When Nicaraguan-born Franco Rayo moved to New Brunswick in 2017 as an international student, he was open to the idea of making Canada home.
Rayo received his master in business administration from the University of New Brunswick in 2018 and got a job in auditing that paid $45,000 annually. Holding two degrees from the U.S. and Canada, Rayo says finding work was difficult and the compensation he was being offered was disappointing.
“My issue was they were offering me entry-level jobs,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s because I’m from another country.”
With a wife and young son, Rayo says he was dipping into his savings to sustain the lifestyle he wanted for his family.
Their situation eventually led Franco, 33, and his wife Natalie Rayo, 29, to make a drastic change to their lives. About a year into the pandemic, the family of three packed their bags and headed for Nicaragua.
While the rising cost of living — with inflation soaring to 6.7 per cent — is affecting all Canadians, the reality is that new immigrants still earn less than the general population.
Now, a recent survey conducted by Leger in partnership with the Institute for Canadian Citizenship is suggesting that squeeze may get in the way of retaining new immigrants.
“Canada tells itself a story about being this paradise for newcomers, and we wanted to see how true that was,” said Daniel Bernhard, CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC).
Plans to leave
The federal government doesn’t track migrant retention, but according to Statistics Canada, 50 per cent of international students had no tax records one year after graduation, suggesting they’ve left the country.
In the ICC survey, 23 per cent of new Canadians with a university education responded that they were planning to leave the country in the next two years.
For new Canadians under the age of 35, that number was 30 per cent. However, it’s not clear how this compares to intentions in previous years.
The survey was conducted between Feb. 24 and 28 with 2013 respondents using an online panel. Although an accurate margin of error cannot be calculated, for comparison, a probability sample of 2000 respondents would have a margin of error of ±2.5%, 19 times out of 20.
Rayo is now settled in Managua with his family and runs his own business, though he’s maintained his permanent resident status in Canada. His wife Natalie, who grew up in New Brunswick, says they enjoy a better quality of life than they did in Moncton, feeling less financially pinched.
“I did not expect to move to Nicaragua, but when it came down to it for our future, my husband and I and my son, that was the best option for us,” she said.
On a national level, there are implications if immigrants choose not to stay. The country faces a labour shortage, and policymakers are hoping immigration can help fill gaps in the workforce — with plans to transition more than 400,000 new immigrants to permanent residents this year.
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of seniors 65 years and older is growing six times faster than children ages zero to 14, a finding with serious implications for the economy.
WATCH | Looming fears for the impact of Canada’s rapidly aging population:
Looming fears for the impact of Canada’s rapidly aging population
3 days ago
Duration 2:03
New census data shows Canada’s population is growing older, causing concern about the implications for the country’s workforce and long-term care system. 2:03
Cost of living will push immigrants to leave, survey suggests
However, immigrants have historically reported challenges relating to employment, with many forced to work low-skilled jobs despite their foreign credentials.
According to Statistics Canada, the median income for immigrants admitted to Canada in 2018 was $31,900 one year later. Although that’s the highest it’s been since 1981, it’s still 18 per cent lower than the median income of the general population.
Now, newcomers are also facing a housing affordability crisis and record-high inflation, raising the question: how appealing is Canada to immigrants?
Berhard said the findings of the survey should give Canadians “pause.”
“We have to ask ourselves what benefits Canada is providing to immigrants because we’re in a competition with the rest of the world,” he said.
“People are not able to earn to their actual potential,” he said. “The standard of living that they might reasonably expect or even that they have in their home country is becoming less and less attainable.”
In the survey, 64 per cent of new Canadians agreed with the statement “the rising cost of living in Canada means immigrants are less likely to stay in Canada.”
According to Statistics Canada, 31 per cent of recent immigrants were spending over 30 per cent of their income on shelter costs, in comparison to only 18 per cent of the general population.
Not enough data on immigrant retention
Economist Mikal Skuterud from the University of Waterloo says it’s difficult to come to any conclusions from the survey because of the absence of data from previous years.
It highlights the need for the federal government to be tracking how many people leaving the country and why they’re choosing to leave, he said.
“A huge part of the challenge for Canada and policymakers is not just attracting immigrants with high levels of human capital, but also retaining them,” said Skuterud.
The economist says there is a risk of losing the highest skilled immigrants to the United States where salaries can be more lucrative.
However, Skuterud doesn’t believe cost of living is likely to drive immigrants away in droves.
WATCH | Canada’s inflation rate spikes to 6.7% in biggest jump since 1991:
Canada’s inflation rate spikes to 6.7% in biggest jump since 1991
10 days ago
Duration 2:00
The inflation rate in Canada jumped to 6.7 per cent in March, hitting a 31-year high. Economists warn borrowers should expect further interest rate hikes as the Bank of Canada tries to cool rising inflation. 2:00
“When people make choices about where to move or if to move at all, what they’re doing is evaluating their economic well-being in one place versus somewhere else,” he said, adding that many countries around the world are also grappling with high inflation right now.
“Migration is very costly and inflation is a temporary phenomenon,” he said. “The idea that people are suddenly going to uproot themselves to leave for somewhere else, I don’t think it’s credible.”
Showcasing the immigrant experience
When Manpreet Kaur and Harmeet Singh immigrated to Canada in 2018, the couple had a hard time finding information on how to navigate the country as new immigrants.
That got them to start their own YouTube channel.
“We thought of making videos and [sharing] our journey,” said Singh.
Harmeet Singh, left, and Manpreet Kaur, right, immigrated to Canada in 2018. The couple has a YouTube channel called ‘Canada Couple Vlogs” where they delve into what life is like in Canada and how to navigate the immigration system. (Harmeet Singh)
The couple’s YouTube channel “Canadian Couple Vlogs” has over half a million subscribers and has videos about everything from how to move to Canada to what life is like after immigrating. They even have a video on why immigrants choose to leave Canada.
“No one is sharing their failures and no one is sharing the challenges that they face in Canada,” said Singh.
From cold winters to cost of living, Singh said there are a lot of challenges immigrants face in Canada that they should know about before moving.
Singh and Kaur had mentally prepared themselves for some of those challenges, expecting to take a hit financially at first.
Although the couple managed to find work within a few months of arriving, Singh says his lack of Canadian work experience was an obstacle when applying for jobs. Luckily, though, his experience working for Walmart from India helped him land work with Walmart Canada, he said.
If it weren’t for the couple’s jobs in IT and the YouTube channel serving as a side hustle, Singh says “it would have been very difficult.”
Bernhard from the Institute of Canadian Citizenship says there’s a failure to fully “appraise” the skills and value newcomers newcomers have to offer. And as many employers report challenges with finding labour he says they need to get better at recognizing the skills immigrants have to offer.
“That’s not just a moral or an ethical imperative. That’s also your competitive advantage in the marketplace,” he said.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Schools in Mexico will have six months to implement a government-sponsored ban on junk food or else face heavy fines, officials said Monday.
The rules, published on Sept. 30, target products that have become staples for two or three generations of Mexican schoolkids: sugary fruit drinks sold in triangular cardboard cartons, chips, artificial pork rinds and soy-encased, salty peanuts with chile. School administrators who violate the order will face fines equivalent to between $545 and $5,450, which could double for a second offense, amounting to nearly a year’s wages for some of them.
Mexico’s children have the highest consumption of junk food in Latin America and many get 40% of their total caloric intake from it, according to the U.N. Children’s Fund which labeled child obesity there an emergency.
The new ban targets products that have become staples for two or three generations of Mexican schoolkids: sugary fruit drinks sold in triangular cardboard cartons, chips, artificial pork rinds and soy-encased, salty peanuts with chile.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday schools would have to offer water fountains and alternative snacks, like bean tacos.
“It is much better to eat a bean taco than a bag of potato chips,” Sheinbaum said. “It is much better to drink hibiscus flower water than soda.”
However, the vast majority of Mexico’s 255,000 schools nationwide do not have free drinking water available to students. According to a report in 2020, the effort to install drinking fountains succeeded in only about 10,900 of the country’s schools, or about 4% of them. Many Schools are located in areas so poor or remote that they struggle to maintain acceptable bathrooms, internet connection or electricity.
Also the most common recipes for beans, refried beans, usually contain a significant dose of lard, which would violate rules against saturated fats.
Mexico instituted front-of-package warning labels for foods between 2010 and 2020, to advise consumers about high levels of salt, added sugar, excess calories and saturated fats. Some snack foods carry all four of the black, octagonal warning labels.
But under the new rules, schools will have to phase out any product containing even a single warning label from school snack stands. It wasn’t immediately clear how the government would enforce the ban on the sidewalks outside schools, where vendors usually set up tables of goods to sell to kids at recess.
Mexican authorities say the country has the worst childhood obesity problem in the world, with about one-third of children overweight or obese.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
