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The Canada-Caribbean Remittance Corridor
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Table 12. Canada-Haiti: Bilateral Remittance Flow Size Estimates Estimated Bilateral Flow Orozco (2006)
US$65,520,000
Orozco (2006)
US$75,600,000
World Bank T4 Estimate (2006)
US$74,000,000
Based on Simmons, Plaza et al. (2005) and 2006 Statistics Canada Census
Can$82,780,000
Method 70% of adult population remitting, 52,000 Haitian adults, US$150 average monthly transfer. 70% of adult population remitting, 60,000 Haitian adults, US$150 average monthly transfer. Breakdown of overall remittance inflow into Haiti based on migrant stocks, income in sending and receiving countries. 80% adult Haitian population remitting, 73,695 adult Haitian residents, Can$1,407 median yearly remittance in 2004.
remittance transfers from Canada, and estimated that in 2006, the total flow of remittances into Haiti approximated US$1.65 billion. According to the 2001 Haiti population census, more than 20 percent of local households were receiving money from abroad in the form of remittances.31 Since, for security and other reasons, Haitians are traditionally reluctant to disclose financial information, the figure probably underestimates the actual number of recipient households. The United States, Canada, France and the Dominican Republic are believed to be the main sources of remittances, given the size of their Haitian communities. Estimates for 2001 put the number of Haitians in the US at about 800,000, in the Dominican Republic at 600,000, and in Canada at 102,000. Of Haitians abroad, about 6 percent had already been estimated to be living in Canada.32 Remittance volumes and means of transfer obviously vary from one source country to another. Both Canada and the US generate higher than average transfer amounts, and make relatively greater use of formal transfer channels. In the Dominican Republic, informal channels seem to be the favored choice, for reasons that are both geographical and cultural. According to a 2005 survey involving 150 Haitian households in Montreal, remittances remain a widespread practice in the local Haitian community, with almost 88 percent of respondents having made remittance transfers at least once between 2000 and 2005. More than 84 percent of respondents had sent cash to Haiti at least once between 2004 and early 2005 (Simmons, Plaza, and others 2005). Both the survey, and information subsequently collected by BRCA in Canada and Haiti, estimates the typical transfer amount to be approximately Can$150–180. It is worth noting that this average amount is smaller than the average remittance amounts sent by migrants to other Caribbean countries, which are estimated to be in the range of Can$280–300.33 Occasionally, much larger amounts are 31. 2001 Haiti Household census. 32. 2001 Haiti Household census. 33. Interview with Western Union representatives, Toronto.