A new report shows that Canada is losing immigrants at near-record rates – and retention rates in Newfoundland and Labrador are even worse.

Leaky Bucket 2025 by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship and the Conference Board of Canada shows that one in five immigrants leave Canada within 25 years of arriving – and highly educated immigrants are leaving at a higher rate.

Those with doctorates are nearly twice as likely to leave as those with a bachelor’s degree, and highly skilled immigrants leave at twice the rate of low-skilled workers within the first five years of arriving in Canada.

While the report shows that most immigrants who leave the country do so from the province in which they initially arrived, Newfoundland and Labrador stands out. The report says more than half of onward migrants who initially arrived in this province, moved on to a different province or territory before eventually leaving Canada.

The report recommends that Canada develop a national retention policy framework and provide settlement supports targeted at highly skilled immigrants. It also suggests that Canada develop a targeted retention strategy for immigrants in high-growth occupations like financial and business service managers, manufacturing and processing engineers and computer software developers.