Fiji lost 2,455 people to Canada in five years

published by Asianpost on Fri, 01/18/2008 - 12:08

Fiji lost an average of 41 of its nationals every month to Canada in the past five years, says Statistics Canada.

In a statement, the department said from 2001-2006, 2455 people from Fiji migrated to Canada, most of whom now live in British Columbia province.

The report said the number of immigrants from Fiji to Canada had increased.

Fiji Employers Federation chief executive officer Ken Roberts said Canada had been a preferred destination for a long time.

Roberts said nothing could be done to stop people from leaving the country.

“It has been happening since 1987. For many years there has been a continuous and steady flow of people leaving the shores for better opportunities,” he said.

Roberts said the exact number of people leaving the country could not be determined because many people did not declare at the airport that they were migrating.

Statistics Canada said Fiji ranked the 44th top contributing nation to its immigrant society, ahead of 184 other nations.

Statistics Canada said Fiji was the 15th highest country of origin whose citizens continued to permanently chose the province of British Columbia as their number one destination to settle in Canada. The report said from 1996 to 2000, 2145 Fiji moved to Canada permanently.

It said the highest migration from Fiji to Canada was reported between 1991 to 1995, when 5020 Fiji nationals migrated there.

Former business development manager with the Fiji High Commission in Canada, Ashwant Dwivedi said the numbers re-confirmed that Canada “remains a hot market for Fiji’s export”.
He said the Canadian market was “sustainable and profitable”.

“There is no argument that former Fiji nationals are a contributing factor to the development of British Columbia and we all should be proud of such a contribution,” Dwivedi said.