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The Institute for Canadian Citizenship is alarmed at the growing number of immigrants leaving Canada.

Reports by the group and the Conference Board of Canada showed that the number has been steadily increasing since the 1980s, but suddenly surged between 2017 to 2019.

The study also found that many of these immigrants left the country, just four to seven years after they arrived.

Mary Tecson, employment programs manager of the Langley Community Services Society, shared that two of her clients were among those left the country.

"Majority of them were not able to integrate to the workforce at once," she said. "This is what we call commensurate employment, so if they're lawyers in their country, they are not lawyers here. So the main issue there was the foreign credentials."

The study that found that immigrants are dissatisfied because of the difficulty of finding work equal to their qualifications and experience.

But Tecson added that at least in British Columbia, efforts are underway to address this, such as the proposal for improved foreign credential recognition which is expected to become a law by next year.

Other reasons why some immigrants are leaving are the unaffordable housing, a lack of critical services, and infrastructure capacity.

Some Filipinos who have been in Canada for the past 15 years or more said they understand why some immigrants would choose to leave.

But for others, they said they chose to stay because Canada has been good to them.

"I chose to stay here to have a better life because it's also difficult to go back and not find any job," said Kris Bangahon, a dental assistant.

Said Luz Lim-Gatasi, a hospital employee: "I’ve been here for a long time now. I came in 1992 so I’m settled here and all my family are here."

Canada is targeting to welcome 485,000 new immigrants in 2024. The government is looking to increase that to 500,000 each year from 2025 to 2026.

The ICC is sounding the alarm bells to the government on how critical it is to retain that talent in the country to boost Canada’s economy.