This is probably even worse amongst natural born citizens. Many of the best and brightest go to the US for better opportunities and lower cost of living
Dapper_1534 on
May be Canada should not tax Canadians to death, make living more affordable?
New-Tension-5794 on
CBC gaslighting you to think making sandwiches and coffee is a highly skilled immigrant
miladkhademinori on
I’m an immigrant with a PhD
I’m leaving Canada for Singapore 🇸🇬
Cromikey1 on
“Highly skilled” Lmao 🤦♂️
Special_Analysis1387 on
“Highly skilled” is tim hortons language for they make a double double well.
beedub82 on
Oh no who is going to deliver my fast food to my house
mach1mustang2021 on
The Institute for Canadian Citizenship is included in the Registry of Lobbyists. You can view the high-level information by visiting https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/. It has received significant funding from the Federal government, 3.8 million in 2024, 2.6 million in 2023, etc.
Edit Two: 3 out of the top 8 donors are TD, RBC, CIBC. All have received Positive LMIA in the past years.
A_Skyer on
I spent some time in the Bay Area and I’m genuinely blown away by the Canadian presence there. A massive chunk of the AI talent pool—from researchers to engineers—are Canadian or got their education in Canada
bakar_launda on
ML Engineer here and that’s my plan too.
Royal_Laugh4168 on
My South African Doctor is out of here because he’s sick of the corruption, underfunding, and lack of accountability in the systems. The final straw for him is the increase in drug abuse patients.
Timely_Title_9157 on
Liberal take too much tax, and don’t spend well. People go somewhere else and keep more money.
613Flyer on
Well hopefully the job vacancies will result in better pay and attract Canadians into the fields. That’s the natural progression of things. Not by importing cheap labour which forces Canadians out of high paying jobs.
The push to try to convince Canadians everything will collapse if job vacancies start popping up is extreme. Let’s start training and employing Canadians.
free-canadian on
Strip them of citizenship if they leave after naturalization. Using this country as a diving board needs to end.
DangerDan1993 on
Highly skilled ? You mean the ones who can’t pass Canadian equivalency exams ? You know how many immigrant engineers I’ve met who can’t pass our exams ? Lol maybe if they didn’t buy their “degree” from a Cracker Jack box they might be able to make a living here .
Conscious_Candle2466 on
Looks like Tim’s might actually get better!
Most_Poem_3263 on
A huge reason why is because there’s no jobs available for skilled people. The Canadian government thought that if they flooded the market with high-skilled labor companies would set up shop here and create jobs for them but that clearly didn’t happen.
AlashMarch on
Bye, we only want refugees and Timmy workers now!
TheLasttStark on
I came to Canada 15 years ago from Asia and got an engineering degree from McGill and then a Masters from UofT. I currently work at a FAANG and I’m the only member of my team who is in Canada, the rest are in Seattle or San Francisco. I have put in a request to be transferred to the US on an L1 visa and the company has accepted.
archive_spirit on
… as are many highly skilled citizens
thecongsan on
I know some friends who were doing very well back at the university. Most went find a good job after graduating and some went for PhD. They left after a few years. Some other friends who faked a manager position at Tim Hortons got PR very quickly. Not sure why the government favours those part time cook or cashier more though
That does NOT include retail or food service industries. Despite what most of the people in this comment section seem to think.
Morfe on
Yes, Canada is not great for high skill workers because of all the regulations and certifications. This is highly discouraging for high skill workers who can get a visa to the US or just stay in Europe Schengen zone where salaries are as good or better than Canada.
If we want to keep them, we need to have fair and easy processes to assess transfer credentials.
Vegetable-Soup1714 on
Oh wow how could that be when we did nothing to protect or reward them all these years? Realtors and slumlords were rewarded though for doing the bare minimum.
StudebakerHawke39 on
It’s bullsh#@
Dylanslay on
Yeah sure pal
WasedaWalker on
Heck what about highly skilled Canadians?
Tough-Tennis4621 on
Yeah the airport was jammed. 🤣
MaximinusRats on
The title of this post – which, to be fair, comes from the CBC story – is click bait and unjustified by the substance of the story. It sounds as if we’re facing an acute and unprecedented exodus of skilled immigrants. In fact, the research by the Conference Board that provides the analytical foundation of the story shows that the departure rate of skilled immigrants has been pretty much constant for the past 25 years (see chart 1 on page 5 of the linked document).
That’s because our immigration system switched from prioritizing highly skilled workers in favour of students to fill minimum wage jobs.
Emotional-Buy1932 on
Economy is kaput. And whilst some blame can be attributed to America’s trade war, a lot rests squarely on the mismanagement of this country by the Liberal Party.
free_username_ on
Canada has become significantly less desirable because of the elevated difficulty in securing white collar employment versus the U.S. and the wages are significantly lower which exacerbates as you progress in your career.
There’s a limited number of large Canadian employers, you’re basically bouncing between the same few companies and they have no incentive to compete with each other on raising pay. The U.S. has both domestic and foreign companies competing for the same talent pool, and therefore drives wage growth in white collar jobs. Banks had to increase wages because technology started paying attractive wages and had better parks. Technology companies compete with each other and keep salaries high.
It’s not even a secret anymore that if you want to create a startup in Canada, your best bet is to fundraise in the bay area and secure funding. If you become successful, may as well move to the Bay Area and raise more money.
Anything to do with immigration the Liberals have tainted
YouOk7885 on
Is it just me or do users in this sub act like “brain drain” to the states only started happening since 2021/22?
Guys, it been occuring since 1867.
vonlagin on
Just as soon as our Tim Horton’s workers learn basic english, they leave.
TylerTheHungry on
Yes, we will miss all those skilled Uber drivers.
BuzzMachine_YVR on
This is horrible. We’re talking about a country that has nowhere near the amount of doctors, nurses, care aids, ancillary medical workers, engineers, etc. that it needs – especially in light of the expertise we will need to take on the USA.
We are already at a MASSIVE disadvantage because we don’t have a comparable population base (which means we have a smaller, less appealing market for foreign investment and local corporate growth – they all go to the US consumer market to hit it big. Our market is barely the size of California’s).
NoMikeyThatsNotRight on
Not just immigrants. Myself and a lot of my Canadian friends have all left. Making 200K CAD plus in your twenties is an advantage while you’re still healthy and young.
notandxorry on
I am an engineer making 6 figures. Been in Canada for 25 years. Tired of the corporate bullshit. Will be heading back to my country of Origin to work on my own thing as well as family. Hope to come back someday.
40 Comments
This is probably even worse amongst natural born citizens. Many of the best and brightest go to the US for better opportunities and lower cost of living
May be Canada should not tax Canadians to death, make living more affordable?
CBC gaslighting you to think making sandwiches and coffee is a highly skilled immigrant
I’m an immigrant with a PhD
I’m leaving Canada for Singapore 🇸🇬
“Highly skilled” Lmao 🤦♂️
“Highly skilled” is tim hortons language for they make a double double well.
Oh no who is going to deliver my fast food to my house
The Institute for Canadian Citizenship is included in the Registry of Lobbyists. You can view the high-level information by visiting https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/. It has received significant funding from the Federal government, 3.8 million in 2024, 2.6 million in 2023, etc.
Edit Two: 3 out of the top 8 donors are TD, RBC, CIBC. All have received Positive LMIA in the past years.
I spent some time in the Bay Area and I’m genuinely blown away by the Canadian presence there. A massive chunk of the AI talent pool—from researchers to engineers—are Canadian or got their education in Canada
ML Engineer here and that’s my plan too.
My South African Doctor is out of here because he’s sick of the corruption, underfunding, and lack of accountability in the systems. The final straw for him is the increase in drug abuse patients.
Liberal take too much tax, and don’t spend well. People go somewhere else and keep more money.
Well hopefully the job vacancies will result in better pay and attract Canadians into the fields. That’s the natural progression of things. Not by importing cheap labour which forces Canadians out of high paying jobs.
The push to try to convince Canadians everything will collapse if job vacancies start popping up is extreme. Let’s start training and employing Canadians.
Strip them of citizenship if they leave after naturalization. Using this country as a diving board needs to end.
Highly skilled ? You mean the ones who can’t pass Canadian equivalency exams ? You know how many immigrant engineers I’ve met who can’t pass our exams ? Lol maybe if they didn’t buy their “degree” from a Cracker Jack box they might be able to make a living here .
Looks like Tim’s might actually get better!
A huge reason why is because there’s no jobs available for skilled people. The Canadian government thought that if they flooded the market with high-skilled labor companies would set up shop here and create jobs for them but that clearly didn’t happen.
Bye, we only want refugees and Timmy workers now!
I came to Canada 15 years ago from Asia and got an engineering degree from McGill and then a Masters from UofT. I currently work at a FAANG and I’m the only member of my team who is in Canada, the rest are in Seattle or San Francisco. I have put in a request to be transferred to the US on an L1 visa and the company has accepted.
… as are many highly skilled citizens
I know some friends who were doing very well back at the university. Most went find a good job after graduating and some went for PhD. They left after a few years. Some other friends who faked a manager position at Tim Hortons got PR very quickly. Not sure why the government favours those part time cook or cashier more though
If one actually reads [the study](https://forcitizenship.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Leaky-Bucket-2025-Nov.-17.pdf) you’ll note that they defined “highly skilled” as working in occupations typically requiring a college (or higher) degree.
That does NOT include retail or food service industries. Despite what most of the people in this comment section seem to think.
Yes, Canada is not great for high skill workers because of all the regulations and certifications. This is highly discouraging for high skill workers who can get a visa to the US or just stay in Europe Schengen zone where salaries are as good or better than Canada.
If we want to keep them, we need to have fair and easy processes to assess transfer credentials.
Oh wow how could that be when we did nothing to protect or reward them all these years? Realtors and slumlords were rewarded though for doing the bare minimum.
It’s bullsh#@
Yeah sure pal
Heck what about highly skilled Canadians?
Yeah the airport was jammed. 🤣
The title of this post – which, to be fair, comes from the CBC story – is click bait and unjustified by the substance of the story. It sounds as if we’re facing an acute and unprecedented exodus of skilled immigrants. In fact, the research by the Conference Board that provides the analytical foundation of the story shows that the departure rate of skilled immigrants has been pretty much constant for the past 25 years (see chart 1 on page 5 of the linked document).
[https://forcitizenship.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Leaky-Bucket-2025-Nov.-17.pdf](https://forcitizenship.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Leaky-Bucket-2025-Nov.-17.pdf)
That’s because our immigration system switched from prioritizing highly skilled workers in favour of students to fill minimum wage jobs.
Economy is kaput. And whilst some blame can be attributed to America’s trade war, a lot rests squarely on the mismanagement of this country by the Liberal Party.
Canada has become significantly less desirable because of the elevated difficulty in securing white collar employment versus the U.S. and the wages are significantly lower which exacerbates as you progress in your career.
There’s a limited number of large Canadian employers, you’re basically bouncing between the same few companies and they have no incentive to compete with each other on raising pay. The U.S. has both domestic and foreign companies competing for the same talent pool, and therefore drives wage growth in white collar jobs. Banks had to increase wages because technology started paying attractive wages and had better parks. Technology companies compete with each other and keep salaries high.
It’s not even a secret anymore that if you want to create a startup in Canada, your best bet is to fundraise in the bay area and secure funding. If you become successful, may as well move to the Bay Area and raise more money.
And we give Canadian citizenship FAR to easily
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalization
Anything to do with immigration the Liberals have tainted
Is it just me or do users in this sub act like “brain drain” to the states only started happening since 2021/22?
Guys, it been occuring since 1867.
Just as soon as our Tim Horton’s workers learn basic english, they leave.
Yes, we will miss all those skilled Uber drivers.
This is horrible. We’re talking about a country that has nowhere near the amount of doctors, nurses, care aids, ancillary medical workers, engineers, etc. that it needs – especially in light of the expertise we will need to take on the USA.
We are already at a MASSIVE disadvantage because we don’t have a comparable population base (which means we have a smaller, less appealing market for foreign investment and local corporate growth – they all go to the US consumer market to hit it big. Our market is barely the size of California’s).
Not just immigrants. Myself and a lot of my Canadian friends have all left. Making 200K CAD plus in your twenties is an advantage while you’re still healthy and young.
I am an engineer making 6 figures. Been in Canada for 25 years. Tired of the corporate bullshit. Will be heading back to my country of Origin to work on my own thing as well as family. Hope to come back someday.
Where are they going to ? It’s not the States