By Mata Press Service

 

Hong Kong maybe Canada’s largest city in Asia but the level of attachment of Canadians in Hong Kong to our nation is mixed.

According to a new survey published by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, only 16% of Canadians in Hong Kong considered Canada as their home ‘all the time,’ while 37% said ‘never.’ Moreover, 35% said they would ‘almost never’ or ‘never’ consider returning to Canada.

“These are generally people who have made their way to Canada to only get immigration status to protect themselves in case China goes rogue in the former British colony,” said a Vancouver-based immigration consultant.

“It’s a sad result of the immigration process.”

The Asian Sentinel commenting on the survey and the recent census in Hong Kong said tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents migrated to Canada lured by generous Canadian immigration policies.

“For almost a decade, Hong Kong was the biggest source of migrants to Canada. Once they attained the Canadian passports that would protect them from any harm if the Chinese government proved inhospitable, they started to trickle back. Many of these “boomerang immigrants,” as they became known, eventually returned to the territory,” a commentary in the Sentinel said.

The Asia Pacific Foundation, a Vancouver-based think tank, however, preferred a different picture of their study saying if Hong Kong was part of Canada; it would rank as the country’s 16th largest city.

The study Hong Kong: Canada’s Largest City in Asia provides fresh estimates of the number of Canadian citizens in Hong Kong and presents a portrait of their lives as overseas Canadians. The report found that based on conservative assumptions, the number of Canadians in Hong Kong is estimated at 295,930. The report found that 7.85% of Hong Kong households have at least one Canadian citizen over the age of 18.

“Hong Kong is Asia’s most Canadian city,” said Yuen Pau Woo, President and CEO of APF Canada. 

“People-to-people ties between Canada and Hong Kong are based on extensive family, business and education linkages. They are an asset in transpacific business, diplomatic, and socio-cultural relations that deserve greater recognition in Canada.”

Some 61% of surveyed households noted that they had at least one other Canadian citizen in their household. The average household size of Canadians in this survey is 3.2 members. Given this assumption, a higher estimate for the total number of Canadian citizens in Hong Kong is 542,601.

Over two-thirds of respondents indicated extensive family ties with Canada with immediate or extended family members residing or studying in Canada. Most respondents, 82%, indicated their last place of residency in Canada was either in Ontario or British Columbia, with some 52% noting that they received their education in Canada.

In identifying factors contributing to respondent’s decision to live in Hong Kong, job opportunities and family were the most important. It is likely that Canadians in Hong Kong play a major role in the $3.3 billion in trade between Canada and Mainland China that transited through Hong Kong in 2009.

Of the Canadians abroad surveyed, 83% expressed strong sentiments about their potential to make a meaningful contribution as Canadian citizens living in Hong Kong. 

“There is considerable opportunity to strengthen, through policy and outreach activities, the attachment of the estimated 2.8 million Canadians abroad to their Canadian ‘home.’ These activities could inspire a greater contribution to Canada’s presence abroad,” noted Kenny Zhang, the report co-author and senior project manager with APF Canada.

The survey was conducted between November 3-27, 2010 with a total of 35,825 households contacted (out of a total of 2,341,500 domestic households), representing 1.5% of all households in Hong KOng. The estimate of Canadian citizens in Hong Kong is based on a random sample of 1,800 households. The range of error for this estimate is +/- 0.3 percentage point at the 95 percent confidence interval. Other reported information and views about Canadian citizens in Hong Kong are based on a random sample of 507 interviews. It has a margin of error of +/- 5 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence interval.

The report was commissioned by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and conducted by the Hong Kong Transition Project, Hong Kong Baptist University.