Temporary residents a boost to Northern Ontario's economy, study says – The Sudbury Star

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Temporary residents fill gaps and contribute in significant ways to the regional economy, a northern think tank has found in a newly published study.

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More than 11,000 temporary residents work and study in Northern Ontario.

“The positive economic impact of just 11,000 temporary residents in Northern Ontario is a huge opportunity for communities,” said Thomas Mercier, project co-ordinator at Réseau du Nord, a partner on the study. “Attracting and retaining individuals such as international students or temporary foreign workers and their families can bring communities one step closer to ensuring long-term growth.”

The long-term growth and viability of communities can be a challenge, considering the workforce in Northern Ontario is aging, which means fewer people are paying income taxes and even fewer still are available to fill vacancies.

The study – entitled Temporary Residents, Permanent Benefits: How temporary residents fill vacancies, pay taxes and keep the local economy rolling – was published this week by the Northern Policy Institute. In it, author Samrul Aahad indicated temporary workers often fill positions that cannot be filled by the local workforce.

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“Work permit holders filled in a variety of in-need occupations such as food service supervisors, cooks, transport truck drives, welders and related machine operators, and retail sales supervisors,” Aahad noted. “In 2019, work permit holders in Northern Ontario were estimated to generate approximately $155 million in total income.”

In 2019, there were 3,320 work permit holders living in Northern Ontario. Most (720) were living in the Greater Sudbury area, followed by Thunder Bay (690) and Kenora (330). More than 300 people were also calling the Nipissing area home.

“India is the leading country of origin among work permit holders in Northern Ontario; approximately two in five (38.8 per cent),” Aahad wrote. “Notably, the second-largest cohort is from the United States (about 22.6 per cent), followed by China.”

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International students had an even more significant impact. In 2019, there were 7,980 international students living in Northern Ontario. Most – 2,315 – lived in Greater Sudbury; while 2,055 students were living in Thunder Bay and 1,975 were based in Algoma (the study used pre-COVID numbers).

As with work permit holders, the vast majority of international students came from India. In fact, more than two of three students – 68.8 per cent – were from India, while 8.9 per cent came from China.

“International students can work off-campus for up to 20 hours a week and apply for a post-graduation work permit,” Aahad wrote. “Their income in 2019 is conservatively estimated to be $279 million, much of which is reinvested into their local Northern Ontario economy via tuition, rent, groceries, and other goods and services.”

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The relatively high tuition rates paid by international students enable post-secondary institutions to remain viable, Aahad indicated. On average, international students pay about three times as much as Canadians and in 2019, they spent nearly $176 million on tuition fees.

“For university undergraduate programs for the 2021-22 academic year, the annual average tuition fee for international students in Northern Ontario was $22,503,” Aahad saidd. “By contrast, Canadian students paid $5,794 on average for the same programs.

“Similarly, international students paid $15,782 on average for graduate programs in Northern Ontario while their Canadian counterparts paid $6,395. The additional mark-up international students pay to post-secondary institutions is invested back into Northern Ontario’s economy in various ways.”

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In total, temporary residents, including those studying in Northern Ontario, generate at least $500 million annually in economic activity, the NPI determined.

“The economic activity generated by their participation in the market exceeds half a billion dollars; however, their benefit to the economy does not stop there,” Aahad argued. “They also fill gaps in the labour market created by an aging population and can help keep businesses running. Finally, they bring social and cultural benefits to the region, such as diverse cuisines, which are hard to measure in dollars.”

The full study is available online at northernpolicy.ca/economic-impact-tr.

mkkeown@postmedia.com

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