Refugees bring skills and resilience that are a lasting boon to Canada

Some refugees contribute in extraordinary ways. Two of our governors general came to Canada as refugees — Adrienne Clarkson from Hong Kong, and Michaëlle Jean from Haiti. Others, like Tareq Hadhad, bring their entrepreneurial drive and skills, and build thriving businesses. Peace by Chocolate was founded in 2016 after Hadhad and his family came as Syrian refugees. The company employees dozens of people in Nova Scotia and exports chocolate around the world.

But what of the refugees who don’t make headlines but come to Canada to rebuild their lives quietly by contributing their skills?

A study of more than a million refugees arriving in Canada since 1980 shows that refugees come to Canada poor and vulnerable, but don’t tend to stay that way. In their first year in Canada, refugees earn about $20,000, roughly half the Canadian average. Five years later, 23 per cent of refugees have joined the middle classes of Canadian society, earning $40,000 to $79,000, strikingly near the 27 per cent of all Canadians in this earnings bracket.
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