The Institute for Canadian Citizenship says the federal government has to get serious about addressing the retention of skilled and educated immigrants.

The institute released a report this week showing that one in five immigrants leave Canada within 25 years of arriving and highly educated immigrants are leaving at an even higher rate.

CEO Daniel Bernhard says what the report makes clear is that Canada has to do more to support educated and highly-skilled professional newcomers, and take retention more seriously.

“The federal immigration ministry, to my knowledge, has presently zero employees who are responsible for retention. That’s a huge issue,” says Bernhard.

He says the immigration minister is not a bouncer, but should serve like a company’s HR and recruiting department. “Just finding a candidate for a job isn’t enough,” says Bernhard. “You have to provide continuing support to make sure that they give the best to the firm, and get the best experience.”

He says Canada also needs greater settlement supports for highly-skilled immigrants. He says Canada has a lot of settlement services geared toward more vulnerable populations, who need help learning English, or help putting together a CV.

“But, very accomplished people don’t need any of that…we don’t need to help them, we need to convince them that their decision to come to Canada was the right one. This is their place, these are their people and this is where they belong long-term.”