OTTAWA — A new study says about four in 10 immigrants who arrived in Canada during 2000-01 sent money to family or friends abroad during their first four years in the country.
Statistics Canada says that over the entire period, about 41 per cent of immigrants sent money home at least once. Within six to 24 months of landing, 23 per cent of immigrants had sent remittances to their home country – averaging $2,500 each.
A separate Statistics Canada study has found that so-called personal transfers to other countries by all Canadians, not just immigrants, averaged $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year between 2002 and 2007.
Researcher Denis Caron calls personal transfers “an emerging issue in the Canadian economy,” whose gross domestic product exceeds $1 trillion.
The study of immigrants found the proportion sending money away was highest among newcomers from the Philippines and Haiti, and lowest among those from France, Britain and South Korea.
Loading ...
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
You must log in to post a comment.