Vancouver no longer the same immigrant magnet

The Vancouver regionis no longer attracting as many immigrants it once did, according to the latest figures released from Statistics Canada's 2006 census.

For the second census in a row, the area has experienced a decline in new arrivals during the last five years.

The number of immigrants from Hong Kong alonedeclined from 25,000 in the 1995 census to just 3,000 in 2006.

But ethnic diversity has continued to increase. Richmond has the highest proportion of foreign-born people among Canadian cities at 57 per cent and more than half the people in Burnaby are now foreign born, mostly immigrants from China and India.

In 2001, the greater Vancouver region ranked third among major urban areas in Canada, the U.S. and Australia for the proportion of foreign-born citizens. It's now number 2, just behind Toronto.

Immigration from south of border rises

Immigration rates from manyoverseas countries,such as India and China, remain steady, but one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups does not come from overseas.

More than 8,000 Americans immigrated to B.C. between 2001 and 2006, a number that has doubled since 2001, surpassing immigration from Iran, Hong Kong, or Pakistan.

Charles Meadow, president of the Victoria chapter of Democrats Abroad, was surprised to hear of the big jump in immigrants from the U.S.

He believes most move to Canada for work or because it's just a nice place to live. He also suspects the big increase has a lot to do with people who don't like the politics of the Bush administration.

"Many of these people are coming because they are quite disaffected by what's happening in the United States. I feel disaffected myself," Meadow said.

Gay couples drawn to B.C.: store owner

Jim Deva, owner of the Little Sister's bookstore, also believes politics is the cause. Devasaid he knows many gay couples who have come to B.C., where they can marry legally.

"I do talk to people in the store that are Americans that have immigrated and I think it is an actual phenomena and probably would affect the statistics," said Deva.

Both Deva and Meadow said they believe the trend may be reversed if there is a change in administration in the U.S.

Canadians are also moving to B.C.

The province had a net gain of more than 20,000 people.

But Vancouver isn't winning any popularity awards. More people left Vancouver for Abbotsford, B.C.,Kelowna, B.C.,Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton and even Sudbury, Ont.,than came the other way.