'It's OK if Canada isn't for you': This Calgary newcomer wants to go back home. She isn't alone

This story is part of Welcome to Canada, a CBC News series about immigration told through the eyes of the people who have experienced it.

A year and a half after moving to Canada from the Philippines, Ali Quina is strongly considering moving back home. Life here is just so much harder than people made it out to be, she said.

Quina came to Calgary looking for opportunities and a better quality of life. But even after moving here with work experience in marketing and completing a certificate at the University of Calgary, she's struggling to find a job in her field.

So she's working part time as a server and said she's barely getting by.

"My everyday routine would be waking up in the morning, sending applications and then after I would break down and cry.… I can barely afford to pay for my groceries, to be honest," said Quina.

"I'm just basing it off my experience, but Canada is not the land of opportunity anymore."

Now, she's sharing a message with other newcomers who feel like the hardship isn't paying off: "It's OK if Canada isn't for you."

She isn't the only one who feels that way, according to a new CBC News survey about newcomers' experiences, conducted by Pollara.

While eight in 10 newcomers have an overall positive experience in Canada, over 40 per cent of newcomers surveyed said they'd be likely to leave Canada if they were given the choice.

They said they struggled with homesickness, discrimination and difficulties finding quality housing and work. Nearly a third said they would leave Canada to return to their home country, while others (20 per cent) said they would go to the United States next.

Pollara surveyed 1,507 randomly selected immigrants who arrived in Canada in the past decade. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Despite challenges newcomers are facing, one migration researcher in Calgary said he isn't anticipating a surge of out-migration — but he is expecting to see more newcomers on temporary status move back home due to recent policy changes and the current political climate around immigration.

What the data says

Statistics Canada's latest analysis on out-migration shows more than 15 per cent of immigrants leave the country within 20 years of arriving.

People born in countries with higher standards of living in general — including Taiwan, the United States and France — are more likely to return home.

And in Canada, if people do leave, they usually do so within three to seven years of arriving.

But a recent report by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, which helps newcomers settle here, said a growing number of immigrants are leaving the country. According to the report, skilled newcomers are more likely to leave.

"When they leave, we lose," institute CEO Daniel Bernhard told CBC News Network in a November interview.

"We need to take both supply and demand into account and to recognize that, yes, there are opportunities for reform of the system to make it smarter. But we need to make sure that the people who are selected to come here are able to succeed. Opening the door is not enough."

However, compared with bigger cities like Toronto and Vancouver, newcomers who settle in Calgary are more likely to stay in Canada, said the report.

Temporary newcomers could leave

Robert Falconer, a research fellow at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, said it isn't surprising that so many newcomers are expressing interest in leaving considering the state of the economy.

"While inflation is coming down, it's still been a very real experience for many people. COVID was very hard," said Falconer, who specializes in migration.

But he isn't too worried about the survey numbers — he said it doesn't mean there's a mass exodus of newcomers on the way. A small portion of immigrants who say they want to leave Canada actually do, he said.

He is expecting to see some changes in the short term, though.

"We're very likely to see an increase in the out-migration of international students, of temporary foreign workers, et cetera. I think the restrictions that the federal government has put in will incentivize people leaving," said Falconer.

The federal government is reducing immigration targets to stabilize population growth. Among other policies, it's slashing international student permits by another 10 per cent, and putting more limits on work permits for spouses of foreign workers and international students in master's degree programs.

Local organizations that support newcomers say the crackdown on immigration in Canada and the U.S. can spread a message that puts the blame on immigrants for economic issues, and they believe it's leading to an increase in hostility toward newcomers.

Falconer said that could also affect people's decisions to stay, which is why it's important that politicians are extremely careful about the language they're using around immigration.

As for Quina, she's giving herself a few more months before making a final decision about whether she's going to leave. She's leaning toward pulling the plug and moving back home when her post-graduation work permit expires in November, instead of finding another avenue to stay.

In the meantime, she's sharing her experience on social media, in the hope other newcomers facing the same challenges don't feel alone.

"It's OK to give up," said Quina. "It's not going to be the end of everything, but rather the start of a new chapter."