Immigrants more likely to cite human rights, diversity as ‘Canadian values’: survey

2026/01/17 1 Comment

Of note:

Immigrants are more likely than those born in Canada to identify things like respect for human rights and gender equality as “shared Canadian values,” say survey results in briefing notes prepared for Immigration Minister Lena Diab.

The survey results — part of a package assembled for the minister when she took over the portfolio last May — were obtained by The Canadian Press through an access to information request.

The Statistics Canada survey asked respondents whether they saw human rights, respect for the law, gender equality, linguistic duality, ethic and cultural diversity and respect for Indigenous culture as shared “Canadian values.”

In each case, the percentage of immigrants surveyed who said they saw those values as distinctly Canadian was higher than the percentage of people born in Canada who said the same.

The data was pulled from Statistics Canada’s December 2022 general survey on social identity. The data was collected between August 2020 and February 2021, with a sample of more than 34,000 people that included almost 14,000 landed immigrants.

The survey suggests 67 per cent of immigrants who were aged 13 or older when they came to Canada see respect for the law as a shared Canadian value, while just 40 per cent of respondents born here agreed.

The responses from people who came to Canada aged 12 and younger were more in line with those of people born here.

Lori Wilkinson, Canada Research Chair in migration at the University of Manitoba, said she thinks that statistic is the result of a younger cohort of immigrants growing up in Canada.

“The longer (immigrants) stay here, the more they act Canadian. And I suspect that that’s an issue with attitudes as well,” she said.

“The more you’re here, you pick up the norms and values of the Canadians that you live around. So it’s not surprising they become more like Canadians.”

The survey suggests about 58 per cent of immigrants are satisfied with their lives, while just 44 per cent of Canadian-born respondents said the same.

The survey was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic — a time when many people were stuck at home due to public health measures and more likely to be out of work.

Daniel Bernhard, CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, said this result matches research his organization has conducted. He said immigrants tend to be more focused on their potential for future prosperity after making personal sacrifices to come to Canada.

“There is recognition there that it is difficult to move to a new country, that the economic conditions here, you know, can be difficult for everybody. But as long as they feel that they’re making progress, they’ll be willing to stay,” he said.

Bernhard said his institute has also found immigrant attitudes tend to converge with those of Canadian-born citizens the longer they’re in Canada.

Wilkinson said she expects satisfaction rates across the entire population have declined in recent years due to the elevated cost of living.

“I think people in general, whether you’re immigrant or not, are going to be more angry the longer that affordability is not addressed, the longer homelessness and (housing) precarity are not addressed,” she said….

Source: Immigrants more likely to cite human rights, diversity as ‘Canadian values’: survey

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The death of data: Under Trump, key information is disappearing

2025/02/22 Leave a comment

Hard to see how the USA is going to recover any time soon of the impact of the Trump/Musk administration with so few guardrails and a totally subservient Republican Congress neglecting its broader and constitutional responsibilities:

…Statistical agencies in the U.S. and elsewhere have struggled with weaker survey participation for many years. In one notable example, only about one-third of businesses approached to fill out the BLS’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey do so – about half the proportion in the 2010s.

The BLS and other agencies contend that data quality remains high, although critics point to non-response bias – the idea that non-respondents may be inherently different than those who continue to fill out questionnaires, which would skew the numbers.

If response rates continue to fall, there is a greater likelihood that economic data will become less reliable. The danger is that reports “will stop telling us about who’s doing well and who’s not well by any degree of disaggregation,” said Armine Yalnizyan, a Canadian economist and Atkinson fellow on the future of workers.

Funding is another concern, particularly as the Trump administration makes sweeping cuts. These include the termination of roughly US$900-million in Education Department contracts, spelling an end to various research projects on academic performance.

When data disappear or become less reliable, it becomes tougher to challenge the policies of the Trump White House, Ms. Yalnizyan said. “You can’t see what is really happening, so you cannot dispute what they say.”

Ms. Jarosz said the public has paid for data produced by the government – and that information should remain in the public domain.

“I think part of what is so concerning about this is it sets a really dangerous precedent that any administration could delete data they don’t like for any reason,” she said.

Source: The death of data: Under Trump, key information is disappearing

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Immigrant population rises in France, but so does discrimination

2022/07/20 Leave a comment

Interesting studies:

Two studies have released data highlighting the persistent discrimination immigrants face in France. The data reveals that although a large swath of France’s population has immigrant ancestry, discrimination in French society is still high.

Two landmark new studies in France are bursting myths about immigration at a time when xenophobic far-right discourse has gained ground. They show that the children of immigrants are increasingly melting into French society but some with African and Asian backgrounds face persistent discrimination.

Karima Simmou, French-Moroccan student at the prestigious Paris university Sciences Po, embodies the phenomenon.

She comes from a working-class family of eight children, with a mother who raised the family and a father who worked as a miner in western France. She was pushed by her family to go to the elite school.

The children and grandchildren of immigrants from Africa and Asia are well integrated in the French educational system compared with their elders, according to another report. Data show they have increasingly higher education levels than their parents, though many struggle to attain comparable educational levels to French people without immigrant heritage.

And getting jobs is harder, too: 60% of those with non-European roots hold intermediate or high-level jobs, compared with 70% of French people without direct immigrant kinship.

Ined researcher Mathieu Ichou noted two possible explanations for the hiring discrepancy.

“Several surveys, data and audit studies backed up that hiring is not favorable to minorities, and they experience discrimination. France is pretty bad regarding this issue, compared to other European countries,” he said.

Also, Mr. Ichou said, “minorities tend to be underrepresented in the French elite schools.”

Source: Immigrant population rises in France, but so does discrimination

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