More than 15% of immigrants decided to leave Canada either to return to their home country or to immigrate to another country within 20 years of being accepted as permanent residents, according to a new study.

Statistics Canada conducted a study on immigrant migration from 1982 to 2017 released on Friday.

The study also found that 5.1% of immigrants accepted between 1982 and 2017 migrated within five years of their acceptance.

According to the study, "While some immigrants may have planned to leave Canada at some point, migration may also reflect the difficulties many immigrants face in integrating into the labor market or Canadian society."

The study found that new immigrants are more likely to migrate than immigrants from older groups.

StatCan said migration is slightly more common between three and seven years.

It added in a statement published on its website: "This period may reflect the length of time immigrants try to integrate into Canada by trying to find a job, a place to live, and adapt to life in Canada," "Some immigrants may also migrate if they encounter challenges in integration or because they intended to do so from the beginning."

The study found that migration is strongly associated with certain characteristics, such as having children, admission category, and country of birth.

Who are the immigrants that might migrate?

For example, immigrants born in Taiwan, the United States, France, Hong Kong, or Lebanon, and those accepted in the investor and business categories are more likely to migrate.

Statistics Canada explained that more than 25% of immigrants born in these countries migrated within 20 years of their acceptance to Canada, "These countries may remain attractive to their citizens due to a high standard of living or because settling in Canada was part of a larger migration strategy."

Immigrants with higher educational levels are more likely to migrate than less educated immigrants.

The study added that people accepted in the investor and business categories are more likely to migrate, while those accepted in the caregiver and refugee categories are less likely to migrate.

More than 40 percent of immigrants accepted in the investor category and 30 percent of immigrants accepted in the entrepreneur category migrated within 20 years of acceptance, "These categories include wealthy immigrants who tend to be highly mobile and who may intend - even when accepted - to leave Canada in the future."

Conversely, immigrants born in the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, or Jamaica are less likely to leave Canada. The study found that after twenty years of acceptance in Canada, less than 10 percent of immigrants born in those countries had left the country.

According to the report, those who never had children were more likely to migrate than those with children.

Furthermore, older immigrants have the highest likelihood of migration, and after five years of obtaining permanent residency, 10.7 percent of immigrants accepted at age 65 or older had migrated.

After twenty years of acceptance, this rises to over 25 percent. Just over 15 percent of immigrants aged 18 to 24 migrated within 20 years of acceptance.

The study found that immigrants have different characteristics from those who chose to stay in Canada.

The report pointed out, "For example, since immigrants generally have a higher educational level than the Canadian-born population, the departure of this skilled labor can have a certain negative impact on the country's economic growth."

Don Drummond, an associate professor at the School of Political Studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, said Canada has "relatively high retention rates" and the results show that Canada has a "success story."

He said in an email to CTVNews.ca: "If we look at it from the opposite perspective, 95 percent stay during the first few years and 83 percent stay during 20 years."

At the same time, he said the results show that Canada lacks sufficient economic integration strategies.

He wrote, "The slowness and extreme failure to recognize foreign credentials tops the list." "But here too, progress is being made, as evidenced by accelerating the recognition of foreign nursing credentials, and it is regrettable that it took so long to make improvements."

Furthermore, he said the housing shortage in Canada needs to be addressed. He wrote, "This is especially the case with immigrants, the majority of whom go to major urban areas." "Housing and even rents are very expensive in Canada, and except for a few places like California and New York, housing is expensive compared to the United States, and large numbers of immigrants exacerbate the problem by increasing demand for housing."

Consequences for the economy

The study used data from the Longitudinal Immigration Database to analyze the social and economic status of immigrants after their acceptance in Canada, including employment income and mobility.

The database includes information on all immigrants since 1952 and non-permanent residents since 1980. It also uses tax files since 1982.

StatCan measured immigrant migration using indirect criteria because it said there is no national database that measures the number of people who leave Canada. The study identifies immigrants through information in T1 tax returns and the permanent resident landing file from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. "The results of this study were compared with results from other sources and were highly consistent," according to the StatCan website.

Levels of immigration to Canada have increased in recent years while migration numbers have also grown since the beginning of the millennium. The country welcomed a record number of more than 400,000 immigrants in the year