I was surprised to see this graphic in the Globe and Mail, which surveyed people in various countries and asked them if they’d like to move to Canada. Specifically, they were asked to agree or disagree with the following statement:
‘If I had a choice to live in Canada or stay in my current country, I would move to Canada’.
Here are the results.
These numbers look very high to me no matter which country I look at; more than half of all Brits want to move to Canada? And more than three fourths of China? But, in general, it looks like a lot of people do look at Canada very favorably.
I thought I’d compare this data to Ethnic Origin numbers from Wikipedia, and here is what I found:
Mexico doesn’t figure at all, but a lot of other countries have good representation in Canada, and probably that is what prompts people from all over the world to want to go there. If you already have someone you know living in a foreign country, it becomes that much easier to think that you yourself can move, and have a good life there.
The way the question is framed, the results could just imply that the respondents just want to get out of their country, not just to Canada. If the question had been framed in a way in which a choice of different countries was provided and the respondents still selected Canada, then we can come to the conclusion that they prefer Canada to emigrate to.
I believe that one of the reasons people from around the world would like to live in Canada is its multiculturality and general openness towards foreigners. And there’s also nothing to dislike Canada for. Unlike many of other countries, we haven’t done anything to make the world look angry at us. Many people view Canada as a strong and friendly country at the same time and we should be happy for that.
I would not like to move there, but i have heard from lots of people that its actually a nice country. My DH has stayed in vancouver for 2 years and says that he found it better in all the ways as compared to US of A.
So I guess, some true behind ppl wanting to move there.