“Canada vs. Top Immigrant Destinations: How Does It Stack Up?”
Newcomers perceive Canada as a nation with opportunity, a modern culture, and a high standard of living. However, immigrants might be curious in how Canada stacks up against other popular immigration locations across the globe and what hard data backs up these claims. One useful tool for answering questions is the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations. The Index provides a single indexed development score for every nation by dissecting several variables. Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration What is the Human Development Index? The HDI is a unified index produced by the United Nations (UN) to measure the development of a country. The measure focuses on the idea that the capabilities of people in any given country are the ultimate measure of assessing a nation’s development, “not economic growth alone.” To this end, the HDI measures the longevity, education, and income of individuals in a country, through the following composite measures: Longevity measures: life expectancy at birth, and overall score on the UN’s life expectancy index; Knowledge measures: expected years of schooling, mean years of schooling, and overall score on the UN’s education index; and Income / Standard of living measures: Gross National Income per capita, and overall score on the UN’s Gross National Income index. Through an amalgamation of these measures, the UN assigns each country a score between 0 and 1, with 1 denoting the highest possible score of development, and 0 the lowest. The HDI has assigned scores to countries based on these measures since 1990. According to the index, the following scores denote corresponding levels of development: HDI score Indication of national development ≤0.550 Low 0.550-0.699 Medium 0.700-0.799 High ≥0.800 Very high What is Canada’s HDI ranking? Canada receives a score of 0.935 on the HDI as of the most current data available (2022), which indicates a very high degree of progress. Canada’s HDI score in 1990 was 0.861, showing a 0.074-point rise in the 30+ years since the data was first released on the HDI. The breakdown of this score by composite measure is presented in the table below, as of 2022 (the most recent year data was available): Composite measure Canadian statistics Life expectancy at birth 82.8 years Expected years of schooling 15.9 years Mean years of schooling 13.8 years Gross National Income per Capita $48,444.3 (reported in 2017 Purchasing Power Parity dollars) In comparison, the world average score on the HDI is 0.739, indicating that Canada places well above the average in terms of being a developed nation. The highest-ranked country according to the HDI’s most recent reporting is Switzerland, with a score of 0.967, while the lowest-ranked country was Somalia with a score of 0.380. How does Canada rank against other top immigrant destinations? According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) 2023 international migration outlook, the top five immigration destinations (based on data from 2022) by permanent immigration—excluding Canada—were: The United States of America (USA); Germany; The United Kingdom (UK).; Spain; and France. The following will break down the UN HDI and composite scores for the above countries. Note: While the HDI is a comprehensive measure of human development, there are multiple factors it does not consider (i.e.: cost-of-living, access to medical services, legal rights and freedoms, etc.). The United States of America As of the most recent reporting, the United States achieved an HDI score of 0.927, with the following composite scores. Composite measure American statistics Life expectancy at birth 78.2 years Expected years of schooling 16.4 years Mean years of schooling 13.5 years Gross National Income per Capita $65,564.9 (reported in 2017 Purchasing Power Parity dollars) Germany As of the most recent reporting, Germany achieved an HDI score of 0.950, with the following composite scores. Composite measure German statistics Life expectancy at birth 80.9 years Expected years of schooling 17.3 years Mean years of schooling 14.2 years Gross National Income per Capita $55,340.1 (reported in 2017 Purchasing Power Parity dollars) The United Kingdom As of the most recent reporting, the United Kingdom achieved an HDI score of 0.940, with the following composite scores. Composite measure UK statistics Life expectancy at birth 82.1 years Expected years of schooling 17.6 years Mean years of schooling 13.4 years Gross National Income per Capita $46,623.9 (reported in 2017 Purchasing Power Parity dollars) Spain As of the most recent reporting, Spain achieved an HDI score of 0.911 with the following composite scores. Composite measure Spanish statistics Life expectancy at birth 83.9 years Expected years of schooling 17.8 years Mean years of schooling 10.6 years Gross National Income per Capita $40,043.3(reported in 2017 Purchasing Power Parity dollars) France As of the most recent reporting, France achieved an HDI score of 0.91, with the following composite scores. Composite measure French statistics Life expectancy at birth 83.2 years Expected years of schooling 15.9 years Mean years of schooling 11.6 years Gross National Income per Capita $47,378.7(reported in 2017 Purchasing Power Parity dollars) What makes an immigrant successful in Canada? According to data from Statistics Canada, many recent immigrants may have economic outcomes that are on par with or even better than those of their Canadian-born counterparts. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS)* variables were evaluated in a research titled “Which immigration selection factors best predict the earnings of economic principal applicants?” to determine how they affected immigrant performance in the short (1-2 years), medium (5-7 years), and long-term (10+ years) periods. *The Canadian federal immigration system ranks economic immigrants according to their human capital (age, education, and language proficiency) using the CRS. Based on these variables, the algorithm gives each candidate a score that indicates how likely it is that they will successfully settle and assimilate into Canadian society. Specifically, the CRS factors tracked were: Years of pre-landing Canadian work experience (compared to those with no experience); Ability in official languages (English or French (Native speakers vs. Less proficient); Age—Younger (25-29 years) VS. Older (50-54 years); and Education (bachelor’s VS. Secondary school education); In the short term (1-2 years), the strongest
