Education

Citizenship rates falling among newly-arrived immigrants to Canada, report reveals

Published on July 23, 2024

University-educated foreign nationals who choose to immigrate to Canada are among those the least likely to seek out Canadian citizenship, and because they represent a growing segment of newcomers to the country, citizenship rates are falling, reports the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC).

Citizenship uptake is lowest among university-educated immigrants, who represent a growing proportion of recent immigrants across census periods.

The national, non-profit organization operates programs, campaigns and partnerships to engage Canadians and newly-arrived immigrants alike in citizenship.

Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta Immigrants Least Likely to Become Canadian Citizens

In its report, Naturalization Visualized: A Study of Canadian Citizenship Data Between 2001 and 2021, ICC notes the proportion of immigrants becoming citizens within 10 years of arrival dropped by 40 per cent.

And some provinces were hit with even lower naturalization rates during that time.

“Despite a significant surge in immigration numbers, Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta experienced the largest declines in naturalization,” notes that report.

The organization’s analysis builds on previous Statistics Canada’s findings which showed a sharp decline in naturalization rates among immigrants within five to nine years of arrival, dropping from 75.4 per cent in 1996 to 45.7 per cent in 2021.

“Naturalization rates vary significantly across immigration categories,” notes the report.

“Immigrants admitted under the family category have the lowest naturalization rates in both census periods, but also experienced the largest decline, 17 per cent, between the two periods.”

“Naturalization is higher for economic class and refugee immigrants, but these categories also experienced declines of 10 per cent and five per cent respectively across the two periods analyzed.”

Immigrants who become Canadian citizens generally out-earn those who take a pass on becoming naturalized.

“For immigrants with a bachelor’s degree, median after-tax income of non-citizens is only 43 percent of the median after-tax incomes of citizens across all census periods,” notes the report.

And those who do not become Canadian citizens are also more likely to be unemployed.

“While unemployment rates declined overall between the 2016 and 2021 census periods, non-citizen women continue to have considerably higher unemployment levels compared to citizen women.

“Between census periods, the gap in unemployment levels between non-citizen and citizen women increased from less than one per cent in Census 2016 to 2.3 per cent in Census 2021 – a 155 per cent increase.”

The ICC recommends Ottawa invest more to educate, encourage and prepare immigrants for citizenship.

Invest more in promoting citizenship to newcomers, ICC tells Ottawa

“Governments should adopt meaningful performance targets focused on the naturalization rates of recent immigrants – those who arrived within five to nine years – and expand the availability of data on the citizenship process to enable better tracking,” the organization recommends.

“While modernization efforts are critical to improving operations and processing capacity, the government must avoid diminishing the value of citizenship. It can achieve this by making citizenship a more visible and celebrated part of the immigration journey, such as highlighting the meaningful impact of in-person ceremonies to immigrants and the greater public.”

In addition to all the benefits enjoyed by permanent residents, Canadian citizens also enjoy additional benefits including:

the right to vote in federal, provincial and municipal elections, run for office and become involved in political activities;
holding dual citizenship, depending on the foreign national’s country of origin;
being able to accept jobs requiring a high-level security clearance, which only citizens can have, including some jobs at the federal level which tend to pay well and have many benefits;
get a Canadian passport, which is easier to renew and must be renewed less often than a permanent resident card. The passport allows Canadian citizens to travel to many countries without the need for a visa and makes it easier to get a visa where one is required, and;
the automatic naturalization of children born in Canada to Canadian citizens.

Immigrants must meet certain requirements outlined by the Canadian government to become Canadian citizens.

First, the applicant for citizenship must be a permanent resident of Canada, having lived in Canada as a permanent resident for a specified period of time, usually three out of the five years preceding their application.

Citizenship applicants need to take a test

They must also have physically been in Canada for at least 1,095 days (three years) out of the last five years before applying for citizenship. This requirement helps demonstrate the applicant’s commitment to residing in Canada.

Applicants for citizenship must have filed income tax reports for at least three years within the five-year period, matching the years they were permanent residents.

Most adult applicants 18 to 54 years old must also demonstrate adequate knowledge of English or French. This typically involves taking a language test, such as the Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) for English, or the Test d’évaluation de français (TEF) for French.

Finally, applicants usually have to take a citizenship test to assess their knowledge of Canadian history, values, institutions, and symbols. The test is usually conducted in English or French and is based on the official study guide “Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship.”

Applicants with certain criminal convictions or who are facing criminal charges may not be eligible for Canadian citizenship. It’s important to have a clean record and not be inadmissible to Canada for criminal reasons.

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