The country debates stiffening its departure levy as unprecedented numbers of skilled workers head to U.S.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-1-1024x576.png\")
Photo by Michael Steele\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFor some critics of American immigration policies, Canada\u2019s system, which focuses<\/a> on admitting educated, experienced workers who can support themselves and bolster the national economy, should be a model for U.S. reforms. About six in ten new residents whom Canada admits are classified<\/a> as members of the \u201ceconomic class\u201d of immigrants, granted entry based on their education, work experience, and ability to speak one of the country\u2019s official languages. While America\u2019s legal immigration regime is heavily weighted<\/a> toward family unification, those admitted to Canada based on familial ties make up less than one-quarter<\/a> of migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYet despite this attention to attracting highly educated professionals, Canada is also suffering from a deep \u201cbrain drain.\u201d The country faces \u201ca disproportionate loss of high-earning, highly educated Canadians, particularly to the United States\u2014the entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, and financiers whose economic contributions far exceed their numbers,\u201d according<\/a> to a recent report. That drain includes both native-born Canadians and, especially, recent immigrants. Summarizing another report<\/a> provocatively titled \u201cThe Leaky Bucket,\u201d the Institute for Canadian Citizenship said<\/a>, \u201cCanada\u2019s immigration system is doing a good job of attracting talent, but not keeping it.\u201d Among the causes<\/a> of this drain: high taxes, regulations that stymie entrepreneurs, and wage growth that has fallen far behind that of the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNow Canadians are debating whether a steep \u201cexit\u201d tax on those who want to leave, combined with a sharp reduction in special visas that allow Canadians to migrate to the U.S., are answers to their problems. Ironically, one of their most successful expatriates, former Google Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette, who left Canada<\/a> for the U.S. in 2008 and now resides in London, sparked the debate. At a Liberal Party convention in Montreal earlier this year, he proposed<\/a> that those educated in Canadian institutions should pay a whopping half-million-dollar \u201cexit penalty\u201d to leave for the U.S. He also argued that Canada should shut down a visa system<\/a> created through the North American Free Trade Agreement that allows educated Canadians and Mexicans to establish residence in the U.S. with relative ease\u2014a program he took advantage of<\/a> after getting an offer from Microsoft. Of those leaving, Pichette said, \u201cKeep them in Canada, or make them pay their half a million so that if they leave, I\u2019m OK with that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThere\u2019s no arguing with the problem Pichette outlines. Outmigration from Canada has reached an all-time high<\/a>. It\u2019s not just the number of emigrants, moreover, but who they are. The Bank of Canada found<\/a> that 40 percent of Canadians whose income would rank them in the top 1 percent of the country\u2019s earners have departed for the U.S. More than a third of those leaving, Pichette suggested<\/a> in his speech, are educated Canadian citizens using the NAFTA-expedited visa program. Shutting that down, he said, would \u201csave\u201d the country some $5 billion to $10 billion in education expenses that he said are lost when they migrate to America. Or, as an alternative, he argued for taxing them $500,000 on exit to recoup that investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNative-born Canadians exiting represent only part of the problem. Canada is also losing the skilled foreign arrivals who have long been considered the gems of its immigration system. The more credentialed they are, the more likely they\u2019ll flee. Some 34 percent<\/a> of those with doctorate degrees who\u2019ve entered the country eventually leave\u2014a rate twice as high as those without bachelor\u2019s degrees. Those with master\u2019s degrees or at least some graduate study are nearly as likely to go. Some of these immigrants barely settle in Canada before they head for the door. About 10 percent with doctorates or master\u2019s degrees are gone within five years of arriving.<\/p>\n\n\n\nResearch suggests the country\u2019s emigration problem arises from Canada\u2019s heavy tax and regulatory regimes, which stifle innovation and economic growth. For the past 20 years, per capita GDP in Canada has averaged<\/a> well below 1 percent a year. Wages have stagnated, even for the talented. One study estimates<\/a> that pre-tax median wages for technology workers in Canada are 46 percent lower than in the United States. Meanwhile, personal income taxes on what Canadians do earn can be steep. In Ontario and Quebec, top tax rates match those of California and New York, but Canada\u2019s highest rates kick in at much lower levels of income. Moreover, the gains in both workers and investment by low-tax American states<\/a> like Texas and Florida, to which many companies have migrated, have amplified the tax disadvantages of living in Canada. Canadians hate the notion of being \u201cAmerica\u2019s 51st state,\u201d but the flight from Canada resembles the outmigration of talent and capital from high-tax blue states to business-friendly red ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCritics also attribute the nation\u2019s steep and complex business taxes, combined with onerous regulations, for suppressing innovation. Despite Canada\u2019s strong reputation for research and development, innovative start-ups have trouble scaling up in Canada to match the kind of blockbuster growth of tech companies one sees in the United States. That\u2019s one reason large companies account for a significantly smaller share of jobs<\/a> in Canada. \u201cHyperscalers and high-growth small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are at the centre of more successful countries\u2019 innovation and productivity agendas, notably the U.S., and without progress on that front, Canada risks losing much of its most sought-after talent, hobbling our own innovation economy,\u201d a recent TD Bank report<\/a> noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCanada is already one of few countries with an exit, or departure, tax that applies to those who want to change their permanent residency. It is a levy on the capital gains of assets accumulated<\/a> while in the nation, including a tax on the unrealized capital gains of assets like stocks. Pichette\u2019s proposal involves extending it and making it even more burdensome. Advocates of these levies consider them an \u201cadhesive residency<\/a>\u201d because they cling to individuals\u2019 wealth even as they leave a tax jurisdiction. But critics suggest they may prompt highly educated individuals to leave before they accumulate too many assets. That may be one reason so many high-talent immigrants leave the country within five years. \u201cProposals such as Pichette\u2019s don\u2019t solve the talent and capital exodus; they concede it,\u201d a former Chair of the Canadian Tax Foundation said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEven as Canada has debated Pichette\u2019s proposals, controversy over its current exit tax has exploded thanks to social-media posts by Concordia University marketing professor Gad Saad. Saad announced<\/a> that he decided to emigrate due to rising anti-Semitism in Canada but was \u201cnumb\u201d and \u201cspeechless\u201d after discovering<\/a> the exorbitant price he would have to pay to go, including on the royalties he received from several best-selling books. He posted<\/a> on X:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve worked night and day for decades; nearly all of my money was generated outside of Canada, yet the provincial and federal governments felt that they are owed more than 55% of my earnings even though my taxes on my professorial salary is already more than what most Canadians pay in taxes. It is a criminal exercise bereft of fairness or morality.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Saad\u2019s complaints have divided the country, with some critics pointing out he\u2019s unwilling to pay his \u201cfair share\u201d to a country that welcomed him as a refugee from Lebanon some five decades ago. Others, however, argue<\/a> that exit taxes are a form of \u201cindenture.\u201d That issue is especially pertinent given that Saad is fleeing Canada because of anti-Semitism that he attributes<\/a> to the government\u2019s refugee policy, which has accepted immigrants from countries rife with hatred of Jews and Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs an economic issue, perhaps the most significant observation is that this kind of taxation is exactly what a country with a \u201cleaky barrel\u201d cannot afford. \u201cThe policy argument is easy enough to understand. Canada wants to tax gains built up while someone lived here,\u201d former Canadian MP Ryan Williams said<\/a>. \u201cBut the bigger issue is what this says about the country. When successful people increasingly want to leave over taxes, safety and a loss of confidence in the future, the answer is not to shrug and say good riddance,\u201d former Canadian MP Ryan Williams observed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo some in Canada, like Pichette, the answer apparently is to tax them even more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A couple interesting tidbits here, Canada is considering a $500,000 tax to leave for educated professionals who easily migrate to America through NAFTA provisions. And Canada has an exit tax where you treat all investments as sold and pay capital gains. The US has a similar tax if you renounce your US citizenship, as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17827,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17825\/revisions\/17827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
For some critics of American immigration policies, Canada\u2019s system, which focuses<\/a> on admitting educated, experienced workers who can support themselves and bolster the national economy, should be a model for U.S. reforms. About six in ten new residents whom Canada admits are classified<\/a> as members of the \u201ceconomic class\u201d of immigrants, granted entry based on their education, work experience, and ability to speak one of the country\u2019s official languages. While America\u2019s legal immigration regime is heavily weighted<\/a> toward family unification, those admitted to Canada based on familial ties make up less than one-quarter<\/a> of migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet despite this attention to attracting highly educated professionals, Canada is also suffering from a deep \u201cbrain drain.\u201d The country faces \u201ca disproportionate loss of high-earning, highly educated Canadians, particularly to the United States\u2014the entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, and financiers whose economic contributions far exceed their numbers,\u201d according<\/a> to a recent report. That drain includes both native-born Canadians and, especially, recent immigrants. Summarizing another report<\/a> provocatively titled \u201cThe Leaky Bucket,\u201d the Institute for Canadian Citizenship said<\/a>, \u201cCanada\u2019s immigration system is doing a good job of attracting talent, but not keeping it.\u201d Among the causes<\/a> of this drain: high taxes, regulations that stymie entrepreneurs, and wage growth that has fallen far behind that of the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now Canadians are debating whether a steep \u201cexit\u201d tax on those who want to leave, combined with a sharp reduction in special visas that allow Canadians to migrate to the U.S., are answers to their problems. Ironically, one of their most successful expatriates, former Google Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette, who left Canada<\/a> for the U.S. in 2008 and now resides in London, sparked the debate. At a Liberal Party convention in Montreal earlier this year, he proposed<\/a> that those educated in Canadian institutions should pay a whopping half-million-dollar \u201cexit penalty\u201d to leave for the U.S. He also argued that Canada should shut down a visa system<\/a> created through the North American Free Trade Agreement that allows educated Canadians and Mexicans to establish residence in the U.S. with relative ease\u2014a program he took advantage of<\/a> after getting an offer from Microsoft. Of those leaving, Pichette said, \u201cKeep them in Canada, or make them pay their half a million so that if they leave, I\u2019m OK with that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no arguing with the problem Pichette outlines. Outmigration from Canada has reached an all-time high<\/a>. It\u2019s not just the number of emigrants, moreover, but who they are. The Bank of Canada found<\/a> that 40 percent of Canadians whose income would rank them in the top 1 percent of the country\u2019s earners have departed for the U.S. More than a third of those leaving, Pichette suggested<\/a> in his speech, are educated Canadian citizens using the NAFTA-expedited visa program. Shutting that down, he said, would \u201csave\u201d the country some $5 billion to $10 billion in education expenses that he said are lost when they migrate to America. Or, as an alternative, he argued for taxing them $500,000 on exit to recoup that investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Native-born Canadians exiting represent only part of the problem. Canada is also losing the skilled foreign arrivals who have long been considered the gems of its immigration system. The more credentialed they are, the more likely they\u2019ll flee. Some 34 percent<\/a> of those with doctorate degrees who\u2019ve entered the country eventually leave\u2014a rate twice as high as those without bachelor\u2019s degrees. Those with master\u2019s degrees or at least some graduate study are nearly as likely to go. Some of these immigrants barely settle in Canada before they head for the door. About 10 percent with doctorates or master\u2019s degrees are gone within five years of arriving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Research suggests the country\u2019s emigration problem arises from Canada\u2019s heavy tax and regulatory regimes, which stifle innovation and economic growth. For the past 20 years, per capita GDP in Canada has averaged<\/a> well below 1 percent a year. Wages have stagnated, even for the talented. One study estimates<\/a> that pre-tax median wages for technology workers in Canada are 46 percent lower than in the United States. Meanwhile, personal income taxes on what Canadians do earn can be steep. In Ontario and Quebec, top tax rates match those of California and New York, but Canada\u2019s highest rates kick in at much lower levels of income. Moreover, the gains in both workers and investment by low-tax American states<\/a> like Texas and Florida, to which many companies have migrated, have amplified the tax disadvantages of living in Canada. Canadians hate the notion of being \u201cAmerica\u2019s 51st state,\u201d but the flight from Canada resembles the outmigration of talent and capital from high-tax blue states to business-friendly red ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Critics also attribute the nation\u2019s steep and complex business taxes, combined with onerous regulations, for suppressing innovation. Despite Canada\u2019s strong reputation for research and development, innovative start-ups have trouble scaling up in Canada to match the kind of blockbuster growth of tech companies one sees in the United States. That\u2019s one reason large companies account for a significantly smaller share of jobs<\/a> in Canada. \u201cHyperscalers and high-growth small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are at the centre of more successful countries\u2019 innovation and productivity agendas, notably the U.S., and without progress on that front, Canada risks losing much of its most sought-after talent, hobbling our own innovation economy,\u201d a recent TD Bank report<\/a> noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Canada is already one of few countries with an exit, or departure, tax that applies to those who want to change their permanent residency. It is a levy on the capital gains of assets accumulated<\/a> while in the nation, including a tax on the unrealized capital gains of assets like stocks. Pichette\u2019s proposal involves extending it and making it even more burdensome. Advocates of these levies consider them an \u201cadhesive residency<\/a>\u201d because they cling to individuals\u2019 wealth even as they leave a tax jurisdiction. But critics suggest they may prompt highly educated individuals to leave before they accumulate too many assets. That may be one reason so many high-talent immigrants leave the country within five years. \u201cProposals such as Pichette\u2019s don\u2019t solve the talent and capital exodus; they concede it,\u201d a former Chair of the Canadian Tax Foundation said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even as Canada has debated Pichette\u2019s proposals, controversy over its current exit tax has exploded thanks to social-media posts by Concordia University marketing professor Gad Saad. Saad announced<\/a> that he decided to emigrate due to rising anti-Semitism in Canada but was \u201cnumb\u201d and \u201cspeechless\u201d after discovering<\/a> the exorbitant price he would have to pay to go, including on the royalties he received from several best-selling books. He posted<\/a> on X:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve worked night and day for decades; nearly all of my money was generated outside of Canada, yet the provincial and federal governments felt that they are owed more than 55% of my earnings even though my taxes on my professorial salary is already more than what most Canadians pay in taxes. It is a criminal exercise bereft of fairness or morality.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Saad\u2019s complaints have divided the country, with some critics pointing out he\u2019s unwilling to pay his \u201cfair share\u201d to a country that welcomed him as a refugee from Lebanon some five decades ago. Others, however, argue<\/a> that exit taxes are a form of \u201cindenture.\u201d That issue is especially pertinent given that Saad is fleeing Canada because of anti-Semitism that he attributes<\/a> to the government\u2019s refugee policy, which has accepted immigrants from countries rife with hatred of Jews and Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an economic issue, perhaps the most significant observation is that this kind of taxation is exactly what a country with a \u201cleaky barrel\u201d cannot afford. \u201cThe policy argument is easy enough to understand. Canada wants to tax gains built up while someone lived here,\u201d former Canadian MP Ryan Williams said<\/a>. \u201cBut the bigger issue is what this says about the country. When successful people increasingly want to leave over taxes, safety and a loss of confidence in the future, the answer is not to shrug and say good riddance,\u201d former Canadian MP Ryan Williams observed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To some in Canada, like Pichette, the answer apparently is to tax them even more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A couple interesting tidbits here, Canada is considering a $500,000 tax to leave for educated professionals who easily migrate to America through NAFTA provisions. And Canada has an exit tax where you treat all investments as sold and pay capital gains. The US has a similar tax if you renounce your US citizenship, as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17827,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17825\/revisions\/17827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n