A new poll by BMO Wealth Management (Bank of Montreal) finds that new immigrants come to this country with an average of $47,000 to help them in the transition to the new country. However that same survey showed that one –fifth (19%) of newcomers arrive in Canada arrive with no savings at all.
The survey shows that on average newcomers use up half their savings to get settled.
The remaining amount is used in a variety of ways from saving for retirement (53%), to saving for children’s education (49%), making a large purchase such as a house or car (44%), or for a trip (36%)
About two thirds of respondents also indicated they sent money back to relatives in the country of origin, on average about $2,300.
“It can be incredibly stressful, financially and otherwise, to pick up, move to another country and begin the process of creating a new life for yourself. It’s great to see that New Canadians do have a bit of a nest egg remaining,” said Julie Barker-Merz, President, BMO InvestorLine
As for the reasons why they chose to come to Canada. These include:
- To be safe (46 per cent)
- To live in a different country (42 per cent)
- To get a better job (38 per cent)
- To improve their education (36 per cent)
- To have access to better government programs (33 per cent)
Two thirds also say their standard of living has improved in this country, with over a quarter of them saying, it has improved greatly.
Regionally, immigrants arriving in west coast British Columbia brought the most money with them, on average $86,000 and had an average of $35,500 after settling.
Those who chose the prairie province of Alberta brought the lowest amount of money at $28,784, but still had more left at $9,800 than those who chose the mainly French-speaking province of Quebec, arriving with an average of $36,527, but who only had $7,388 after settling.
The BMO poll was conducted by Pollara between February 4th and February 19th, 2015 with an online sample of 507 people who have immigrated to Canada in the past 10 years. The margin of error for a probability sample of this size is ± 4.4%, 19 times out of 20.
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