There were as many as 5,000 Canada millionaire immigrants in 2015
News East West
TORONTO: Immigration to Canada is such a big lure that as many as 5,000 new millionaire immigrants moved to Canada from various parts of the world in 2015.
According to the annual report of New World Wealth titled “Millionaire Migration in 2015,” the arrival of 5,000 new millionaire immigrants in Canada has pushed the number of millionaires in the country up by 2 percent to 292,000 millionaires.
Of the 5,000 millionaire immigrants that landed in Canada last year, 2,000 made Vancouver as their home. Most of these millionaires came from China and South East Asia. The influx of super rich immigrants explains the rising real estate prices in Vancouver.
Australia topped the list, with 8,000 new millionaires landing in the country last year, with Sydney receiving 4,000 and Melbourne 3,000 millionaire immigrants.
The US welcomed 7,000 new millionaire immigrants in 2015.
Paris, which made headlines last year for terrorist violence, saw a virtual exodus of millionaires, with as many as 7,000 leaving the city because of rising religious tensions and lack of opportunities. Over all, 10,000 millionaires left France for the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and Israel last year. “We expect that millionaire migration away from France will accelerate over the next decade as these tensions escalate,’’ the report forecasts.
After Australia, the US and Canada, Israel was the fourth biggest recipient of 4,000 millionaires, followed by the UAE (3,000) and New Zealand (2,000).
According to the report, 9,000 Chinese millionaires and 4,000 Indian millionaires left for other countries last year. “The outflows from India and China are not particularly concerning as these countries are still producing far more new millionaires than they are losing. Also, once the standard of living in these countries improves, we expect several wealthy people to move back,’’ says the report.
Russia, Brazil and Spain also lost 2,000 millionaires to the exodus last year.
The report says that because of rising religious tensions, major European countries such as Belgium, Germany, Sweden, and the UK may also start seeing the exodus of their millionaires.
