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THE SHIFTING IDENTITIES OF THE BULGARIAN-CANADIAN DIASPORA, 1900-2015 Year Bulgarians | Romanians Greeks Italians Ukrainians 1996 827 3,945 221 476 2,684 1997 665 3,916 190 491 2,518 1998 759 2,976 141 399 2,702 1999 757 3,468 149 410 2,836 2000 1,097 4,431 150 383 3,345 2001 1,188 5,589 135 410 3,513 2002 1,474 5,668 107 374 3,515 2003 1,424 5,466 117 321 2,757 2004 1,945 5,658 120 334 2,431 2005 1,685 4,964 100 344 2,269 2006 1,419 4,468 74 325 1,970 2007 1,172 3,834 110 316 2,218 2008 994 2,836 106 370 1,935 2009 784 2,076 118 429 2,364 2010 556 1,922 101 434 3,159 2011 365 1,776 102 374 2,516 2012 451 1,588 146 438 2,263 2013 512 1,512 299 545 2,484 2014 451 1,553 373 652 2,539 2015 371 1,183 477 832 2,378 Figure 2: Bulgarian, Romanian, Greek, Italian, and Ukrainian Immigration to Canada, 1996-2015° Ihere are various reasons for the declining interest of Bulgarians in Canada. The EU membership made labor migration from Bulgaria to Western Europe quite easy with minimum bureaucratic formalities and the low-cost airfares allowed Bulgarians to reach the wealthier EU member countries almost for free. In comparison, legal immigration to Canada has always been a long and expensive process and in recent years, the Canadian authorities have tightened the rules even further with new requirements for official language test results, job offers, etc. The misleading promotion of Canada is another factor. Immigration applicants often believe that by receiving the necessary points to immigrate to Canada, their education and qualifications would automatically be recognized by Canadian employers, whereas the real picture "7 Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Facts and Figures: Immigration Overview — Permanent and Temporary Residents, Ottawa, Government of Canada, 2005, 44 and Facts & Figures 2015: Immigration Overview — Permanent Residents — Annual IRCC Updates, Ottawa, IRCC, 2015. 67 +
