Thursday, March18, 2021 / 9:13AM / by Africa Polling Institute / Header ImageCredit: Africa Polling Institute

Weak Economy and Insecurity Identified As "PushFactors" for Canada Rush - New API Study

Africa Polling Institute (API) has released itslatest study report titled "Deconstructing the Canada Rush: Motivations forNigerians Emigrating to Canada." The #CanadaRush Study has identified Nigeria'sweak economy, heightened insecurity and perceived poor governance as the key "push factors" driving the recent trend of Nigerians seeking migrationopportunities to Canada. In addition, on a flip side, favourable Canadianimmigration policies appear to also constitute a key enabler and "pull factor" attracting prospective migrants.

Methodology

The study was conducted by Africa Polling Instituteto investigate the motivations for Nigerians seeking to migrate to Canada, inorder to identify the push and pull factors underlying the recent upsurge inthe number of Nigerians exploring Canadian migration options, which we havetermed "Canada Rush". The study began with an extensive review of the extantliterature on the concept of Who is a Migrant; Migration stocks and trends;Nigerian migrants in Canada; Canada migration pathways; Motivations, Driversand Enablers of Migration; and Brain Drain, Brain Waste and Brain Gain. Inaddition, a semi-structured survey was designed on Google form and administeredonline, targeting two classes of respondents (a) prospective Nigerian migrantsto Canada, and (b) actual Nigerian migrants living in Canada. Given thedifficulty in identifying prospective or actual migrants, convenience samplingtechnique was employed to identify, and snowball off, personal contacts who arecurrently exploring the migration option and those who have already emigrated.Our researchers also disguised as prospective migrants in order to accessWhatsApp and Telegram groups of prospective migrants, to be able to post thesurvey link and persuade members of such groups to complete the onlinequestionnaire. In total, 877 respondents participated in the online survey. Ofthis number, only 772 had already migrated or was considering migrating. Theanalysis focused on the 772 individuals ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£ including 490 males and 282 females ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£who have either migrated or are currently considering migrating out of Nigeria.The survey had more responses from prospective migrants (652 individuals or84.4%), than from actual Nigerian migrants in Canada (120 individuals or15.5%).

Key Findings

In the last few years, the number of Nigeriansseeking to emigrate to Canada has maintained an upward trajectory. Canadianmigration policies have also in the last few years made the country emerge asan attractive destination of choice for many Nigerians; compared to the UnitedKingdom, with its imminent pre- and post-Brexit implications, and the strictimmigration policies of the current United States administration. The currenttrend of Nigerians emigrating to Canada appears to have taken a new dimensionwith respect to the calibre of Nigerians applying on the different Canadianmigration schemes. There are anecdotal evidences to suggest that thesecategories of Nigerians are not the ordinary poor Nigerians, but they are thehighly skilled, well educated, mostly employed and upwardly mobile group ofindividuals, who constitute the middle-rung of the socio-economic class of thecountry. And there is no doubt that the continued exit of this class of Nigerianswould have significant effects on the country's intellectual, manpower andskills base, with attendant impact on the country's national development, aswell as its social, economic and political wellbeing as a nation.

Based on the online survey conducted, the resultshowed clearly that the top 5 motivating "push factors" for Nigerians seekingmigration opportunities to Canada are: the search for better careeropportunities (75%), heightened insecurity and violence (60%), the desire toprovide a better future for their children (55%), for further education (40%),and perceived poor governance in Nigeria (35%). In addition, other relativelyfewer respondents identified the search for business prospects (12%), familyreunification (3%) and the weather (1%) as less important driving factors fortheir intention or decision to migrate.

Interestingly, across age demography, the searchfor better career opportunities and educational advancement appeared to be amore important reason for emigrating amongst respondents aged 18-35years (82%and 45% respectively), than for older folks aged 36-60years (55% and 26%). Onthe other hand, "heightened insecurity and violence", the desire to provide a "better future for my children", and "poor governance" appeared to be of moreconcern to older respondents aged 36-60years (74%, 69%, and 39% respectively),compared to the younger folks aged 18-35years (55%, 50% and 33% respectively).A resounding theme from this study is that most individuals are migrating insearch of opportunities, whether in the form of employment and careeradvancement, educational opportunities or for a safer and more secure futurefor their children. This highlights sentiments to suggest that these indicatorsseem somewhat elusive in the Nigeria of today. The results however suggest thatmigration is fueled more by the pursuit of opportunities, than by the fear ofdanger(s).

On the other hand, the favourable migration policyin Canada have also constituted an important pull factor attracting manyNigerians to consider applying through one migration scheme or the other. Thereis a general perception amongst actual and prospective migrants that Canadaoffers a good quality of life and good health care services (78%); Canada is avery safe country to live in (74%); there's respects for human rights anddignity (73%); and Canada is a place where Nigerians and other immigrants caneasily integrate into the society (71%). To buttress this point, almost 6 in 10of actual migrants (59%) affirmed that in retrospect, they consider theirdecision to migrate to Canada an excellent decision. This was followed by 38%who said their experience has been okay so far, and 2% who were undecided. Only1% of actual migrants expressed regret for their decision.

In addition, while about 55 percent of actualmigrants indicated that though they had decent jobs in Nigeria, Canada offereda safe and secure environment for them to raise their children, hence, theirdecision to migrate because they were considering the future of their childrenfirst. More so, 50 percent indicated that they would have considered the UnitedStates as an option, but were concerned about the rise of populism and thestrict immigration policies of the current US administration.

From the survey, most actual migrants now residingin Canada said they have permanent residency status (74%); compared to thosehold are citizenship (13%), temporary workers (8%), students (3%) or refugees(2%) statuses. Also, amongst the different pathways primarily used to migrateto Canada, the Federal Skilled Workers Program known as Express Entry (56%),Studentship / Postgraduate Work Permit (25%), and the Provincial Nominee scheme(12%) came out tops as the most popular and widely used pathways by Nigerianmigrants. Interestingly, 40 percent of these respondents indicated that theyhave some level of Canadian education. This suggests that asides the FederalSkilled Workers Program, Nigerian students in Canada are staying longer aftergraduating. Canada's postgraduate work permit offers an easy route to the "holygrail of immigration" - permanent residency; and students are taking advantageof the program by staying back after their studies and going on to pursuepermanent residency in Canada. The implication is that many students may notreturn to live in Nigeria during or after their studies, and possibly theirentire productive years. Inadvertently, Nigeria is losing several generationsof well-educated students and highly skilled workers in one swoop.

The survey also found that 81% of actual migrantsmake financial remittances to Nigeria frequently; and there is a strongconnection between remittances and Family Upkeep (85%), Charity (39%), BusinessInvestments (16%) and Building Projects (14%), which were identified as themajor purposes for sending money back to Nigeria. Lastly, in spite of theenduring connection to Nigeria through remittances, most actual migrants arenot particularly enthusiastic about returning to settle back in the countrysometime in the future. In fact, 64% said had no such plans; and this findingof unwillingness to return to live in Nigeria presents a major challenge to thebenefits of brain gain for the country.

Summary

In summary, the study highlights that "Canada Rush'' stems from the weak Nigerian economy, coupled with the spate of widespreadinsecurity in the country (push factors). Simply put, Nigerians are notemigrating to Canada because they want to, they are going there because they donot believe Nigeria provides them any opportunities, and security, to thrive ascitizens. However, on the other hand, favourable Canadian immigration policies(pull factors) are also making it easy for well-educated and highly skilledNigerians to migrate; and this trend is not likely to abate soon. Our studyhighlights existential gaps in government's inability to stimulate a strongthriving economy, galvanize an effective security architecture that deliverssecurity to all citizens, and promote institutional reforms to deliver publicgoods to citizens.

Regardless, there is every need to strengthencurrent policies that stimulate economic growth and development in the country,which will make staying in Nigeria an attractive option. At the very least, thegovernment needs to invest more in basic infrastructure and actively tacklecorruption. Furthermore, the country can position itself to more actively takeadvantage of its youth bulge to be a hub for technology, industry and manpowerdevelopment. The government should also strengthen policies and programs aimedat actively managing labour migration from the country by engaging with foreignpartners. Canada had signaled interest to work with Nigeria in this directionwith the visit of Canada's Immigration Minister to Nigeria in May 2018, toengage support from Nigeria's government to tackle irregular migration.

Credit:

The post Deconstructingthe Canada Rush first appeared in Africapolling.org on March 03, 2020.

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