1088 



Some Brain Drain Patterns Within British Comrrionwealth : Canada 

 and Australia 



Like the United States, Canada strongly attracts professional man- 

 power from Western Europe, the Commonwealth, and the JjDCs. 

 According to Nuri Eren, Canada, along with the United States, is 

 in the "forefront" of nations engaged in the global exchange of pro- 

 fessional manpower.^*^ 



The magnitude of inflow of PTKs (Professional, Technical and 

 Kindred Workers) into Canada is impressive. During the period 

 1946-65, 1,314,878 workers immigrated to Canada. Of this total 

 , 145.501 were PTKs. This figure constituted 11.1 percent of the total of 

 immigrant workers. In 1965, this percentage of professionals jumped 

 to 22.4 percent."^ During the period 1962-68, an aggregate of 

 1.207.582 immigrated into Canada. Of this total, 130,217 were PTKs.^^" 



Britain has been a substantial donor to Canada's professional man- 

 power pool. It is estimated that between 1962 and 1965 the number of 

 PTKs emigrating from the United Kingdom to Canada increased 

 from 3,116 to 5,997.«i 



MOVEMENT FROM LDC's TO CANADA 



Canada has also drawn heavily on professional manpower from the 

 developing countries. This is a matter of necessity. Traditionally 

 Europe had been Canada's main source of immigration. The same is 

 true of Australia. But in recent decades it has become increas- 

 ingly more diflGlcult to get professionals and skilled workers from 

 Europe. Consequently, Canada has had to draw upon and absorb 

 professionals from the LDCs. This shift in emphasis is borne out by 

 statistics. The percentage of professionals immigrating into Canada 

 from countries other than the United States, the United Kingdom, 

 and the chief European sources increased from 7.2 percent in 1946 

 to 27.6 percent in 1963. In 1967, 37 percent of Canada's professional 

 immigrants came from outside the United States and Europe. Between 

 1946 and 1963, the rate of immigration for skilled occupations in- 

 creased dramatically from 8.5 percent to 36.3 percent.^''^ 



Tables 1 and 2 provide a profile of heavy donors to Canada's profes- 

 sional population from the LDCs. 



i« Eren, op. clt.. p. 11. According to Mr. Eren, 1,500 of Canada's 24,000 physicians have 

 been trained abroad. 



"8 Thomas, op. clt., p. 33. 



1^ Henderson, op. cit., p. 178 (table VIII). 



1" Thomas, op. cit., p. 36. For a stiidv on the emigration of British scientists, see Jamea 

 A. Wilson. "The Emigration of British Scientists," J/jnerra, v. 5. (Autum 1966). pp. 20- 

 29. Accordlne to a report of an ad hoc committee of the Roval Society, the annual rate of 

 permanent emigration of recent Ph. D.s had risen to about 12 percent of the total output in 

 the fields Included in the survey. The committee determined that by 1961, about 140 were 

 departing per annum, with 60 entering the United States, 20 going to Canada. 35 to other 

 Commonwealth countries and 25 to all other countries. They concluded further that the 

 outward flow of recent Ph. D.s had Increased by a factor of about three In the decade 

 19.52-fil. The report covered S.S."?? out of Pn estimated 9.700 rec'nients of Ph. D. degrees 

 in science ; 1.136 of these emigrated permanently during the decade. In addition, 389 

 scientists on the staffs of universities and certain research institutions emigrated during 

 the same period. During the period 1957-61, 1,053 recent Ph. D.s emigrated on a "mostly 

 temporary" basis, of whom 545 returner'. 14.'? had not returnerl. nnd the location of 365 

 was unknown. The overall average loss during the decade from 1952 to 1961 was about 16 

 percent of the Ph. D.s and scientific staff members of universities and research institutions 

 In the various fields of science. Approximately half emigrated to the United States (pp. 

 21-22). 



1^- Report of U.N. Secretary General, Outflow of Trained Personnel from LDCs. Nov. 5, 

 1968, p. 16. 



