Makes intuitive sense that social connections mitigate impacts of discrimination:
In 2023/2024, 45% of all racialized Canadians reported experiencing discrimination over the previous five years. While discrimination has been related to negative mental and physical health, lower levels of life satisfaction and reduced hopefulness about the future, these outcomes become less pronounced when victims of discriminatory acts have strong personal support networks.
Among racialized Canadians who reported experiencing discrimination in the previous five years, one-third (33%) reported having a high level of life satisfaction (scoring 8 or higher on a 10-point scale). This proportion increased to 47% among victims with strong family connections and to 49% for those with strong friend connections. Mental health outcomes and future outlook also fared better when victims had personal support networks.
These results are based on the new study released today, “Softening the blow of discrimination: The role of social connections in mitigating the harms associated with racism and discrimination,” which used the Survey Series on People and their Communities to look at the role of family and friends in mitigating the harms associated with discrimination among racialized Canadians. The study also examined how family and friend relationships can influence discrimination victims’ perceptions of other Canadians and broader Canadian society.
Just after a webinar with the Diversity Institute minimizing the link (StatsCan notes greater correlation, albeit relatively small, in larger cities than smaller centres, with interest rates being greater factor):
Canada’s caps on foreign students and new residents have contributed to reduced demand for rental housing and lower average asking rents in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Halifax, according to a new study from the national housing agency.
Over the past year, the average asking monthly rent fell between 2 per cent and 8 per cent in condos and rental-only apartments – also known as purpose-built rentals – said the report released Tuesday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC).
The drop was due to a surge in new condos and apartment buildings hitting the market along with limits on temporary foreign residents such as students and new permanent residents.
As of April, temporary residents accounted for 7.1 per cent of the country’s total population, according to Statistics Canada. That compared with the peak of 7.4 per cent in October of last year.
“It is quite evident on the demand side that there have been signs of weakening,” said Tania Bourassa-Ochoa, CMHC’s deputy chief economist, adding that there were stronger rental declines in regions with slower population growth….
The number of people leaving the country has been slowly increasing in recent years, according to recent data from Statistics Canada. Meanwhile, immigration levels are down in the wake of federal reductions. Both these trends are contributing to a larger picture of significantly slowing population growth, according to StatCan analysis.
StatCan includes Canadian citizens and permanent residents when it refers to emigration or emigrants — folks who leave Canada to reestablish their permanent residence in another country. Immigrants, people who come to live in Canada, include permanent residents and landed immigrants.
How many people have been leaving Canada?
During the first quarter of this year, 27,086 people emigrated from Canada. It was 25,394 in the first quarter of 2022, then 25,536 in the first quarter of 2023 and up to 26,293 in the same quarter of 2024. The number of emigrants peaked at more than 31,000 in the third quarter of 2017, and hit over 30K midway through 2018 and 2019.
The number of emigrants peaked at more than 31,000 in the third quarter of 2017, and hit over 30K midway through 2018 and 2019.
The lowest emigration level in recent years was in the second quarter of 2020 — at just 7,431. Though, that’s unsurprising considering it is when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. After that, emigration started ramping up again.
What are the predictors of likely emigration?
A 2024 StatCan report looked at the likelihood of departure by folks who had previously immigrated to Canada.
It showed that 5.1 per cent of immigrants admitted between 1982 and 2017 emigrated within five years of arriving. That number jumped to 17.5 per cent 20 years after entering Canada.
The report did not present data on eventual destinations as “emigrants are not required to report their departure from Canada or their destination,” Jada Cormier a communications officer with Statistics Canada told National Post in an email….
In the leadup to recent political disruptions, including tensions with the U.S. and growing discussion of Western separatism, most Canadians were hopeful about the future of national unity and appeared to harbour positive or neutral feelings toward each other, regardless of differences in political views, according to newly released data.
As the research was conducted in April, 2024, it does not capture recent shifts in sentiment in response to more recent developments such as the trade war with the U.S. However, one of the reports says, the data “serve as a useful baseline for Canadians’ sense of national unity and their societal outlook prior to these events and future comparisons.”
Most respondents were hopeful about the future of Canadian society. More than eight out of 10 said they were hopeful about unity, and a similar proportion said so about democracy.
A slightly lower proportion – 75 per cent – said they were hopeful about the economic opportunities. However, difficulty meeting financial obligations and poor health conditions were linked to relatively lower hopefulness about unity….
ICYMI: Good webinar on recent trends in citizenship by Fung Hou of StatsCan (decline in naturalization along with “citizens of convenience” evidence showing little difference between citizen immigrants and non-citizen immigrants who leave Canada) and a Canada-Australia comparison by Li Xu of IRCC.
Another informative and relevant analysis by StatsCan, providing evidence regarding “Canadians of convenience:”
Contrary to public impression, Canadian citizenship turns out to be more a sign of an immigrant’s commitment to the country than a convenience to leave for greener pastures.
In fact, according to a new Statistics Canada report, immigrants from developed countries and those who took longer to become citizens were the ones more likely to leave the country after getting their citizenship.
“Among naturalized immigrants, active presence typically exceeded 90 per cent in the 10th year after immigration,” said the report released on Friday. “It showed minimal variation across educational levels, official language profiles, age at immigration and immigration classes.”
The findings debunk the myth that immigrants are “Canadians of convenience,” who take advantage of citizenship for the privilege of a Canadian passport but have no intention to stay and keep ties with their adopted homeland.
“It demolishes largely the argument that people just get citizenship so they have mobility and they can leave the country to pursue opportunities,” said Andrew Griffith, an expert on Canadian citizenship.
“There aren’t as many citizens of convenience as people might think. That actually is a measure of a longer-term commitment to Canada.”
Based on immigration and income tax filing data, the Statistics Canada study examined the relationship between citizenship acquisition and the “active presence” of immigrants in Canada.
While the absence of an individual’s tax record can mean the person either left Canada or remained in the country without filing taxes, it is unlikely an immigrant living in Canada would stop filing taxes after acquiring citizenship because it gives them access to benefits and services here.
Among immigrants admitted from 2008 to 2012, and 25 to 54 years old at admission, 93 per cent of those who became citizens had an active presence in Canada 10 years later, compared to 67 per cent of their counterparts who did not acquire citizenship.
These rates were higher than that of the immigrant cohorts admitted between 2003 and 2007 — 91 per cent for citizens and 58 per cent for non-citizens. This suggests that recent immigrants are more likely to stay in the country.
Immigrants from developed countries had lower active presence in Canada after 10 years than their counterparts from the developing world. Among naturalized citizens, for instance, 97 per cent of those from the Philippines remained active in Canada a decade after immigration — about 10 percentage points higher than their American and French counterparts, and six percentage points above those from the U.K..
However, among immigrants who didn’t acquire Canadian citizenship, whether they stayed or left relates more to other factors. Those with a graduate degree, who spoke English or French or came as economic immigrants have a remarkably lower presence in Canada after 10 years.
Daniel Bernhard, CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, said the uptake of Canadian citizenship has been on decline, and the real challenge is for Canada to convince immigrants who have “global options” to stay and devote their talents to the country for the long term.
“Highly educated people are mobile and we select more highly educated people, and that’s going to be part of it,” he said. “Circumstances here are also changing. It’s becoming harder to succeed, to buy properties and get ahead. Most people come here to build a better life. If we can’t provide it, they will take their families and their talents elsewhere.”
The report also tracked immigrants with no tax records and found that about 28 per cent of them had Canadian citizenship. About half of inactive immigrants from Iran were citizens, followed by 39 per cent among inactive Pakistani immigrants and 36 per cent from Colombia. In contrast, only 14 per cent of inactive American immigrants were citizens.
To be granted Canadian citizenship, a permanent resident currently must have lived in the country for at least three years out of the last five, demonstrate language proficiency in English or French, pass a citizenship test and take an oath.
The new report suggests those rules are working, said Griffith.
“You can still argue is it meaningful enough and if we have to change the oath and all those things,” he said. “But I think in a grosso modo sense, people are coming and they’re basically staying despite the retention issues. It’s not a big difference between citizens and non-citizens. I think we’ve roughly got the balance right.”
Another good study by StatsCan, highlighting their changed demographics and increased diversity.
Black Peoples represent a growing proportion of the racialized populations in Canada and their sociodemographic profiles have evolved over the last 25 years. The diversity of these populations has been influenced by the pre-Confederation transatlantic settlement of Black peoples in Canada and migration flows to Canada from the Caribbean and Africa, starting in the 1960s. Black populations in Canada differ in terms of their histories, ethnocultural origins, places of birth, mother tongues, and religious affiliations.
A new analytical portrait released today examines the sociodemographic, linguistic, ethnocultural and religious composition of the Black populations in Canada and focuses on three diasporic communities: the Canadian-born, the African-born and the Caribbean-born.
Interesting and relevant way to measure integration and assess emigration rates. Findings make intuitive sense:
…Increased tax-filing rates of immigrants across arrival cohorts
The tax-filing rate in the first full year is a key indicator of immigrant retention, as an earlier study found that over half of immigrants who emigrated did not file income tax in their first year after arrival. This suggests that many immigrants make decisions about leaving shortly after immigration (Aydemir & Robinson, 2008).
Among immigrants aged 20 to 54 at landing, the rate of filing an income tax return in the first full year after landing remained stable from the 1990-to-1994 cohort to the 2000-to-2004 cohort. However, it increased for cohorts that arrived since the mid-2000s (Table 1). About 90% of the 2015-to-2019 and 2020 cohorts filed a tax return in the first full year after immigration, compared with 85% among the 2005-to-2009 cohort. …
The rise in first-year tax-filing rates since the mid-2010s was widespread, spanning both men and women, age groups, educational levels, official language profiles, and most source regions. This increase was also observed across admission programs, except for a slight decline among immigrants in the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) from the 2010-to-2014 cohort to the 2020 cohort.
The tax-filing rate in the fifth year after immigration increased steadily from the 1990-to-1994 cohort to the 2010-to-2014 cohort. Again, this uptrend was observed across immigrants with diverse sociodemographic backgrounds. However, among PNP immigrants, the filing rate in the fifth year remained relatively stable from the 2000-to-2004 cohort onward, following a decline from the 1995-to-1999 cohort. Additionally, there was a marginal decrease among immigrants from Northern Europe in the 2010-to-2014 cohort.
The tax-filing rate in the 10th year after immigration was higher among immigrants who arrived in the 2000s than among those who arrived in the 1990s. However, there was minimal change between those who arrived in the early 2000s and the late 2000s. These trends remained consistent across immigrants with various sociodemographic characteristics.
Tax-filing rates, specifically in the 5th and 10th years after immigration, were generally lower among immigrants in the Federal Skilled Worker Program and Canadian Experience Class, compared with family class immigrants and refugees. These rates were also relatively lower among immigrants with graduate degrees and those originating from the United States, and Northern and Western Europe. The literature suggests that highly skilled immigrants are more mobile and tend to explore better opportunities in the international labour market or return to their home countries when they cannot fully utilize their skills in the destination country (Aydemir & Robinson, 2008)….
Latest GSS. Interestingly overall observation “Between racialized groups, there were no significant differences in experiences of discrimination.”
But “For instance, nearly half of Black people experienced discrimination or unfair treatment in a workplace setting (48%). This was significantly more than other racialized groups (39%) or non-racialized people (41%). Black people were also more than twice as likely to report discrimination when seeking housing (13%) compared with other racialized groups (6%) or non-racialized people (6%).:
Over one in three people (36%) aged 15 years and older living in Canada have experienced some form of discrimination or unfair treatment in the five years prior to the latest wave of the Canadian Social Survey. These experiences occurred in a variety of settings—while attending school, applying for jobs, working, shopping, and seeking healthcare, among others. The results, based on new data from the survey collected from January to March 2024, suggest that while the proportion of self-reported incidents of discrimination has remained relatively stable since 2021, discrimination and unfair treatment continue to disproportionally affect racialized groups, Indigenous people, women, 2SLGBTQ+ populations, people living with disabilities, and young adults.
Discrimination and unfair treatment is a headline indicator in Canada’s Quality of Life framework. This framework enables the federal government to identify future policy priorities, to build on previous actions to strengthen evidence-based decision-making and budgeting, and to improve the well-being of Canadians.
Racialized people, especially Canadian-born Black people, are more likely to face discrimination
Using pooled data from six waves of the Canadian Social Survey, it is possible to examine the intersection of various characteristics of people who have experienced discrimination. From 2021 to 2024, just over half (51%) of racialized people aged 15 years and older reported experiencing discrimination or unfair treatment within the five years prior to the survey. This was nearly double the proportion (27%) recorded for non-racialized people. Between racialized groups, there were no significant differences in experiences of discrimination.
Reflecting the diversity of intersectional identities in Canada, experiences of discrimination varied across intersecting identities of racialized people and immigrants. Consistent with previous findings, reports of discrimination were more common among the Canadian-born racialized population (57%) than among racialized people who recently immigrated to Canada (48%) or who immigrated more than 10 years ago (49%). This difference was most pronounced among Black Canadians, with Canadian-born Black people being significantly more likely to report having experienced discrimination (71%) than either recent (51%) or established (59%) Black immigrants.
The higher prevalence of experiences of discrimination among racialized groups was perceived to be largely motivated by race or ethnicity. Specifically, discrimination based on race or skin colour was the leading perceived reason for discrimination against racialized people (66%). This was followed by discrimination due to ethnicity or culture (49%), accent (28%), and language (27%).
Discrimination is also more common among other historically marginalized groups such as 2SLGBTQ+populations, Indigenous people, and people with a disability
Chart 1 Discrimination in the five years prior to the survey, perceived reason for discrimination, by sex and total population, Canada, 2021 to 2024
Reasons behind discriminatory treatment varied among groups, as did the actual prevalence of discrimination. For instance, the leading perceived reasons behind discrimination and unfair treatment against 2SLGBTQ+ populations were sexual orientation, physical appearance, and sex. This population was also nearly twice as likely as the non-2SLGBTQ+ population to face some form of discrimination or unfair treatment in the five years prior to the survey (61% versus 32%).
Among First Nations people living off reserve, Métis, and Inuit, 46% reported experiences of discrimination, compared with 33% of non-Indigenous people. The reasons for these experiences were largely perceived to be due to Indigenous identity and physical appearance. Indigenous people (23%) were also nearly twice as likely to be discriminated against due to a physical or mental disability compared with the non-Indigenous population (12%).
Elevated levels of discrimination were also recorded for people living with a disability. In all, 44% of people with a disability reported experiences of discrimination, compared with 32% of people without a disability. The most frequently-cited perceived reasons for discrimination against people with a disability were due to physical or mental disability, physical appearance, and age.
Age and sex also played a role in both prevalence of and perceived reason for discrimination. Experiences of discrimination consistently decreased with age, from a high of 45% among those aged 15 to 34 to a low of 17% among people aged 65 years and older. This may be explained by the fact that the racialized population and people who are 2SLGBTQ+tend to be younger.
Perceived reasons for discrimination varied by people in different age groups, with race or skin colour (38%) and physical appearance (38%) being the most common reasons among those aged 15 to 34, and age (50%) being the most common reason for people aged 65 years and older. There were also sex differences in prevalence of discrimination: 37% of women reported experiences of discrimination, compared with 30% of men. Women were more often discriminated against because of their sex or age, while for men, discrimination was more often on the basis of their race or skin colour, ethnicity or culture, language, accent, or religion.
The work environment is the most common context where discrimination is reported
Chart 2 Discrimination in the five years prior to the survey, situation in which discrimination was experienced, by sex, Canada, 2021 to 2024
There were differences in the context in which discrimination was experienced across groups, though the workplace (41%) was the most common location of discrimination or unfair treatment, whether it was while working, applying for a job, or seeking a promotion. This was followed by discrimination experienced in a store, bank, or restaurant (33%) and while using public areas (29%).
While differences in the prevalence of discrimination did not significantly differ between racialized groups, the contexts in which they occurred did. For instance, nearly half of Black people experienced discrimination or unfair treatment in a workplace setting (48%). This was significantly more than other racialized groups (39%) or non-racialized people (41%). Black people were also more than twice as likely to report discrimination when seeking housing (13%) compared with other racialized groups (6%) or non-racialized people (6%).
Conversely, Chinese people were less likely than other racialized groups to report experiencing discrimination while attending school (17% versus 23%), in the workplace (26% versus 44%), when crossing the border into Canada (5% versus 8%), and when seeking housing (3% versus 8%). Similarly, reports of discrimination towards Chinese people were lower than reports of discrimination against non-racialized people in the workplace (41%) and against non-racialized people when seeking housing (6%).
People who experience discrimination also report lower measures of quality of life
Chart 3 Discrimination in the five years prior to the survey, confidence in selected types of institutions, Canada, 2021 to 2024
Experiences of discrimination and unfair treatment may influence overall perceptions of health and wellbeing. People who experienced discrimination in the five years prior to the survey compared with those who did not were more than twice as likely to report fair or poor mental health (31% versus 14%), were less likely to report high life satisfaction (37% versus 57%) and were less likely to report high levels of meaning and purpose (46% versus 63%). And while two-thirds of people who experienced discrimination (66%) reported that they always or often had someone they could depend on, this was lower than those who had not experienced discrimination (79%).
People who experienced discrimination were also less likely to report a strong sense of belonging to their local community compared with people who did not experience discrimination (39% versus 51%). Furthermore, they were less likely to report confidence in various institutions, including the police, school, courts, Canadian Parliament, and media. These results were consistent with a previous study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic using crowdsourced data.
Multicultural Meanderings 