Anyone who has read the news lately may have noticed talk of a growing number of immigrants coming to Canada. In fact, freshly released 2006 census data from Statistics Canada estimates that 1,100,000 immigrants came to Canada between 2001 and 2006.
What does this mean for real estate professionals? Well, a recent survey by Genworth Financial suggests that 52 percent of recent immigrants will purchase a home within 3 years of arrival to this country, indicating that it is an emerging market segment that should not be ignored.
This was, in fact, the topic of discussion at the recent RISMedia 18th annual leadership conference, where a panel of real estate marketing specialists discussed the reasons why this emerging market is so important to real estate professionals.
Although, much of the discussion was from a U.S. standpoint, a number of valuable tips were provided, including the need to hire multi-lingual staff within agencies, as well as an increased participation in specific community groups and networking opportunities.
In Canada, an excellent resource for recent immigrants can be found on the Genworth Financial website with its ‘Recent Immigrant’s Guide to Homebuying’, available in 7 languages.
A good start for real estate agents to reach out to the various immigrant communities would be to update their website to include a link to Genworth’s multi-lingual guide.
Internet Marketing for Real Estate 
I like Canada in the summer, but it’s just too cold in the winter!
If I were a new immigrant I think I’d want to choose someplace warm… Maybe Las Vegas (since that were I already live).
Ryan