Opinion: Yes, Canada has brain-drain. But Canadians abroad often find it hard to come home

Emerson Csorba is a business executive, previously working in geopolitics.

Following nearly a decade in Britain, I have come to appreciate the importance of making a contribution to Canada at an inflection point in our history. That has led me to return to home, moving to Montreal. There are few more important times than now than to be in Canada to work in helping protect our beautiful country.

We need a reverse brain-drain, in which Canadians who have spent time abroad to learn, work and form relationships return to put these experiences to good use where they are most needed: at home.

I fear that Canadians, however, are often suspicious of those who spend several years abroad. This is a variation of the dreaded “Canadian experience” requirement that has resulted in immigrants not being able to find jobs fitting their qualifications. It applies to returning Canadians, too.

I have yet to spend enough time back in Canada to personally experience this, but when back for short periods, I have found peers uninterested in my observations about life, business and politics beyond their borders.

I have heard countless horror stories about Canadians experiencing success globally who could not land jobs when they return home. One friend occupies one of the most powerful jobs in the British government but does not believe Canadians would care, and so is hesitant to return.

Don’t just listen to my personal anecdotes. Look at the example of Michael Ignatieff, the former federal Liberal leader.

Mr. Ignatieff might not have been a successful politician, but there was little recognition for the valuable perspectives he brought to Canada as a nuanced thinker on nationalism and identity, reflected in his book Blood and Belonging. Regardless of your political stripe, we should applaud leaders like him who want to put their global experiences into practice for the country they obviously love.

Yet look what happened to Mr. Ignatieff. During the 2011 election, a Conservative ad framed his political ambitions as “just visiting.” The fact that not only did the Liberals lose that election, but that Mr. Ignatieff lost his own seat, suggests the ad had resonated with the public to a degree. Mr. Ignatieff himself admitted as much, saying his political rivals had “done a number on me.”

In Australia, it is normal to see political and business leaders spend extensive time abroad prior to returning home. Australians travel the world following high school, as part of their gap years, to the point that they are puzzled when asked why so many of their politicians have studied abroad. Their answer is “Why wouldn’t they have gone abroad?”

Of the past 10 Australian prime ministers, five earned degrees abroad. In Canada, the number is only 2½, if we were to adopt a charitable interpretation (Pierre Elliott Trudeau, whose foreign study was significant, and John Turner; Kim Campbell briefly studied abroad before dropping out).

There is much less of this culture of embracing overseas experience in Canada. Canada trails many of its peers in the percentage of undergraduate students who study abroad, with its 11 per cent lagging behind Australia (19 per cent), France (33 per cent), Germany (29 per cent) and even the United States (16 per cent), according to Universities Canada and the Canadian Bureau for International Education.

I often feel that Canadians abroad who come back must “re-Canadianize,” proving to their fellow Canucks that they are in fact Canadian despite having spent time outside the country – their leaving seen by some as more of a slight than a decision to gain the sort of experience that could be used to help Canada.

What is behind this need to “re-Canadianize?” My sense, unfortunately, is that it is borne out of a mindset of insecurity. Canada, next to the United States, is the smaller player perpetually concerned about the bigger power next to it. In situations of insecurity, we know that individuals with influence seek to hold on to it however they can, ever concerned about outsiders who might disrupt or even challenge their positions.

Another reason is that “you don’t know what you don’t know.” The low levels of international experience and university education in Canadian politics mean that non-Canadian leadership experiences do not easily register at home.

The result of this lack of openness to Canadians returning home is a missed opportunity to understand the world beyond Canadian borders and to take advantage of contacts made abroad that are needed to influence global events in ways that benefit Canada.

At this point in Canadian history, my hope is not just that Canadians living abroad return home in growing numbers to serve their country, but that Canadians accept those returning home.