OTTAWA — Canadian
cities say the federal government needs to step up cash for housing and transit to
help immigrants settle into their new communities and start contributing into
the economy.
“The sooner
new Canadians can get on their feet and put their new skills to work, the
better it is for our entire country, but we as a country are not doing all that
we can to help immigrants settle and start on solid ground,” says Barry
Vrbanovic, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, at a press
conference in Ottawa on Wednesday.
“As a
result new Canadians are struggling to find adequate housing and they are
falling behind the rest of the country in their income and job opportunities.
Many will never catch up.”
The
federation, which represents Canada’s cities, unveiled a new report on
Wednesday, saying that Canada needs to strengthen the services it provides for
new immigrants through municipalities, especially housing and transit, or face
economic consequences.
Here’s why the federation says it is worried:
- By
2015, 100 per cent of Canada’s
labour growth will come from new immigrants underscoring the importance of
giving them a good start. - Canada
welcomed 558,957 immigrants
including permanent residents, temporary foreign workers and foreign students,
to Canada in 2010. - The
Toronto Board of Trade estimates Canada loses $2.25 billion annually in lost economic activity when immigrants
are not fully integrated into the economy. - 60 per cent of university-educated immigrants
are underemployed and work jobs that require at most a college education – a
number that drops to 40 per cent for Canadian-born workers. - The
unemployment rate among university-educated immigrants was 8.6 per cent in 2009, compared to 3.5 per cent among their Canadian
peers.
Here’s why they say more investment in transit
and housing will help:
- 44 per cent of immigrant renters in Canada need
more affordable housing, paying 30 percent of their income on housing compared
with less than 25 per cent of nonimmigrant renters. - More
than $500 million in annual federal
housing investments is set to expire in the next decade. This could mean the
loss of one-third of Canada’s social housing stock – stock used
disproportionately by immigrants. - New
immigrants are twice as likely to
use public transit when compared to Canadian-born workers. - With
eight cents of every Canadian tax dollar
going to municipalities, the federation says it is hard to underwrite any more
investments on their own.
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