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Sending money back home

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Canadians send as much as $2 billion out of the country each year to friends and family in foreign lands.

The contribution can be important. In some developing countries, including Haiti, Lesotho and Jordan, worldwide remittances account for up to 30% of their GDP. In Jamaica, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic, these money transfers account for as much as 20% of their economies.

Roughly 4 in 10 immigrants who arrived in Canada during 2000/2001 sent money to support family and friends abroad at least once during their first four years here. New arrivals from Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and Guyana are more likely than those from any other group to send money back home. The proportion is highest among immigrants from the Philippines and Haiti; it is lowest among those from France, the United Kingdom and South Korea.