Majority of immigrants to P.E.I. leave: report

The Provincial Nominee Program has been a revolving door forthe majority of immigrant families who participate, according to a report released Wednesday by the University of Prince Edward Island.

The program, commonly known as PNP, matched foreign investors who wanted to immigrate to Canada with P.E.I. companies they could invest in. In return for their investment, applicants would have their immigration application expedited.

The study, conducted with help from the P.E.I. Association for Newcomers, looked at 44 immigrant families who arrived in the province through the PNPin the last four months of 2006.

When the report's authors checked back 2 years later, they found all but 11 of the families had left a retention rate of 25 per cent.

Shine-Ji Youn Chung, a co-author of the study and an international student at UPEI, said she understands the frustration felt by many immigrants who came to the province through the PNP.

"They're feeling like, 'Okay, I am not part of this community, we are not welcome, even though we are here.'"

Through the program, thousands of immigrants paid up to $200,000 each for a shot at Canadian citizenship.

The report, which collected feedback from PNP beneficiaries, said many were unhappy with how they felt they had been treated by the province.

"The P.E.I. government has to use the investment from immigrants for immigrants, by offering [them] a better job or business opportunity," said one.

Another said it was "ridiculous" that the immigration policy was changed so often by the provincial government.

"The P.E.I. government should integrate all the revised immigration policy to make it a trustworthy policy," the report said.

Lisa Chilton, another of the lead authors in the report, said a lack of jobs is the biggest reason immigrants leave.

"Obviously the PNP could have been managed a whole lot better," she said. "I think that people felt a lot of distrust about the government and about the community as a result of that experience."

Chilton said because immigrants who have been brought in through the PNP account for most of the immigration in P.E.I., the retention rate is dropping at a time when it's rising in the rest of Atlantic Canada.

"I think it's become fairly clear that there was a desire to encourage people to come who maybe never had any intention of staying," she said.

Allan Campbell, the minister of the department responsible for the PNP, said he was not yet prepared to comment on the report Wednesday.