More newcomers in B.C. are choosing to live outside Metro Vancouver, latest census data shows

A growing number of new immigrants in B.C. are choosing to liveoutside ofMetro Vancouver, according to 2021 census data from Statistics Canada.

One of them is Alan Gonzales, whocame to Kelowna, B.C., five years ago as a Canadian permanent resident.

Gonzales, who is from the Philippines,received his permanent residencythrough the Express Entryprogram,a competitive point-based immigration program for skilled workers.

"One day I just decided to click on the government website to apply for Express Entry,"said Gonzales, a marketing professional who currently works as a settlement services co-ordinator at the non-profit,KCR Community Resources, in Kelowna.

"It's not even a very high score, and then after three days, I received an email from the Government of Canada saying, 'congratulations,'" he said.

"At first I thought it was a scam. I didn't bother reading it and after two weeks, I just forwarded it to my sister who's staying here in Canada, and she said, 'that's your key to Canada!'"

Immigrants now make up 29 per cent of B.C.'s population, higher than the national average of 23 per cent, according to census data released Wednesday.

While Metro Vancouver is still home to the largest number of immigrants in the province, its share of recent newcomers has dropped from 81 per cent in 2011-2016, to 78 per cent in 2016-2021, as many have chosen to live in other metropolitan areas.

Increasesin the percentage of new immigrants to B.C. is seen in Victoria (0.72 per cent) andNanaimo (0.42 per cent) on Vancouver Island, for example, as well asKelowna (0.47 per cent) in the Interior.

There have also been slight increases in Prince George and Prince Rupert in northern B.C.

New program helped draw newcomers to other regions

Smaller communities in the Southern Interior, such as Vernon and Nelson have also seen increases, thanks in part to thefederal Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP), animmigration program for skilled workers who want to work and live in a participating community.

Daniela Bustos, who lives inNelson and works at a leather goods store,became a Canadian permanent resident this January together with her family through the RNIP, which required that she live in the West Kootenay region and receivea job offer from a local employer.

Bustos, a former theatre producer, came to B.C.in 2017 with herhusband, Tiago, who quit his water polo coaching job in Brazil to study social work at Selkirk College in Castlegar, with the intention of immigrating to Canada.

She says they left their hometown ofSo Paulo because they believed Canada provideda safer environment for their two teens.

"[Brazil] is not an easy place to live, especially living in So Paulo we're talking about insecurity, about violence, about stress," she said.

Number of refugees also increased

The percentage of newcomers coming to the province as refugees has also increased by three per cent over the past five years.

A decade ago, Minab Yetbarekand his parents arrivedin Canada fromUganda, where they lived as asylum seekers after fleeing Eritrea.

The 27-year-old, who became a Canadian citizen two months ago, is currentlyan outreach workerwith settlement services agency MOSAIC, leveraginghis Tigrinya and Arabic language skills to help newcomers from countries in North Africaapply for jobs and government-issued documents.

Yetbarek says hecontinues to maintainties to his culture by writing literature in Tigrinya buthe'salso grateful for the people who helped him adapt to Canadian culture.

"They're like angelic spirits that have guided my way," he said. "I can safely say that I owe a lot to them."