Canada Is LOSING Its Immigrants in 2026: 42% Want to Leave… Here's Why

When you speak to those who are excited to be in Canada, they tell you about the welcome at the airport. They tell you about the safety of the country. They tell you about the polite neighbours and the beautiful summers. But there is a number that nobody will ever tell you about. And when I saw this number in the official report this morning, it actually scared me. In 2025 alone, 120,000 people, Canadians and permanent residents, packed their bags and left this country. That is a record high. That is not just a statistic. That is a stadium full of dreams, packed up and flown back home. And it gets worse. A new survey just released shows that 42% of new immigrants, nearly half of the people who just arrived, said they would consider leaving Canada if they had the chance. Just think about that. You spend years applying. You spend your life savings. You leave your mother, your father, your childhood home, only to arrive here and realise within months, I have made a terrible mistake. Why is this happening? Even worse, why are we seeing doctors driving Ubers? Why are we seeing families splitting apart? I have the document right here. I've done the research. And today I'm going to read to you the specific stories and the brutal data that explains why the Canadian dream is turning into a nightmare for so many people in 2026. If you are planning to come to Canada, or if you are already here and you are struggling in silence, you need to watch every second of this video. Because we need to talk about the things that we are too polite to say out loud. Hi everyone, welcome back. My name is Shay. Today's video is different. Today I want to start with a concept called the bait and switch. Please stay with me. Now when you are back home, say in Nigeria, in Ghana, in India, in the Philippines, you are sold a specific version of Canada. You are told that this is a land where hard work equals success. You are told that your PhD, your Masters, your 10 years of banking experience, that it means something. But the data I have here tells a different story. According to the latest research, the unemployment rate for recent immigrants is 14%. That might sound like just a number. But let me put it in context. That is nearly double the unemployment rate for Canadian born workers. Double. So, are immigrants lazy? No. Are they uneducated? No. In fact, they are often more educated than the average Canadian born here. So what is going on? It's called the Canadian experience paradox. And it is the first major reason why 120,000 people left last year. Now let's look at the story of a woman that I will call Dr. A. This is a real story from this same report. She is an Iranian doctor. In her home country, she saved lives. She delivered babies. She managed complex medical emergencies. She comes to Canada, ready to serve in a healthcare system that is screaming for doctors. Yes, we have 6 million Canadians without a family doctor right now. So, does Canada roll out the red carpet for her? Nope. She is told she needs to upgrade her skills. So she spends, listen to this figure, $33,000 on a Canadian certificate in health administration. She spends years studying, taking exams, jumping through the hoops. And today, she is still not practicing medicine. She is working as a health administrator, pushing paper. She told these researchers that there was absolutely no thinking behind this process. I feel wasted. And she is not alone. The data shows that 44% of recent immigrants are underemployed. Underemployed is a polite word. Let's use the real words. It means the engineer is working as a security man. It means the bank manager is stocking shelves at Walmart. It means the professor is maybe cleaning floors. And that kind of experience, it destroys your soul. Now, I want you to imagine the psychological toll of that. You were somebody back home. You had respect. You had a title. You come here, and you are treated like you know nothing. One respondent in the survey said, I didn't move halfway across the world to become a second-class citizen. And when that dignity is stripped away, year after year, eventually, people stop trying to fit in. They start packing up and leaving. But some people do get jobs fast. Okay, so let's say you do get a job. Let's say you're one of the lucky ones who finds work in your field. Then you meet the second monster, the cost of living monster. In 2026, the cost of housing in Canada has disconnected from reality. I was looking at the regional breakdown in this report, and it is fascinating. Did you know that 46% of immigrants in Ontario and 45% in Alberta say they are considering leaving? Why are those numbers so high compared to, say, Quebec, where only 28% are thinking of leaving? It's the economy. It's the rent. In cities like Toronto and Vancouver, and now even Calgary, immigrants are spending 50% to 60% of their gross income just on rent. Let's do the math together. You make $4,000 a month after tax. That sounds like good money in naira or rupees. But your rent for a two-bedroom basement apartment is $2,500. Your car insurance is $300. Your groceries are $800. Your phone and internet, $150. You have $250 left for clothes, for savings, for emergencies, for sending back home. You are not leaving. You are just surviving. You're on a treadmill that is moving faster than you can run. The research shows that many immigrants come here with savings. The proof of funds we all know about. And within the first 12 to 18 months, that entire savings is wiped out, just trying to pay rent while they are looking for a job. And then the guilt sets in. You see your friends back home buying houses. You see them going on vacations. You see them building businesses. And you're here, in a developed country, counting coupons to buy bread. That financial stress is a killer. And for 120,000 people last year, it was the final straw. Now, this next part is uncomfortable. Canadians pride themselves on being nice, on being welcoming. But the data suggests something else is happening under the surface. The report highlights a disturbing statistic regarding discrimination. It found that 66% of South Asian immigrants reported experiencing discrimination. That is two out of every three people. Discrimination here is not always someone that is shouting a slur at you. In Canada, discrimination is often quiet. It is polite. It's the resume that gets thrown out because the name is hard to pronounce. It's the landlord who suddenly says that the apartment is rented when they see your face. It's the isolation at work when nobody talks to you during lunch. This creates a sense of social isolation. You are in Canada, but you are not of Canada. If you feel like an outsider in the place you call home, how long can you stay? How long should you stay? And this leads to the emotional core of why people leave. The survey found that 80% of those considering leaving cited homesickness and being too far from family as a primary reason. We underestimate this. We think, oh, I'll just do a video call. We have Zoom. It's fine. But Zoom cannot hug your mother. Zoom cannot help you when you are sick with the flu and lying in bed alone in a dark winter. Zoom cannot let you hold your niece when she is born. I've spoken to people who missed their parents' funerals just because they couldn't afford the flight back home or because they were waiting for PR processing and they couldn't leave the country. Do you know the trauma that leaves on a person? The report talks about the loss of support networks. Back home, you had cousins, aunties, neighbours who would watch the kids for you. Here, you are alone. Childcare costs $1,500 a month per child. You are isolated and you are exhausted. And eventually, you ask yourself the question, is this worth it? For 120,000 people last year, the answer was no. So they left. So what does this mean for us? What does it mean for you? If you are watching this and you are planning to move to Canada in 2026, I'm not telling you to cancel your flight. Canada is still a country with safety, with rule of law, with rules. It's a beauty of a country. But I'm telling you to come with your eyes wide open. Do not assume that your degree will work here. Have a plan B and a plan C. Learn all those skills that will give you an edge and manage your expectations. Do not underestimate the costs. Please, have money when you land. Triple your budget. Prepare for the loneliness. It is real and it can be heavy. And if you are one of the people watching this who is secretly packing their bags, if you are one of the 42% that is thinking about leaving, well, I want you to know there is no shame in that. Returning home is not failure. Sometimes it is the bravest thing you can do to choose your own happiness over a piece of paper. So guys, I want to hear from you in the comments right now. This is a safe space. If you are in Canada, have you thought about leaving? Why? If you have, please tell us why in the comments. Even if it's just a thought in your mind. If you are planning to come, does this data change your mind? Let's start a real conversation below. Don't forget to like the video so the algorithm pushes this truth to more people who need to hear it. Now, please check out this video on the screen next. You're going to love it. My name is Shei. Stay safe, stay informed, and I'll see you in the next video.