Canada is fast becoming the new Mecca for skilled middle class Nigerian professionals

CANADA is fast becoming the new choice destination for Nigerians willing to leave the country and seek greener pastures abroad in preference to traditional hot spots like the US and the UK.

Despite Nigeria’s vast oil wealth, electricity supply is far from regular and makes life miserable and expensive, forcing many young professionals, especially, the children of the wealthy, to migrate abroad. Middle class Nigerians can end up spending up to three times more running petrol or diesel power generators than they do on electricity bills, which has forced many young people to emigrate.

For many, this desire to move abroad is borne out of growing frustrations with living in a country where basic amenities can often be a luxury despite the trappings of a middle-class life. Hospitals lack equipment or drugs and often end up with no staff due to frequent strikes by health workers over low wages and many Nigerians die due to a lack of oxygen at hospitals.

There is also widespread general insecurity with terrorist threats from Boko Haram and herdsmen attacks in key pockets of the country. There is also a fear of kidnapping and robbery, now a daily reality for the middle-class in major cities and the Nigerian Police Force is hopelessly overwhelmed by the situation.

While most headlines about migration from Nigeria over the past two years have focused on the thousands who take the treacherous route across the Sahara desert and Mediterranean Sea to try and reach Europe, the preferred route for wealthier, well-educated Nigerians is through a more formal path to economic immigration. While in the recent past that move has often been to the UK and the US, today it is mainly to Canada.

Canada is at a different stage demographically as it needs migration to offset the effects of its aging population. In 2016, senior Canadians outnumbered children and as such the government introduced an Express Entry Programme for skilled workers in 2015 to boost its labour force.

Successful applicants receive the holy grail of migration in the form of a permanent residence permit. Applicants are judged based on several factors including age, education level, language proficiency and work experience to determine their eligibility for the programme.

Quiet efficient, the entire process typically takes at least six months and it has quickly become popular among middle-class Nigerians. Apparently, the number of Nigerians admitted into Canada through Express Entry between 2015 and 2016 increased tenfold and 2017 data will likely show a much higher spike.

With the programme open all year round and no cap on the number of candidates that can apply, that trend will likely continue. Canada hopes to admit 75,000 skilled migrants through Express Entry this year and 85,000 by 2020.