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Canada's Expatriates

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Canada's Expatriates Canada’s Expatriates John Stackhouse Consulng Team by: Malek Chouikh Allison McHugh Neil Peet Caroline Senini March 2015 Sahl Syed ! ! Table of Contents I.! Introduction+.....................................................................................................................................+2! II.! Counting+Canadians+Abroad+......................................................................................................+3! a)!Overview!..............................................................................................................................................................!3! b)!Estimated!Canadians!abroad!...............................................................................................................................!3! c)!Estimated!expatriate!locations!.............................................................................................................................!4! III.! The+Expatriate+Attachment+to+Canada+.................................................................................+6! a)!Asia!Pacific!Foundation!survey!on!Canadians!abroad!and!their!attachment!to!Canada!......................................!6! IV.! Limitations+on+Citizenship+.......................................................................................................+8! a)!Overview!..............................................................................................................................................................!8! b)!The!Citizenship!Act!and!Bill!CG37:!.........................................................................................................................!8! c)!Bill!CG24,!strengthening!the!Canadian!Citizenship!Act!.......................................................................................!10! d)!Alternative!citizenship!models!...........................................................................................................................!11! V.! Limitations+on+Voting+Rights+..................................................................................................+13! a)!Overview!............................................................................................................................................................!13! b)!Canada’s!current!policy!on!voting!rights!............................................................................................................!13! c)!The!rationale!behind!this!policy!.........................................................................................................................!14! d)!Current!legal!challenge!to!this!legislation!..........................................................................................................!14! e)!International!comparisons!.................................................................................................................................!17! VI.! Consular+services+......................................................................................................................+18! VII.! Taxes+...........................................................................................................................................+18! a)!Tax!exemptions!for!nonGresidents!.....................................................................................................................!18! VIII.! International+Expatriate+engagement+............................................................................+19! a)!Overview!............................................................................................................................................................!19! b)!Policy!comparisons!............................................................................................................................................!19! c)!Country!snapshots!..............................................................................................................................................!22! IX.! Policy+Perspectives+..................................................................................................................+34! a)!Encouraging!Canadians!to!go!abroad!.................................................................................................................!34! b)!Expatriation!as!an!Autonomous!Choice!.............................................................................................................!36! c)!Expatriates!as!an!asset!to!Canada!......................................................................................................................!37! X.! Annexes+.........................................................................................................................................+39! Annex!A.!Estimate!of!Canadians!Abroad:!Data!Sources,!Limitations!&!Methodology!...........................................!39! Annex!B.!Estimating!expatriate!locations:!data!sources,!limitations!and!methodology!........................................!41! Annex!C.!Complete!Data!Set:!See!Excel!Workbook!“Canadas_Expatriates_Data.xlsx”!..........................................!44! Annex!D.!Citations!..................................................................................................................................................!45! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1! ! ! I. Introduction! ! This! report! provides! an! assessment! of! Canada’s! expatriate! population! abroad! and! its! connection! to! Canada.!It!seeks!to!assess!the!hypothesis!that!Canada!does!not!support!its!expatriate!population!to!the! same!level!as!other!countries.!Canada’s!expatriate!population!contributes!to!the!country’s!international! reputation! and! economic! reach.! Worldwide,! people! are! becoming! increasingly! global! citizens.! In! this! context,!it!is!important!to!evaluate!Canada’s!perspective!on!its!population!abroad!and!whether!or!not!it! is!engaging!its!diaspora!to!maximize!the!country’s!global!reputation!and!economic!potential.!! ! Determining!an!accurate!number!for!Canadians!living!abroad!is!important!to!properly!assess!whether! Canada’s! current! policies! are! appropriate.! There! is! little! data! available! regarding! the! number! of! Canadians!abroad,!however,!we!determine!that!the!number!of!Canadian!expatriates!is!not!insubstantial,! as!we!estimate!there!are!between!2.98!and!3.5!million!Canadians!living!abroad!as!of!2011.!The!majority! of! Canada’s! expatriate! population! resides! in! the! United! States! of! America,! the! United! Kingdom,! Australia,!China,!Italy!and!France.!These!figures!are!discussed!in!Part!II!of!our!report.!! ! Furthermore,! many! of! these! Canadians! maintain! a! strong! attachment! to! Canada,! despite! no! longer! physically!residing!in!the!country.!According!to!the!Asia!Pacific!Foundation!survey,!described!in!Part!III!of! this!report,!Canadian!expatriates!consist!of!individuals!mostly!aged!30!to!40.!Many!respondents!to!this! survey!possess!a!strong!connection!to!Canada,!with!nearly!64%!of!the!respondents!calling!Canada!home.!! ! To!facilitate!further!discussions!on!Canada’s!expatriate!community!and!appropriate!policies!for!engaging! this! portion! of! the! Canadian! population,! this! report! examines! relevant! policy! issues! and! compares! Canada’s! expatriate! programs! to! others! around! the! world.! The! major! policy! areas! that! impact! expatriates! are! limitations! placed! on! expatriate! citizenship! and! voting! rights,! which! are! discussed! in! Parts!IV!and!V!of!this!report,!respectively.!Consular!Services!provides!limited!contact!to!the!Canadian! expatriate!population,!which!is!discussed!in!Part!VI!of!this!report.!While!expatriates!are!provided!some! tax!exemptions,!the!Canadian!system!implements!strict!requirements!to!gain!such!status,!as!discussed!in! Part!VII.!! ! Canada’s! approach! to! its! expatriates! varies! with! that! of! other! countries.! We! provide! an! extensive! comparison! in! Part! VIII.! This! section! provides! a! specific! assessment! of! different! approaches! in! India,! Singapore,!the!United!States!of!America!and!Nigeria,!as!well!as!a!broad!overview!expatriate!populations! and!their!rights!in!other!countries.!! ! By!examining!Canadian!policy,!we!determine!that!the!country’s!current!strategy!for!engaging!expatriates! does!not!reflect!a!clear!philosophy.!Whether!or!not!Canada!sees!its!diaspora!community!as!an!important! global!extension!of!Canada!is!difficult!to!determine.!Therefore,!Part!IX!concludes!our!report!with!three! alternative! policy! perspectives.! The! first! involves! encouraging! Canadians! to! go! abroad,! the! second! involves!leaving!expatriation!as!an!autonomous!choice!and!supports!Canadians!abroad!mainly!through! increased! safety! measures,! and! the! third! involves! implementing! policies! with! a! view! to! treating! expatriates! as! an! existing! asset.! With! these! policy! recommendations! we! highlight! areas! for! moving! forward!and!examples!from!other!countries!for!potential!program!options!for!Canada.!! ! By!performing!this!assessment,!we!provide!a!deeper!understanding!of!Canada’s!expatriate!policies!and! how!they!can!improve.!Canadians!abroad!contribute!to!Canada’s!reputation,!trade!relations,!and!culture! in!the!global!community.!Their! global!outreach!can!be!an!important!aspect!of!Canada’s!international! focus!if!there!are!appropriate!policies!to!leverage!their!potential.!!! ! ! ! 2! ! ! II. Counting!Canadians!Abroad! ! a) Overview ! The!Canadian!government!does!not!currently!track!Canadians!abroad.!There!is!no!definitive!number!of!
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