TALENT SHIFT

Jamaica continues to lose its professionals to Canada, with the largest number of migrants to the North American country in 2023 belonging to the “professionals, senior officials and technician” category.

Of the 4,340 Jamaicans granted permanent resident status in Canada last year, 78 per cent, or 3,390, were in the working-age population of 15-64 years, according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s 2023 Economic and Social Survey Jamaica.

The 30-34 age group had the largest proportion of admissions of permanent residents from Jamaica, accounting for 13.5 per cent. Jamaicans from the 0-4 and 60 and over age groups constituted a small proportion of migrants (4.9 per cent).

The report, which looks at developments within the Jamaican society and economy, said 6.9 per cent of those who migrated to Canada were in the professionals, senior officials and technicians category – the largest proportion of permanent migrants.

This was followed by service, shop and market sales workers at 1.9 per cent. The report said that 87.2 per cent of the permanent migrants’ occupations were unknown.

“There isn’t anything unusual about migrants being sort of cream of the crop. The very essence of migrants is that they are a little more ambitious than other persons. Typically, people remain where they are. So upward mobility doesn’t take place to a great extent in any society at all,” sociologist Dr Orville Taylor said of the latest development.

He told The Gleaner that people who migrate typically have the requisites and prerequisites to do so for countries such as Canada and the United States (US).

The report did not note the figure for Jamaicans who migrated to the US last year. However, available data from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services indicate that 20,200 Jamaicans were naturalised in the 2023 financial year (October 2022 to September 2023). This represents a 12 per cent decrease from the 22,963 Jamaica-born migrants who were naturalised in the US in FY 2022.

Jamaica was also listed as seventh among the top 10 countries from which citizens were naturalised for 2023.

The report said the US remained the main destination of choice for Jamaican migrants, relative to Canada and the United Kingdom.

Migration to the US increased by 23.4 per cent in 2022, compared with 2021. Data revealed that Jamaicans mainly migrated as immediate relatives to US citizens or were sponsored by family.

Migration related to employment was third on the list of categories of Jamaicans who obtained permanent resident status.

Not a new trend

That Jamaican professionals are among the top people leaving the country is not a new trend, Taylor said, pointing to the 1990s census in Miami, Florida, which showed that Jamaican migrants outpaced almost all groups, including Cubans.

“They were creaming off the top of our population. So, this is not a new pattern. Is it a cause for concern? Yes and no,” said Taylor.

He said, while one would want the best set of people running the country, one of the largest contributors to Jamaica’s gross domestic product comes from remittances.

“These are ostensibly Jamaicans who went away and not simply relatives of Jamaicans, so people who were educated or partially educated here and kind of paying their dues for the rest of the family.

“So, as long as the channels are open and there is space for the diaspora to participate in the overall economic activity of the country, then migration, in and of itself, is not a particularly bad thing,” said Taylor.

In 2023, some 1,982 Jamaicans were granted citizenship by naturalisation or registration in the United Kingdom, representing a 0.9 per cent increase compared with 2022.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com