Research on Canadian Diaspora and Students

Canadian Diaspora of Students

Diaspora is a word that traces its roots to the ancient Greek word for dispersion and originally referred to the scattered populations of Jews who had been forced into exile from their homeland. In the modern times, this term has become less associated with forceful migration but is used to refer to a group of nationals from a single country who crisscross the globe between their old and new countries. Just like every other country in the world, Canada also boasts of a huge diaspora community that resides outside its borders. Canadian Diaspora is the name used to refer to the group of Canadian citizens living outside their native country's borders. As of 2010, the number of Canadians living in other places worldwide were estimated to be 2.8 million. This makes up more than nine percent of the country's total population. Compared to other countries like United States, Australia and France, Canada has the highest number of diaspora population. Most of these Canadians leaving their country end up living in the United States (Zhang 1). Canadian diaspora population in the U.S. play a significant role in the national development of their country of origin, however, there are several challenges that make it difficult for them to effectively contribute to this national development. This paper seeks to address these issues as well as present workable solutions that may be applied in addressing these challenges.

Diasporas in most cases, play a crucial role in the national development of their country of origin. To begin with, Canadian diaspora in the U.S. create trading opportunities to Canada and promoting foreign direct investments (FDI). People living abroad have the ability to bring a preference for products from their countries of origin in the countries they settle in (Zhang 5). There have been proven connections between the presence of a diaspora in a nation and the increase in trading ventures. Most Canadians even after settling into the U.S, still purchase products from their home country and introduce these products to Americans. As a result, they end up creating certain taste preferences in the U.S has created a new trade flow between these two countries. Canada has been proven to be the United States second largest supplier of goods (USTR). According to the United States Trade Representative, in 2015, U.S imported approximately $295 billion worth of products which included. Most of these imports included agricultural products like snack foods, red meat, vegetable oils and processed vegetables and fruits. These imports can be seen as being provoked by interactions between Canadian diaspora and Americans. Therefore, by promoting trade flow, diaspora Canadians contribute positively to the development of Canada.

By encouraging trade of their country of settlement with their country of origin, diaspora Canadians are investing in their home country. By directly purchasing goods from Canada, they are directly investing in it and by encouraging others to purchase goods form Canada, they are indirectly investing in their country. These investment activities lead to creation of trade networks which play a significant role in reducing trade cost. As a result of investment, the country is able to acquire sufficient capital to boost national development. In 2014, the United States FDI was over three hundred billion dollars.

Additionally, Diasporas are able to gain valuable skills and experiences that they can transfer back to their home country thereby boosting development. Although most natives see people Canadians leaving the country as causing a national "brain drain", it can also be viewed as positive since these diasporas can use their talents and the skills they acquire to develop their native country (Zhang 6). Ways in which they apply these skills is by training their native population and creating new businesses which employ native workers. By sharing the knowledge and acquired skills, they can help enable their fellow home citizens to adopt change and use these methods to increase production. Increase production, on the other hand leads to increase economic development of a nation. With regards to Canadian Diasporas in the United States, the government of Canada has facilitated an international mobility program which allows for knowledge and skill transfer. This program allows qualified Canadian citizens living in the United States to engage in intra-company transfers which enable them to work in Canadian businesses thereby transferring their expertise to these businesses. Transfer of knowledge and skills from the States to Canada allows Diasporas to contribute significantly to Canada's national Development.

Diaspora populations can also contribute to the political realm of their home country. International social groups of citizens living abroad has been seen to mobilize and participate in electoral activities of their country of origin. Although Diasporas are away from their countries, they still consider themselves as part of the social and political order of their home country. According to Zhang Diasporas possess a powerfully broader trend in changing nature of countries and with the ease that they can communicate to their fellow citizens in their home country, they have the ability to influence the political atmosphere of their native countries (7). For Canada, citizens living abroad including the United States can vote through special ballot in referendums, by-elections and federal elections. By doing this, they have the ability to impact the political atmosphere of their native nation. By voting in the right kind of people, they can be able to effect positive change in Canada.

Additionally, Diasporas can impact their home countries culturally. This occurs through language and intermarriages which are essential forces responsible for enriching a country's culture (Zhang 7). Intermarriages between Canadians and Americans create new cultural ties which deepens family and cultural ties of Canada. Furthermore, these actions extend Canadian citizenship through blood ties and by virtue of home country. Moreover, intermarriages allow for cultural interchange thereby increasing the spread of Canadian culture beyond its own borders. Making this possible allows for growth and spread of Canadian culture which in turn leads to increased patriotism and a greater sense of heritage among citizens abroad.

Most native citizens who choose to remain in their countries of origin often view those leaving their countries as contributing to the national "brain drain" of the country (Zhang 8). "Brain Drain" here refers to the loss of expertise, talent and skill to foreign countries. In an attempt to reverse this brain drain, the Canadian government has engaged Canadian Diaspora in the United States to allow them to be able to renter the country's business and spread their gained knowledge into the native population. By doing this they are able to tap the entrepreneurial side of these individuals and use them for the benefit of the nation as a whole. Based on this, these diaspora population can be perceived as providing a practical solution to the "brain drain" problem.

This particular population of Canadians encourage trade flows between Canada and the United Sates, they provide Canada with extra income which the country can invest in the development of the country. Since the national government of Canada engages the diaspora population in facilitating this trade flow, the population is perceived as significant suppliers of direct and indirect investment to Canada.

However, although Canadian Diasporas in the United States are able to significantly impact Canada's national development, there are several challenges that hinder them from effectively performing this duty. One of the major problems facing these individuals is that it is difficult for them to exercise their voting rights. As it is now, it is possible to vote in Canadian elections however, it is quite difficult for them to do so. As a result of this difficulty, they are unable to efficiently voice their opinion on the political realm of their county.

Another major problem facing Diasporas is that members of this population who return home to train others on the skills they have acquired abroad are treated with a lot of resentment by natives. Since these individuals are viewed as experts in their fields and return home as accomplished citizens, they inspire a lot of jealousy and bitterness from natives. Mostly, this is because these individuals consider themselves enlightened and end up looking down on those who have never left the country to pursue other ventures abroad. As a result, it becomes highly difficult for them to accomplish the task of efficient transfer of knowledge and skills to their country.

Seeing as these challenges cause a major hindrance to national development of Canada, they require practical solutions. First, Canada needs to make efforts to change its policies regarding voting for Citizens abroad (Olyan 13). This would make it easier for all Canadian citizens to vote regardless of their country of residence. Canada needs to emulate other countries like United States and Italy who encourage and make it easy for their citizens abroad to actively participate in their national elections. Furthermore, Canada can encourage political participation by the diaspora population by providing voting opportunities online and provision of absentee ballots. However, these rights come with their own share of obligations like participating in jury duty since jurors' selection follows a country's voting list. Most would view these obligations as negative, however, they have a positive side which is that it would bring these individuals closer to home and keep them updated on current issues affecting their home country.

Another solution to these challenges would be to provide ways to ease the transfer of knowledge and skills from Diasporas to Canada. A way of doing this is to provide opportunities for "brain circulation" through increasing the ease with which diaspora college students can participate in their country's schools and the other way around. It is highly acknowledged that students are able to easily grasp new concepts. By allowing these students to intermingle in schools, they can be able to pass knowledge, skills and new ideas to their peers' thereby influencing change to their native country i.e. Canada. Brain circulation in this case can be seen as a practical solution to the ever present issue of brain drain that is always associated with emigration.

To further ensure that trade networks created by Diasporas are effective, efforts should be made to ease trade between the United States and Canada. This can be achieved through removal of trade barriers between these two countries which will make trade much easier. Additionally, since social networks created by engagements and dealings with Canadian diaspora and Americans have been shown to aid in transfer of skills and knowledge, efforts should be made to link organizations with each other so as to improve connections between Canadians abroad and in at home (Bitran & Tan 41). The government should make efforts to link diaspora organizations with those at home in order to expand the opportunity for learning to take place. As a result, this would ease transfer of knowledge and skills from abroad to the home country which will increase innovation and entrepreneurship which will in turn lead to the country's national development.

In order to effectively enact these solutions, coordination is needed between the Canadian government and Canadian Diasporas in the United States.

Conclusion

As seen from the above research, Canadian Diasporas impact Canada's political, social and economic growth. This population are able to alter taste preferences in their country of settlement thereby creating trade networks. Trade in turn leads to investments. Additionally, diaspora populations can enhance the country's culture and can greatly influence the political atmosphere of the country. However, there are limitations that hinder these populations from effectively accomplishing which mostly includes the limitation of voting rights for Canadians abroad. The solution provided for this is to enact policies that ease voting for Canadians abroad.

Looking at the discussion provided in this paper, it is fundamental that Canadian Diasporas be viewed as citizens who have the unique potential, knowledge and skill to impact Canada in every sector.

This paper recommends that more research be carried out to enhance understanding of how Canadian Diaspora contribute to the development of Canada's development which will allow the country to understand the dire need for policy change to make sure that this population can effectively contribute to development

Works Cited

Bitran Maurice and Tan Serene. Diaspora Nation: An inquiry into the economic potential of diaspora networks in Canada. University of Toronto.

DeVoretz Don and Woo Yuen. Dual Citizenship and Canada's New Diaspora. Asian Pacific Foundation of Canada.

Newland Kathleen and Plaza Sonia. What we know about Diasporas and economic development. Migration Policy Institute.

Office of the United States Trade Representative. Canada.

Olyan Hila. Diasporas: A policy review prepared for the Privy Council office. Canada in International Affairs.

Zhang Keny. Recognizing the Canadian Diaspora. Asian Pacific Foundation of Canada and North America.