Providing Social Support for Immigrants and Refugees in Canada: Challenges and Directions

Abstract

In this article we report research findings from a qualitative study of social support for immigrants and refugees in Canada. We focus on challenges from the perspectives of 137 service providers and policymakers in health and immigrant settlement who participated in in-depth interviews and focus groups in three Canadian cities. Results show that social support is perceived to play an important role in immigrant settlement and to have a positive impact on immigrant health, although immigrants face many systemic challenges. Systemic issues--limited resources, lack of integration of policies and programs and narrow service mandates--also limit service providers' abilities to meet newcomer's needs. This research suggests that changes in public discourse about immigrants' contributions, improved governance and service coordination, and a holistic, long-term perspective are important to more effectively support immigrant settlement and to promote immigrant health and well being.

Challenges Faced by Refugee New Parents from Africa in Canada

“…Future research also could examine experiences of refugee parents from different countries. Moreover, although studies [19,24,58,[62][63][64][65][66][67] suggest the importance of social support for refugee parents during the early years of resettlement, this knowledge has not been invoked to systematically develop interventions that help refugee new parents adapt to life in receiving countries such as Canada. Differences between Zimbabwean and Sudanese refugee parents' experiences and perceptions that emerged in our study reinforce the need to elucidate the role of ethnicity in the design of culturally-relevant social support intervention(s).…”

“…Migration and parenthood in a new country increase risk of mental health problems including depression and post traumatic stress disorder for refugee parents and children [17][18][19]. Loneliness, a key index of social support effectiveness, predicts poor health outcomes including depression [20][21][22][23][24].…”

The Impact of e-Skills on the Settlement of Iranian Refugees in Australia

“…In addition to studies focussed on migration in general, research about refugees is an important topic among academia and policy makers (Allen & Morsink, 1994;Simich, Beiser, Stewart, & Mwakarimba, 2005). There are ample statistics about refugees (e.g.…”

The Postsecondary Education Pathways of Canadian Immigrants: Who Goes and How Do They Get There?

“…First, the fact that Canadian immigrant youth have comparable academic performances to their peers with native-born parents is a testament to Canada's strong political commitment when it comes to social integration (Bloemraad 2012;Li, 2003). Canada is one of the few countries that has made progress pertaining to the integration of immigrant students as well as addressing educational inequalities in this regard (Simich, Beiser, Stewart & Mwakarimba, 2005;Shakya, Guruge, Hynie, Akbari, Malik, Htoo, ... Alley, 2010). The second hypothesis, which adds depth to the first, refers to the student's parental characteristics and the selection policies to which immigrants are subjected.…”