Are refugees more likely to leave initial destinations than economic immigrants? Recent evidence from Canadian longitudinal administrative data

Abstract

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Age of the oldest child and internal migration of immigrant families: A study using administrative data from immigrant landing and tax files

“…Only select CMAs within a province serve as immigrant gateways. Rates of intraprovincial migration among immigrant families are nonnegligible (Kaida et al, 2020). To adequately examine whether immigrant families are moving out of gateway cities, we need to examine movement across finer-grained geographic units.…”

“…Finally, we investigate whether immigrant families with no children or with preschool children move farther away than those with school‐age children, if they do. Geographic units smaller than provinces change boundaries over time; therefore, most prior work on internal migration in Canada has focused on interprovincial moves (Basu & Rajbhandary, 2006; Newbold, 1996; exception Kaida, Hou, & Stick, 2020). By constructing consistent boundaries for geographic units smaller than provinces, we can observe movement across finer‐grained geographic units and assess how the age of the oldest child influences the amount of distance moved by immigrant families.…”

“…Existing studies of immigrant internal migration document age‐specific migration rates or focus on the risk of migration for individual migrants (Findlay et al, 2015; Kaida et al, 2020; Kritz, Gurak, & Lee, 2011; Newbold, 1996; Nogle, 1994). These studies use cross‐sectional data to examine how the traits of migrants influence their likelihood of moving within the host country (Findlay et al, 2015), with a subset of studies including the presence and number of minor children among the adult migrants' traits (Clark et al, 1984; De Jong & De Valk, 2019; Gambaro et al, 2017; Newbold, 1996; Reher & Silvestre, 2009; Silvestre & Reher, 2014).…”

“…For example, Black immigrants in the United States tend to reside in highly segregated neighbourhoods with a low concentration of white residents even after achieving socioeconomic mobility (Freeman, 2002; Iceland & Scopilliti, 2008). Kaida et al (2020) use IMDB data and discrete‐time logistic regression models to show that refugees are more likely than other migrants to initially settle outside of nongateway cities and then move into traditional immigrant gateways a few years later. Part of the reason for the unique internal migration patterns of refugees may stem from the fact that, unlike most immigrants, refugees often do not have control over their initial place of settlement.…”

Supporting Canada’s COVID-19 resilience and recovery through robust immigration policy and programs

“…Federal and provincial/territorial governments should highlight the resiliency of such communities, their lower population densities, affordable housing, and lower cost of living. The federal government should continue refugee dispersal efforts, providing resources to encourage more private sponsorships in smaller communities, as privately sponsored refugees are more likely to remain in their initial destination (Kaida et al 2020). IRCC should collaborate with civil society groups in smaller communities to sponsor refugees from regions of the world highly impacted by the pandemic.…”