What problems immigrants face in Canada
The biggest challenge was establishing social contacts.
The Waterloo Region of Ontario has reported on its biennial survey of immigrants and their relatives. In it, newcomers described their experiences of living in the region and the challenges they faced.
In 2022, 1,507 respondents took part in the survey. These included those who had recently arrived and immigrants who had lived in the country for less than five years. 63% are employed, 7% self-employed and 16% are actively seeking work.
The Waterloo region is popular with immigrants because of the number of jobs, high level of education and salaries. Technical and IT workers are the most popular in this part of Ontario. Waterloo has a large number of information technology-related businesses. 93 per cent of respondents said they chose the region because friends and family already live and work there.
Slightly less than half of respondents said they were quite satisfied with their life and work in Canada, with 40% not completely satisfied. Eleven percent of immigrants surveyed were completely dissatisfied. The biggest challenge was settling in, adjusting, and finding a place to live — 49% of respondents said this was the biggest challenge. About 30% said that the biggest obstacle was finding a job, the same number named the most difficult to overcome the language barrier.
