Canada Opens its Borders to People Fleeing Hong Kong

[misskit]

As civil liberties continue to be suppressed in Hong Kong by mainland China, Canada has seen a massive increase in migration from the former British Colony.

Canada hasn’t seen numbers this high since 1997 when Great Britain handed the colony back to China.


In response to the crackdown on anti-government protests in 2019 and Beijing’s implementation of national security law in 2020, Canada has opened new exit routes and special visa’s for young Hong Kongers.


However, the flow of Hong Kongers to Canada has permeated other immigration and visa categories as well.


Prior to the handover in 1997, Vancouver became a popular destination for Hong Kongers, and the new data depicts a further increase across the Pacific.


Canada gives a pathway to citizenship


In 2021, 3,444 Hong Kongers were granted permanent residency in Canada, more than double the number in pre-pandemic 2019, and more than 15 times the number in 2010. It has been 24 years since the levels were so high.


Those numbers were dwarfed by those granted study or work permits, which do not confer permanent residency right away but do offer paths to citizenship.

The Canadian government created thousands of three-year open work permits in February 2021 for Hong Kongers who had completed post-secondary studies in the five years prior to their applications.


The number of Hong Kongers who were granted study or work permits in Canada last year, including extensions, was 19,064, more than four times what was granted in 2019.


They include 7,952 new work permits for Hong Kong citizens.


After graduating from a Canadian post-secondary institution or gaining Canadian work experience, Hong Kongers can also qualify for permanent residency in the country.

Hong Kong Tradespeople Migrating to Canada


Canadian Hong Kong-based immigration lawyer Jean-Francois Harvey says a rising number of Hong Kongers are heading for the country via routes large and small.


In addition to graduates from Hong Kong, Harvey said a growing number of tradespeople were migrating to Canada, such as carpenters, plumbers, and electricians.


In 2021, 22,508 Hong Kongers were granted Canadian permanent residency, work permits, or study visas, up 25% from 2019. In 2021, 11202 work permits and extensions were granted to Hong Kong residents, a 544% increase from 2019, while 7,862 study permits and extensions were issued.


According to Harvey, a “massive return” of these people to Canada has occurred since the national security law was passed.


CEO Queenie Choo oversees Success, a Vancouver-based non-profit that has been providing social services to immigrants in Canada for 49 years. She said the group had not experienced so many inquiries from Hong Kongers since before the handover.


Most recent Hong Kong clients who shared their views were displeased with the city’s turmoil, Choo said.

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[pickel]

Prior to the handover in 1997, Vancouver became a popular destination for Hong Kongers

And the city has been ruined ever since.

[DrWilly]

And the city has been ruined ever since.

Has it really? Because of this?

[pickel]

Has it really? Because of this?

Money laundering and supply and demand issues due to so many newcomers has skyrocketed real estate prices here, making it unaffordable for the people that were born and raised here. The average salary needed to buy the average house here is now about $250K/year.

A lot of the properties they have bought as investments remain empty, thus further reducing the rental stock and driving up prices.

[bsnub]

Money laundering and supply and demand issues due to so many newcomers has skyrocketed real estate prices here, making it unaffordable for the people that were born and raised here. A lot of the properties they have bought as investments remain empty, thus further reducing the rental stock and driving up prices.

Welcome to the ENTIRE North American west coast. For us in Seattle, it is mostly mainland Chinese that are laundering money on real estate and leaving the places all empty.

[DrWilly]

Money laundering and supply and demand issues due to so many newcomers has skyrocketed real estate prices here, making it unaffordable for the people that were born and raised here. The average salary needed to buy the average house here is now about $250K/year.

A lot of the properties they have bought as investments remain empty, thus further reducing the rental stock and driving up prices.

OK, appreciate the answer.

[sabang]

Real nice, but right now they are fleeing the Covid restrictions. My old business partner has been living on the Sunshine Coast since Xmas- longest he has been in Oz for over 30 years. Too much hassle to go back for now, and too many damn restrictions when you are there.

[pickel]

Real nice, but right now they are fleeing the Covid restrictions

Nothing nice about it, and it's been going on en masse for 30 years, nawt to do with covid. But thanks for your view from Australia.

[sabang]

I know all about hongcouver mate- mass emigration there from HK before the hangover. Whole load of 'em ended up back in hongkie too, rueing the fact they had lost money as a result. But right now, certainly in terms of the expat community, it is the restrictions that are pissing them off. Just to leave on a short business trip, the quarantine you have to go through on return is onerous- and expensive. As a result, several are leaving, or basing elsewhere for the time being.

[Switch]

^I agree that Hong Kong Chinese are trying to leave, either permanently, or short term. This humanitarian diaspora is not confined to Canada though is it?

Many western democracies have invited HK exiles such an opportunity. Some have determined that it could be more important to stay and resist the PRC because they believe that China is trying to force its will on HK by ignoring the special status conferred by UK hand back agreements.

Whichever country they choose to relocate to, will claim to advance multiculurism In truth any diaspora for any reason, will always seek like minded enclaves to settle in. As in previous attempts to settle refugees fleeing any oppression, this will lead to multiple cultures, from Africa, India and Asia.
There was a time when London pubs were managed and staffed by antipodeans. Multiculturalism, ethnic ghettoes or Chinatown spreading oriental delights. Take your pick.

Multiple cultures are inevitable, despite a few who might try to integrate, anywhere in the world.

[cyrille]

humanitarian diaspora

Oh dear.

[panama hat]

Real nice, but right now they are fleeing the Covid restrictions.

. Good Lord, when will you stop being a Beijing apologist. They are fleeing, have been and will.

Nothing nice about it, and it's been going on en masse for 30 years, nawt to do with covid. But thanks for your view from Australia.

NZ, Oz, US, UK, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore etc . . . yup.

I know all about hongcouver mate-

Of course you do. If you did then you'd know it's the forthcoming oppression from China they fled, the current oppression they are fleeing and the future

[cyrille]

Suggesting that whatever sabang may 'know' about 'Hong Couver', he clearly doesn't understand it.

What is it with him?

Paid shills like ohno I can understand, but...

[sabang]

Sigh. I repeat, right now it is mainly Covid that is driving some people to stay away from HK- some no doubt for good, others for a sojourn. Much more so than the other wishy washy reasons you drag out of your nether regions. HK has been hit hard by Omicron:-



March 11, 2022

Mentally, dealing with the pandemic has been very difficult. We’re going on three years now. Hong Kong did a very good job with the Alpha and Delta variants by closing borders internationally and with China. We were the global poster child for keeping the virus out. Then, we were two days away from opening the border with China, but Omicron came and it was a different beast altogether.

I have stayed in Hong Kong this whole time because I wouldn’t be able to handle the 21-day quarantine. I learned to Zoom and business continued. Actually, during our zero-infection period with the first two strains of the virus, business was not bad. We learned to open and close, and open and close again, and it was OK: we got by.
But with Omicron, Hong Kong has lagged compared to everywhere else in the world. I look at what’s going on and retail is a ghost town. It’s very difficult to do business with restaurants having a two-person per table rule. It just doesn’t work. Clubs, bars and gyms have been closed since January and every business is fighting for its life.
I’m both a landlord and an operator. I am trying to work with my tenants to keep them alive and figure out how we can help them. For our own restaurants and business, I’m trying to figure out how to survive this, because with tables capped at two people at lunchtime, it’s hard to pay the bills. We’ve had to implement some unpaid leave for staff. I don’t like doing that, but we had no choice. I’ve tried not to lay off staff and we support them as best we can. I really commend my staff. Many are working from home on Zoom, but many are frightened.

I’ve spoken to a lot of people in Hong Kong and to a lot of tycoon friends of mine, and everyone feels the same way. We’ll be happy to see the end of the virus. It’s caused a lot of problems and, of course, people are worried about the mass testing and that’s why a lot of people have left the city. People with children are worried they’d be separated from their kids if their child tests positive. The news has caused huge panic, which I understand.

I’ve been doing whatever I can to help Hong Kong. I’ve been working with the government. Sometimes they listen. Sometimes they don’t. I wrote a letter to Carrie Lam which was supposed to be private and somehow got leaked. It caused a huge stir and went viral. People were happy that someone had spoken out. I wasn’t criticising the government; I was just trying to explain to [Lam] that we need one voice. The public is so confused by the mixed messages, and what we need is one voice that feels confident and assures people of what we can expect in the future.

I am thankful that China came to build extra facilities for isolation. Still, there was a lot of fake news: someone spread fake images of what the isolation facilities toilets looked like with no walls or privacy and they went viral around the world and freaked a lot of people out. That was upsetting to me.

I’ve been doing a lot of interviews to try and get a positive story out about Hong Kong and dispel a lot of these rumours, because lots of places in the world have already gone through what we are now going through. The clearing of supermarket shelves was not unique to Hong Kong. I’m hoping to help Hong Kong people not to panic. We will get through this together.

There is light at the end of the tunnel. Once the virus peaks which, according to the University of Hong Kong, happened on March 4, the infection rate drops very quickly. Vaccination rates have also gone up which will also help to [mitigate the virus’ impact], like it did every else in the world.

We went through this lull in 1997, when the Handover happened, and people didn’t trust the idea of Hong Kong going back to China. I’ve been through the ups and downs of Hong Kong, and many media outlets have called this pandemic the end of Hong Kong. I really don’t believe that. I think we’re in a temporary lull and Hong Kong will come back very strong once this is over, like other countries around the world.

Yes, many people have left Hong Kong. But China needs a strong, international Hong Kong. China doesn’t need another 7.5 million people-strong Chinese city. One country, two systems is important to China because Hong Kong is a super-connector for the West and the East. Of course, the future of Hong Kong is tied to China, but China is the fastest-growing economy in the world.

The 11 cities in the greater bay area [Zhaoqing, Foshan, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai] have an estimated population of 84 million people and, last year, had a combined GDP of US$1.67 trillion. Once those borders reopen again, a lot of people from all over the world will flock back here. This will send a positive message to the entire world and people will start trickling back into the city.

Post-pandemic, there’ll be revenge spending too. There’s pent-up demand. People have been locked up for too long. I hope that the last half of this year will be good for Hong Kong, just like it was for Europe, the US, Canada and the Middle East [when borders reopened].

I have business in many parts of the world, and I’ve travelled everywhere and, after all this time, I have not given up on Hong Kong because, to me, Hong Kong is still the best place in the world. I’ve been through this movie many times and Hong Kong always bounces back. And that’s why I haven’t given up and won’t give up on Hong Kong.

Hong Kong will only get stronger and stronger. Those people that stay here and have faith in it will be well rewarded. I am someone who can afford to leave and live anywhere in the world, but I choose Hong Kong because, to me, there is no better place. — Allan

Allan Zeman Talks About That Viral WhatsApp Message and Why He’ll Never Give Up on Hong Kong | Tatler Asia

[bsnub]

What is it with him?

Paid shills like ohno I can understand, but...

He is not the same poster he was 10 years ago, that's for sure. He has no idea what he is talking about, as usual. As someone who lives in Seattle, which is two and a half hours away by car from Vancouver, I can say that this migration which has affected Seattle as well as Vancouver has been going on for the last thirty years, as pickle has previously mentioned. It has increased of late not because of covid, but because of the Chinese assault on HK's democracy.

[sabang]

Oh yawwn.

[DrWilly]

Must you infect every thread with your idiocy, Sabang?

[sabang]

I know a tad more than you about HK and about what is happening there, oh back end of that baboon.

[DrWilly]

I know a tad more than you about HK and about what is happening there, oh back end of that baboon.

Case in point.

That's just an absurd and quite ridiculous statement to utter. I'm not comparing dick sizes I'm pointing out that you littler the forum with facetious crap, whataboutisms and propaganda all over.

[panama hat]

I know a tad more than you about HK

You also make up a lot of shit about HK - and you clearly know very little about why people have been getting out of HK or a few decades now - you may wish to pinpoint the dates. Yes, it has to do with China . . . and not in a good way

[sabang]

Actually there is a bit of a spat with the Chinese gov't right now- about Covid! Sure, these things spill over into politics too. But 'freewheeling HK' is not freewheeling right now, and people are chafing. The amount of people leaving because of the former demonstrations right now is considerably smaller in comparison. Some, like my mate and his family, are sojourning offshore. Others, like around 60 expat Cathay staff last I knew, have gone for good.

[bsnub]

I'm not comparing dick sizes I'm pointing out that you litter the forum with facetious crap, whataboutisms and propaganda all over.

Spot on. Ironically he used to clean it all up now he posts it.

Actually there is a bit of a spat with the Chinese gov't right now- about Democracy!

FTFY

[sabang]

The less you know about something, the more noise you make.

[bsnub]

The less you know about something, the more noise you make.

Explains why you blathered on for months claiming Russia would never invade Ukraine.

[harrybarracuda]

Sigh. I repeat, right now it is mainly Covid that is driving some people to stay away from HK- some no doubt for good, others for a sojourn. Much more so than the other wishy washy reasons you drag out of your nether regions. HK has been hit hard by Omicron:-

Translation: I'm going to base my opinion on an opinion piece I found that fits right in with my absurd pro-chinky confirmation bias.