Should Canada stop offering Permanent Residency to international students?
The high cost of living and expensive rent is causing a reverse migration in Canada.
Rising emigration
There has been a gradual increase in the number of people leaving Canada, even though the country received 263,000 new immigrants during the same period. This rise in emigration is causing some concerns among observers, according to a report by Reuters.
Several people who spoke to the news agency said that the cost of living in Canada is very high, making it difficult for them to sustain their lives. The country's aging population and its dependency on migrants to fuel the economy are compounding the situation.
"I never realized that living in a Western country, you can only afford to rent a room in the basement," said Cara (not her real name), a 25-year-old refugee from Hong Kong who arrived in Canada in 2022.
Cara lives in a single-room basement apartment in Scarborough, eastern Toronto, for which she pays C$650 ($474) in rent per month - approximately 30% of her monthly take-home salary.
Cara, who attends an adult learning school, said she has to work three part-time jobs to earn a minimum wage of C$16.55 per hour, as she is unable to afford her rent otherwise.
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