Canada is the Most Welcoming Country

by Albert Smith

Immigrants and temporary migrants have become increasingly important to Canada’s population growth and its economy. Canadians are grateful to the contributions of foreign workers, and have established a vast network of settlement services to help newcomers feel at home. A recent HSBC survey has given Canada the top spot when it comes to friendliness and welcoming newcomers by the locals. According to the HSBC Bank International’s Expat Explorer Survey, people who relocate to Canada have comparatively easy time making friends with locals, joining local community group and learning a new language. In fact, 95 percent of people surveyed said that they have made friends with locals in Canada. A close second spot was acquired by Germany with 92 percent, followed by Australia with 91 percent. The study surveyed 2,155 Expats in 48 countries and measured the relative friendliness of the countries based on four categories: number of respondents who joined the community groups, number of respondents who joined local groups, percentage who bought property, and respondents’ ability to befriend locals.

Canada has a strong settlement services network, with immigrants and temporary residents serving organizations spread all over the country in both large metropolitan areas as well as small communities. Many of these organizations provide their services to newcomers from specific nations or regions. Thanks to immigration, the population of Canada continues to grow at a steady rate, now comprising 33, 441, 3000 people. According to Statistics Canada, the population grew more in the past three months than it has in any third quarter since 1990, adding 129,900 people since July 2008. Of these 129,900 people, 71,300 are newcomers to the country. 

Just recently, the Philippines became the largest source country for Canada for immigrants and temporary workers combined, overtaking China which has been the top source country for many years. 19,064 Permanent Residents and 15,254 Temporary Workers arrived in Canada in 2007 from the Philippines. The executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies Jack Jedwab, said that the increase can partially be explained by Canada’s focus on temporary workers and that many Filipinos fill caregiver and service sector jobs in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. In terms of number of permanent residents in Canada, Chinese-Canadians and Indian-Canadians make up the two largest groups in Canada, in spite of the fact that their numbers have dropped in recent years. The population of Filipinos makes up the third largest group in Canada.