OTTAWA — A new study says about four in 10 immigrants who arrived in Canada during 2000-01 sent money to family or friends abroad during their first four years in the country.

Statistics Canada says that over the entire period, about 41 per cent of immigrants sent money home at least once. Within six to 24 months of landing, 23 per cent of immigrants had sent remittances to their home country - averaging $2,500 each.

A separate Statistics Canada study has found that so-called personal transfers to other countries by all Canadians, not just immigrants, averaged $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year between 2002 and 2007.

Researcher Denis Caron calls personal transfers "an emerging issue in the Canadian economy," whose gross domestic product exceeds $1 trillion.

The study of immigrants found the proportion sending money away was highest among newcomers from the Philippines and Haiti, and lowest among those from France, Britain and South Korea.

The agency says the likelihood of immigrants remitting depended on three additional factors - their income, family obligations in Canada and abroad and demographics.

World Bank figures for 2004 suggest remittances represent an important source of revenue for people in developing countries.

They accounted for about 20 to 30 per cent of gross domestic product in countries such as Haiti, Lesotho and Jordan, and for about 10 to 19 per cent in several others, such as Jamaica, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic.