One third of newcomers leave Hamilton within 12 months of arriving

The number of immigrants settling in Hamilton, Ontario is dropping despite almost all other cities across Canada seeing increases in newcomers. These facts along with other statistics are part of a report being presented to council that shows the city is no longer attracting the immigrants needed to grow it’s population and boost it’s economy.

“We not only need to attract immigrants but figure out the best way to retain them,” said Tim Rees, immigration strategy program manager with the Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council (HIPC), which developed the made-in-Hamilton Immigration Strategy and Action Plan.

“We’re in this contradictory situation where we need immigrants to help the labour market shortage but when they arrive here, we give them a hard time.”

“Hamilton has attracted some 35,431 newcomers over the past 10 years. However, an estimated 33% leave within 12 months because of serious job shortages and the high poverty rate among immigrants. Discrimination is also an issue among immigrants, with 40 per cent of immigrants interviewed saying they have experienced some form of discrimination since arriving” he went on to say.

Other issues identified by immigrants surveyed include:

• Hamilton’s immigration numbers peaked in 2005 when 4,500 immigrants arrived in Hamilton. This has now dropped to 3,500.
• Unemployment is three times higher for recent immigrants than for non-immigrants and the poverty rate among recent immigrants here is 42%.
• Hamilton has the third-largest proportion of immigrants in Canada, at 25% of our population.
• However almost 40% settled in Hamilton prior to 1971 and 65.6% arrived before 1991.
• Hamilton has double the national proportion of refugees among its immigrant population.

While Hamilton is known for its well-established settlement services, including the Settlement and Integration Services Organization (SISO), Madina Wasuge, co-convenor of HIPC, said integration is taking much longer than expected.

One of the key issues is that the job skills of immigrants don’t always match the jobs available, said Wasuge, executive director of Hamilton’s Centre for Civic Inclusion.

Wasuge said it’s important that Hamilton has an open-door policy toward immigrants because the city has an aging labour force and stalled population growth.

“We’re in competition for the best and the brightest. We need to look at ‘How do we put out the welcome mat for immigrants?’” said Rees.

Richard Koroscil, co-chairperson of the HIPC, said the greatest challenges faced by new immigrants are finding jobs and housing, accessing public services and developing a social network.

“Immigrants are absolutely essential to the future growth of Hamilton,” said Koroscil.

“That’s where our workforce is going to come from. We need to move it up some notches and be a more welcome community,” said Koroscil, who is also chairperson of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce.