StatCan numbers reveal the percentage of permanent residents who become Canadians has plummeted over the past 20 years.
The Institute for Canadian Citizenship says Statistics Canada data points to a 40 percent decline in citizenship uptake since 2001.
The group’s CEO, Daniel Bernhard, calls the drop alarming and says it should serve as a “wake up call” to improving the experience newcomers have in Canada.
In 2021, nearly 45.7 percent of permanent residents who’d been in Canada for less than 10 years became citizens.
That’s down from 60 percent in 2016, and 75.1 percent in 2001.
The StatCan data did not identify reasons for the drop, but Bernhard suggests Canada’s cost of living and job prospects are likely factors….