Affordability issues aside, I think there’s another thing driving New Canadians away. Our immigration system seems to prioritize entry of people with really high levels of education and, depending on the industry, that education may not be valued/competitive in Canada, compared to their previous country. The result is that these New Canadians often end up doing much less skilled work than they trained for and would understandably be very disappointed as a result. Off the top of my head, I’ve known 3 engineers and 3 medical doctors in this situation. Meanwhile, there are industries (e.g., construction, I believe) where we have shortages of skilled workers in Canada (and thus good opportunities for New Canadians), and I’m pretty sure our immigration system isn’t really responsive