Below are highlights from a forthcoming CCSD report, Immigrant Youth in Canada, to be published in June, 2000 as a companion report to The Progress of Canada's Children 1999/2000: Into the Millennium. This report examines the language ability, country of origin, labour force participation, and community supports for recent immigrants aged 12 to 24. The findings are based on data from Statistics Canada's 1996 National Population Health Survey and are reported here for the first time.

 

Canada's population may be aging, but newcomers to the country are increasingly youthful. Each year, nearly 200,000 immigrants come to Canada; since 1996, one-third of these new Canadians have been under the age of 25. Most come with their families, while others come to pursue their education. Regardless of their reasons for coming to Canada, all immigrants face the challenge of adapting to their new society.

Recent immigrant youth less likely to combine work with studies

Like their Canadian-born counterparts, most immigrant youth are currently attending school. However, Canadian-born youth are more likely to be working while they study. More than half of Canadian-born teens aged 15 to 19 work either full-time or part-time while going to school, compared to one-quarter of the teens who have lived in Canada for less than 10 years. However, these trends change over time. Immigrants who have been in Canada for more than 10 years are more likely than recent immigrants to work and study. A similar pattern was found among youth aged 20 to 24.

There are several factors that may help explain why students who have been in the country for less than 10 years have a lower labour force participation rate than their Canadian-born counterparts. Recent immigrants may not be as familiar with the demands of the Canadian labour market as are those who have been in the country for a longer period of time or those who were born in Canada. Also, they may simply not know where to look for jobs or how to obtain one. Some immigrant families may place a higher priority on schooling than they do on having a job. In some cases, new Canadians (such as foreign students) may not even be eligible to work in Canada.

Recent immigrants attach greater importance to religion

Overall, religion plays a more prominent role in the lives of recent immigrant youth than it does in the lives of Canadian-born young people. More than one-third of children and youth who have lived in Canada for less than 10 years attend religious services at least once a week and are active in their religious communities. By comparison, only one-quarter of those who have been in the country for more than 10 years and 15 per cent Canadian-born youth attend religious services once a week. Nearly half of Canadian-born youth do not attend religious services at all, compared to just one-third of immigrants who have been in Canada for less than 10 years.

Recent immigrant youth less likely to smoke or drink

Young newcomers to Canada are more likely to have healthy lifestyles compared to Canadian-born youth. For example, Canadian-born youth are twice as likely as immigrant youth to smoke. In addition, immigrant youth who have been in Canada for less than 10 years are less likely to drink than other youth: 44% of recent immigrant youth have never used alcohol; 45% of Canadian-born youth drink at least once a month, compared to 29% of immigrant youth who have been in Canada for at least 10 years, and 16% among those who have been in the country for less than 10 years.

These differences are possibly due to the different social circles in which the immigrant and Canadian-born youth are involved. Nearly one young immigrant in three says that none of their friends or acquaintances is a smoker, compared to only one of five Canadian-born youth who could make that claim. Immigrant youth are also more likely than Canadian-born youth to come from non-smoking households.

Further, immigrant youth usually have friends or acquaintances who are not heavy drinkers. By comparison, Canadian-born youth are more likely to have friends or acquaintances who say they think drink too much.

Because many immigrant youth come from social and cultural environments very different from those in Canada, it is not surprising that their first few years here are spent adapting to their new surroundings. Generally, a person needs about nine years to feel comfortable in their new social environment. Equally time-consuming is the challenge of establishing new social networks and a circle of friends. Through schools and voluntary organizations, immigrant youth gradually expand their social circle to include people of different cultures. As they become more integrated into Canadian society, their lifestyle gradually resembles that of Canadian-born youth. Given their familiarity with Canadian culture and values, those who came to Canada as youth are likely to succeed as Canadian citizens.

 

This article first appeared in Perception, Volume 23, No. 3, December 1999.