While Australia’s major parties compete in a race to slam the immigration doors closed in the face of prospective students, some Canadians are examining how best to keep immigrants and retain their skills.
While the Canadian Government is joining Australia in ‘muscular’ rhetoric and policies capping international student numbers, University of Manitoba student Ka Wai Yip has published a report outlining ways to retain immigrants in second tier cities of Edmonton and Winnipeg.
Far from the rent-shaming and visa gaming headlines, the paper is worthy of note for asking the unfashionable question of how to try to retain skilled students to enrich the Canadian workforce. The paper found that relative affordability of living costs and alignment of job opportunities were unsurprisingly key to retention, with potential for city burghers to set conditions that would retain key grads.
