“Millennials”, that is, those under 30 years old, keep a job for between 15 and 18 months, no more. Especially in the Greater Toronto area, people want to move very quickly, to get a higher salary and a more interesting job. People like that keep jobs for between 15 and 18 months. Retention at work, whether for a person born in Canada or for an immigrant, is somewhat similar, but an immigrant will stay in a job longer than someone born in Canada because they are looking to get more used to Canadian workplace culture. That's the kind of division we are seeing.
As for integration into Canada, you have to know that the immigration process takes time. I am an immigrant myself and it took me more than two years to get my immigration documents, even though I have a Canadian degree. It is quite the process, but people really want it. When you come to Canada, you arrive with the desire to settle and some money, which we are asked to bring. Once you are here, if you are properly advised and shown the right direction, you aren’t going to leave.
You were talking about health earlier. Immigrant doctors are told that it is great that they are coming here because we need French-speaking doctors in Ontario. But when they arrive, they are told that they are not allowed to practice. That is when people leave. I have seen clients who were hospital directors, in Abidjan, for example, or in other places. They were happy to come with their wives and children. But once they got to Canada, they were told that they are not allowed to practice, that they have to go back to school and take jobs as orderlies and such. What do people do in situations like that? They leave, because their lifestyle was better in Abidjan that it would be in Ontario.
I have no figures to give you, but retention really depends on a person’s area of activity and level of education.