Skip to main content

From Brain Drain to Brain Gain: New Greek Migration to Canada and Implications for the Community

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Inklusion und Bildung in Migrationsgesellschaften ((IBM))

Abstract

One of the direct consequences of the current economic crisis in Greece is the emergence of a new emigration wave, especially among young, educated people who are looking abroad for better conditions and opportunities for temporary or permanent relocation. In Canada, one of the traditional centres of the Greek diaspora, new immigration from Greece became particularly visible after 2012 in major urban centres such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. This article presents the findings of a research study that explores the profiles, attitudes, aspirations and experiences of new Greek immigrants in Canada. Through focus groups, interviews and an online survey, completed electronically by approximately 100 newcomers across Canada during the winter of 2017, various aspects of the contemporary Greek immigration experience have emerged, which are quite interesting when compared to the previous Greek Canadian migration between the 1950s and 1970s. Of particular interest are the findings that highlight the variety of reasons behind the newcomers’ decision to move to Canada, their overall high educational background, their differing degrees of adaptation to the host country conditions and their contradictory advice to compatriots who are planning to study or settle in Canada.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alba, R., Logan, J., Lutz, A., & Stults, B. (2002). Only English by the third generation? Loss and preservation of the mother tongue among the grandchildren of contemporary immigrants. Demography, 39 (03), (467–484).

    Google Scholar 

  • Alderman, L. (2017). After Economic Crisis, Low Birthrates Challenge Southern Europe. Business Day, The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/16/business/fewer-children-in-greece-may-add-to-its-financial-crisis.html. Accessed: November 26, 2017.

  • Aravossitas, T. (2010). From Greek school to Greek’s cool: heritage language education in Ontario and the Aristoteles credit program. Using weblogs for teaching the Greek language in Canada (Master’s thesis, University of Toronto). https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/25467/3/Aravossitas_Themistoklis_201011_MA_thesis.pdf. Accessed: January 8, 2019.

  • Aravossitas, T. (2014). Communities Taking the Lead: Mapping Heritage Language Education Assets. In P. Trifonas & T. Aravossitas (Eds.), Rethinking Heritage Language Education (pp. 141–166). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aravossitas, T. (2016). The hidden schools: Mapping Greek heritage language education in Canada (Doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto). http://hdl.handle.net/1807/71722. Accessed: November 14, 2017.

  • Arvanitis, E. (2000). Greek Ethnic Schools in transition: Policy and Practice in Australia in the late 1990s (Doctoral dissertation, RMIT University, Melbourne).

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, M., & Tastsoglu, E. (2008). Negotiating ethno-cultural identity: The experience of Greek and Jewish youth in Halifax. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 4 (02), (5–33).

    Google Scholar 

  • Canadian Magazine of Immigration (2016). Greek Immigrants to Canada. http://canadaimmigrants.com/greek-immigrants-canada/. Accessed: November 14, 2017.

  • Cavounidis, J. (2015). The Changing Face of Emigration: Harnessing the Potential of the New Greek Diaspora. http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/changing-face-emigration-harnessing-potential-new-greek-diaspora. Accessed: November 14, 2017.

  • Cervantes, M., & Guellec, D. (2002). The brain drain: Old myths, new realities. OECD Observer No 230. http://oecdobserver.org/news/archivestory.php/aid/673/The_brain_drain:_Old_myths,_new_realities.html. Accessed: December 9, 2017.

  • Chimbos, P. (1980). The Canadian Odyssey: The Greek experience in Canada. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chimbos, P. (1986). The Changing Organization of Greek-Canadian Communities. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 27 (03–04), (208–216).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chimbos, P. (1999). The Greeks in Canada: An Historical and Sociological Perspective. In R. Clogg (Εd.), The Greek Diaspora in the Twentieth Century (pp. 87–102). London: MacMillan Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Clogg, R. (Ed.) (1999). The Greek Diaspora in the Twentieth Century. London: MacMillan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constantinides, S. (2001). I ellinoglossi ekpaidefsi ston Kanada [Greek-language education in Canada]. Rethymno: ΕDIAMME [in Greek].

    Google Scholar 

  • Constantinides, S. (2014). I nea elliniki metanastefsi: I periptosi tou Kanada [New Greek Migration; the case of Canada]. In M. Damanakis, S. Constantinides & A. Tamis (Eds.), Nea Metanastefsi apo kai pros tin Ellada [New Migration to and from Greece] (pp. 83–114). Rethymno: KEME/Alexandria [in Greek].

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, J., & Danesi, M. (1990). Heritage languages: The development and denial of Canada’s linguistic resources. Toronto: Our schools/Our selves Education Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damanakis, M. (2007). Taftotites kai ekpaidefsi sti Diaspora [Identities and education in Diaspora]. Athens: Gutenberg [in Greek].

    Google Scholar 

  • Damanakis, M. (2010). Identities in the Greek Diaspora. In M. J. Osborne (Ed.), Philatheneos. Athens: Scientific Research Laboratory.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damanakis, M., Constantinides, S., & Tamis, A. (Eds.). (2014). Nea Metanastefsi apo kai pros tin Ellada [New Migration to and from Greece]. Rethymno: KEME/Alexandria [in Greek].

    Google Scholar 

  • Denscombe, M. (2014). Good research guide. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duff, P. (2008). Heritage language education in Canada. In D. Brinton, O. Kagan & S. Bauckos (Eds.), Heritage language education: A new field emerging (pp. 71–90). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, J. A. (1985). Mother-tongue claiming in the United States since 1960: trends and correlates. In Fishman, J. Gertner, M. H. Lowy, E. G. and Milan, W. G. The Rise and Fall of the Ethnic Revival (pp. 107–194). Berlin: Mouton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, J. A. (2001). 300-plus years of heritage language education in the United States. In J. K. Peyton, D. A. Ranard, & S. McGinnis (Eds.), Heritage languages in America. Preserving a national resource (pp. 81–89). McHenry, IL: Center for Applied Linguistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallant, T.W. (2006). The status of Modern Greek and Hellenic Studies in higher education in Canada and the York University experience. Journal of Modern Greek Studies, 24 (01), (141–151).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gavaki, E. (1979). The Greek Family in Canada: Continuity and Change and the Process of Adjustment. International Journal of Sociology of the Family, 9 (01), (1–16).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbon, J. (1938). Canadian Mosaic: The Making of a Northern Nation. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giles, H., Bourhis, R.Y., & Taylor, D.M. (1977). Towards a theory of language in ethnic group relations. In H. Giles (Ed.), Language, Ethnicity and Intergroup Relations (pp. 307–348). London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giles, H., Rosenthal, D., & Young, L. (1985). Perceived ethnolinguistic vitality: the Anglo and Greek-Australian setting. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 6 (03–04), (253–269).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellenic Immigrant Initiative (2017). Home. http://hiic.ca/. Accessed: November 14, 2017.

  • Historica Canada (2017). Greeks. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/greeks/. Accessed: November 14, 2017.

  • Houle, R. (2011). Recent evolution of immigrant-language transmission in Canada. Statistics Canada Catalogue. Canadian social trends no. 11-008-X. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2011002/article/11453-eng.htm#a4. Accessed: November 14, 2017.

  • Jedwab, J. (2014). Canada’s “Other” Languages: The Role of Non-Official Languages in Ethnic Persistence. In P. Trifonas & T. Aravossitas (Eds.), Rethinking Heritage Language Education (pp. 237–253). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalyvas, S. (2015). Modern Greece: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, R. (2000). Southern Europe in the Changing Global Map of Migration. In R. King, G. Lazaridis & Ch. Tsardanidis (Eds.), Eldorado or Fortress? Migration in Southern Europe (pp. 1–26). Basingstoke: Macmillan Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kourtis-Kazoullis, V., Spantidakis, I., & Chatzidaki, A. (2014). I ekmathisi tis ellinikis os defteris/xenis glossas mesa apo to programma Koinotiton Mathisis tou diadyktiakou mathisiakou perivallontos gia ti diaspora [Learning Greek as a Second/Foreign Language through the Communities of Learning project of the internet-based learning environment for Diaspora Greeks]. In G. Kotzoglou, K. Nikolou, E. Karantzola, K. Frantzi, I. Galantomos, M. Georgalidou, V. Kourti-Kazoullis, C. Papadopoulou & E. Vlachou (Eds.), Selected Papers from the 11th International Conference on Greek Linguistics (Rhodes, 26–29 September 2013) (pp. 760–774). Rhodes: University of the Aegean [in Greek].

    Google Scholar 

  • Labrianidis, L., & Pratsinakis, M. (2016). Greece’s new emigration at times of crisis (GreeSE Discussion Paper No. 99). Retrieved from Hellenic Observatory, Europe Institute. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/66811/1/GreeSE-No.99.pdf. Accessed: September 26, 2018.

  • Lakasas, A. (2016). Me ptychio 7 stous 10 ellines metanastes [7 out of 10 Greek immigrants hold university degrees]. Kathimerini. http://www.kathimerini.gr/857036/article/oikonomia/ellhnikh-oikonomia/me-ptyxio-7-stoys-10-ellhnes-metanastes. Accessed: September 9, 2018 [in Greek].

  • Lazaretou, S. (2016). Flight of Human Capital: The Modern Immigration Trend of the Greeks During the Economic Crisis. Economic Bulletin, 43 (04), (33–58).

    Google Scholar 

  • Library and Archives Canada (2017). Greek Genealogy and Family History: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/history-ethnic-cultural/Pages/greek.aspx. Accessed: February 8, 2018.

  • Liodakis, N. (1998). The Activities of Hellenic-Canadian Secular Organizations in the Context of Canadian Multiculturalism. Etudes Helleniques/Hellenic Studies, 6 (01), (37–58).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lo Bianco, J. (2008). Policy activity for heritage languages: Connections with representation and citizenship. In D. M. Brinton, O. Kagan & S. Bauckos (Eds.), Heritage language education: A new field emerging (pp. 53–69). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lo Bianco, J., & Peyton, J. K. (2013). Vitality of Heritage Languages in the United States: The Role of Capacity, Opportunity, and Desire. Heritage Language Journal, 10 (03), (i–viii).

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagata, J. A. (1969). Adaptation and Integration of Greek Working-Class Immigrants in the City of Toronto, Canada: A Situational Approach. The International Migration Review, 4 (01), (44–70).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nevradakis, M. (2011). From assimilation to Kalomoira: Satellite television and its place in New York City’s Greek community. Global Media Journal, 4 (01), (163–178).

    Google Scholar 

  • Panagakos, A. (2003). Downloading new identities: Ethnicity, technology, and the media in the global Greek village. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 10 (02), (201–219).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panagakos, A. (2006). Mapping Greektown: Identity and the making of “place” in suburban Calgary. In C. Teelucksingh (Ed.), Claiming Space: Racialization in Canadian Cities. Waterloo: University of Waterloo Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pelley, L. (2017). Stolen donations, tax fraud, abusive priests: Lawsuit alleges corruption among Greek Orthodox church leaders. CBC News Toronto. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/greek-church-lawsuit-1.4448893. Accessed: December 18, 2017.

  • SAE (2017). Hellenism in Canada. http://en.sae.gr/?id=13082. Accessed: December 19, 2017.

  • Sakellaropoulos, S. (2010). The Recent Economic Crisis in Greece and the Strategy of Capital. Journal of Modern Greek Studies, 28 (02), (321–348).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, C. (2013). Leaving Greece, Finding Hope. Winnipeg Free Press. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/leaving-greece-finding-hope-231108721.html. Accessed: November 14, 2017.

  • Sievert, S., Neubecker, N., Müller, R., Kaps, A., Dähner, S., & Woellert, F. (2017). Europeʼs Demographic Future: Where the Regions are headed after a Decade of Crises. Berlin Institute for Population and Development. https://www.berlin-institut.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Europas_demografische_Zukunft_2017/Europa_engl_online.pdf.Accessed: February 8, 2019.

  • Skourtou, E. (2002). Connecting Greek and Canadian schools through an Internet-based sister class network. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 5 (02), (85–95).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada (2011). Ethnic Origin, Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses 2011 National Household Survey. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=105396&PRID=0&PTYPE=105277&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2013&THEME=95&VID=0&VNAMEE=undefined&VNAMEF=undefined&wbdisable=true. Accessed: November 3, 2017.

  • Statistics Canada (2016). Immigrant population in Canada, 2016 Census of Population. https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2017028-eng.htm. Accessed: November 27, 2017.

  • Stewart, D.W., & Shamdasani, P. N. (1990). Focus groups: Theory and practice. Applied social research methods series. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamis, A. M. (2009). The Greek language in the diaspora/La langue Grecque en diaspora. Etudes Hélleniques, 17 (01), (1–19).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamis, A. M., & Gavaki, E. (2002). From migrants to citizens: Greek migration in Australia and Canada. Melbourne: National Centre for Hellenic Studies and Research, La Trobe University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tastsoglou, E. (1997). Immigrant Women and the Social Construction of Ethnicity: Three Generations of Greek Immigrant Women in Ontario. Advances in Gender Research, 2, (227–253).

    Google Scholar 

  • The Greek Press (2016). Hellenic Canadian Congress: “A pseudo-AGM elected the current Board of Directors”. http://greekpress.ca/hellenic-canadian-congress-a-pseudo-agm-elected-the-current-board-of-directors-hermes-iordanous-b-vice-president-of-greek-community-of-toronto/. Accessed: September 29, 2017.

  • Vlassis, G. (1953). The Greeks in Canada. Ottawa: Leclerc Printers.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Themistoklis Aravossitas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Aravossitas, T., Sugiman, M. (2019). From Brain Drain to Brain Gain: New Greek Migration to Canada and Implications for the Community. In: Panagiotopoulou, J., Rosen, L., Kirsch, C., Chatzidaki, A. (eds) 'New' Migration of Families from Greece to Europe and Canada. Inklusion und Bildung in Migrationsgesellschaften. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-25521-3_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-25521-3_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-658-25520-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-658-25521-3

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics