Will small regions become immigrants’ choices of residence in the future?

Abstract

With Statistics Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) public use microdata (PUMF), this paper searches for the determinants of immigrants’ location choices within Canada. The paper focuses particularly on the distinction between small regions and other regions. The small regions are defined in two ways: small city (regions other than the main metropolitan areas), and small province (provinces other than the main immigration destination provinces of Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta). Many factors are taken into account, such as age, education, gender, and language. Some main conclusions are that older people tend to live in large areas, and that immigrants who cannot speak at least one official language are less likely to live in small regions. The paper also looks at economic performances by comparing wage gaps between immigrants and Canadian-born workers in small and large areas. Although immigrants are less likely to live in small regions, they tend to perform relatively better in those regions, compared to their Canadian-born counterparts. Therefore, small regions might be a better choice for immigrants in the future. This research may be useful for the policy planning of the small regions’ governments.