market decreased from 45% to 33%, while those who expected a positive impact on the labour market increased from 27% to 35%.
3. The respondents' positive outlook on the government and health care system in Canada towards managing the pandemic increased interest in immigration
The majority of respondents believe that the government and health care system in Canada has been managing the COVID-19 pandemic successfully. Thus, 58% of the respondents indicated they were more interested in immigrating to Canada.
4. There was a significant increase in respondents who are interested in immigrating to countries other than Canada
While Canada is an attractive country to live in, respondents indicated that they are also interested in immigrating to other countries besides Canada. The percentage of respondents who indicated they are interested in immigrating to a country other than Canada rose from 13% in 2020 to 22% in 2021.
5. The pandemic has not caused respondents to delay immigration plans
In 2020, 35% of respondents said they would delay their immigration plans to Canada. However, in 2021, that number dropped to 21%.
Conclusion
What we can conclude from this survey is that despite travel restrictions and extended processing times for applications, most candidates are still eager to immigrate to Canada and other countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted countries around the world, but the general consensus is that Canada has done a relatively good job at handling the pandemic and supporting its citizens at a time where many businesses had to forcibly shut down.
Canada is still a fantastic and attractive country to immigrate to. Despite the pandemic, we expect that the Canadian immigration pathways will continue to be competitive among foreign nationals.
If you have any questions about immigrating to Canada, feel free to book a consultation by clicking the image below or visit the IRCC website.
