Even in the middle of coronavirus pandemic, interest to migrating to Canada increases

A new survey by WES (World Education Services) shows that the interest of people in migrating to Canada has increased even in the midst of the pandemic

A new survey by WES suggests that the enthusiasm to migrate to Canada has not been discouraged by the spreading of the coronavirus. Still, instead, people are more motivated to migrate.

In a survey conducted in June, nearly half of the candidates who responded mentioned that COVID 19 did not discourage them from migrating to Canada. The number of people who showed interest in migration increased since April when a similar survey was conducted.

WES (World Education Services) is an organization that provides an assessment of the educational credentials who are in the process of economic immigration to Canada. They state that they can gauge the motivations and intentions of the immigration enthusiasts due to their high level of weekly interaction with the interested candidates.

The pandemic is causing an increased interest in Canadian migration

Many people are reporting that their interest in migrating to Canada has increased since the pandemic, while a small sector of people is saying that they are discouraged. In the survey conducted in June, 45% of the responding candidates said that they are interested in migrating while a mere 6% said that their interest was decreased.

Some of the people who responded in the survey said that they are considering the option of delaying their migration plans to Canada. The percentage of these people was 32%. The number decreased from 35% in April.

Economic conditions in Canada are expected to be better than those in the home countries of many aspiring immigrants

In the WES survey, many people said that they are expecting less impact of the pandemic on Canada than their home countries.  Even though Canada too was hit economically by the COVID-19, a survey conducted by Labour Force Survey analysed that nearly 55% of the jobs that are lost due to the pandemic have been regained in Canada by July.

More people are expecting that their home countries will be affected extremely than Canada and hence are more interested in moving to Canada.

WES said that over time, the expectations had grown.58% of the responded people expected that there will be a negative effect on the economy of Canada. At the same time, 80% of the people expected that their home countries’ economies would be hit more harshly than Canada.

The percentage of people who expected a negative impact in their home countries was the same even in April. Still, the people who expected that Canada would also be affected were more, i.e., 68% in April.

The same pattern was found in the answers of respondents when asked about their occupations in their home countries. 57% of respondents thought that there would be a negative impact on their jobs in their homelands in June, which was just 47% in April.

43% of the responded candidates in the survey conducted in June said that they are expecting a negative impact on their jobs in Canada.

In general, people are expecting worse economic impact on their jobs in their home countries than in Canada.

The WES report said, “This overall expectation of a less negative impact in Canada in terms of both overall economic conditions and the availability of sector-specific jobs may help to explain why by June nearly half of the respondents were more interested in immigrating to Canada as a result of COVID-19”.

Immigrants to play a crucial role in reviving Canada’s economy

Canada is on the verge of facing skilled workers shortage due to reasons like high retirement rates and low birth rates. These issues were present even before the pandemic, but the situation may have worsened by the pandemic, according to the experts.

“Canada’s continued attractiveness to those looking to settle there is good news for the country. Newcomers will play a critical role in the nation’s recovery,” said WES.

Canada immigration minister, Marco Mendicino shared the same opinion and had repeatedly said that immigration would be a priority for the world after the end of the coronavirus.