Sections I and II provide a statistical portrait of immigrant youth in Canada, giving the reader a sense of who they are, where they have come from, and some of their lifestyle habits. But to better understand the lives of immigrant youth in Canada, the CCSD commissioned focus groups of young immigrants to ask about their own perspectives on their lives here. While the experiences voiced by these young people cannot be generalized to all immigrant youth, their perceptions illuminate the experience of their lives in Canada.

A total of six groups were held in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. These cities were chosen because they are home to over two-thirds of all young immigrants aged 15 to 24. All of the participants in the focus groups had arrived in Canada within the previous five years.

The young people in the groups were divided according to their ages – those aged 15 to 19 and groups of young immigrants aged 20 to 24. Each group contained one or two young people who had arrived in Canada as refugees. The proportions of young people in the groups also reflected the proportions of immigrants to Canada by region of origin. In Montreal, group discussions were conducted in French. In addition, interviews were conducted with two English-speaking immigrants, in order to obtain some insight into potential difficulties encountered by non-French-speaking immigrants living in Quebec. In total, 50 young people participated in the focus groups.⁹

Overall, participants appeared to be well integrated into Canadian society. In some cases, participants had learned to speak the language in less than two years, recounting their tribulations and triumphs with only the faintest accent and clad in the latest youth fashions. The rapidity and success with which most young immigrants seem to have adapted to their new country is testimony to the human spirit and ability to cope.

Learning the language was the primary challenge cited by most of the young people. Younger participants also spoke about the difficulties they faced integrating into high school, while older participants said obtaining employment was their main challenge. Although the majority of participants seemed well adapted to Canada, it was apparent that their sense of belonging to the country was weak, undermined by a strong sense of attachment to their country of origin. Typically, participants described Canada in positive, yet dispassionate tones, emphasizing the economic advantages it offered while describing how they missed their family and friends "back home."

"It’s just so different here. Everything is different." The vast majority of young immigrants felt that they would never "feel Canadian." For some, this was a conscious decision. "I don’t want to give up being Chinese; it’s who I am." Others felt that speaking with an accent and the fact that they were not born in Canada meant that they could never feel truly Canadian.

Among focus group participants, the use of services designed to help immigrants was uneven. Some said that these services were unnecessary, while others indicated that they did not know such services existed, and they had relied more on the informal networks of friends and family already living in Canada. Those who had accessed formal support services, however, spoke very positively about their experiences.

Focus group participants most often identified "freedom" and "opportunity" as the "best things" about living in Canada. For some young immigrants, freedom meant the increased liberation from their parents which they had gained by moving to a more permissive society. "In my country, people my age don’t date, but here it’s normal. My mother doesn’t like it, but she understands that we are in Canada now." For others, freedom related more to human rights and freedom from state-sponsored oppression. "Here you can do whatever you want and nobody bothers you. You won’t be persecuted for your beliefs or opinions."

There was a general consensus that Canada offered much greater economic opportunities – "There are more jobs here." Many of the younger participants spoke about what they considered to be relatively easy access to post-secondary education. "Here, you can get student loans." Participants also liked what they described as Canada’s multicultural and relatively tolerant society, one in which immigrants were not pressured to abandon their roots. "When I want to be Indian, I can be Indian, and when I want to be Canadian, I can be that too, but I don’t feel like I have to be Canadian all the time. It’s OK to do that here."

It was more difficult for participants to identify aspects of Canadian society that they did not like. Given that most of these young people had grown up in countries with a much longer history than Canada’s (see Appendix 1), it is not surprising that a few participants lamented what they perceived to be Canada’s lack of history and culture. "This country is what, only 100 years old?" Perhaps surprisingly, many participants said they did not like the fact that taxes were high in Canada.

There was one aspect of Canadian society that most participants did not like: the consumer culture and the unrestrained pursuit of wealth and status symbols. "Here it’s all about money. At my school, if you have money and the right clothes you are cool. In Poland, people decide whether or not you are cool based on the sort of person that you are." It was apparent from the discussions that many young immigrants felt that Canada’s consumer culture was a particularly cruel aspect of society to contend with, given that their families did not have much money.

Participants spoke of a wide range of experiences after coming to Canada. The extent to which they found these experiences difficult appears to be directly related to their ability to speak one of the country’s official languages when they arrived. The majority of young immigrants indicated that their first year in Canada was "very difficult." In addition to the severe challenge that many faced in not being able to speak the language well – or often, not at all – participants said that they were often home sick and they felt socially isolated in Canada. "I remember the first year was very tough. I left all my friends and when I came here, I stayed in the house a lot. I didn’t know anybody. I remember wanting to go back, but I couldn’t because my parents had decided that we would live in Canada now." "I’m still ashamed of the way I speak English. I know I have an accent and that makes me shy to talk to people."

For younger participants, home was often a place of refuge, while school could be a traumatic experience. "When I first went to school, people made fun of me and my Polish friend. They called us ‘Pollocks.’ But now it’s OK." A number of participants in the Toronto focus groups spoke about how their schools were sometimes divided along ethnic lines. "At our school, you’ve got the Greeks and the Latino kids, and then you’ve got the white kids. The groups don’t like each other, so there are fights all the time." Young immigrants who came to Canada with a solid grasp of English (or French, among those living in Montreal) seemed to have adapted much more easily. "I really had no problems fitting in. I knew English because my mother was an English professor in Croatia."

Many young immigrants travelled similar paths of integration into Canadian society. Typically, a few friends and family members who were already established in Canada served as their guides, introducing them to Canadian life and to people of different ethnic backgrounds, including "Canadians." "At first I just had Greek friends, but they introduced me to Canadian kids and we started to hang around together." The English-language classes also served as an important medium of integration. Here, new arrivals felt more comfortable being with other youth who shared their experiences and hardships. In some cases, participants described how they gravitated to other youth who came from their country of origin. "The first day my brother and I went to school, word got around that there were some new Russian kids in the school, so all the Russian kids came to my class to see who I was. I started to hang around with them immediately."

For a number of young immigrants in the focus groups, a Canadian was thought to be a white person of Anglo-Saxon decent who had been born in Canada. Similarly, in the Quebec focus groups, there was some agreement among the older immigrants that a true Quebecois was a person of French ancestry who had been born in Quebec. Indeed, participants in the Montreal focus groups were generally of the view that it was probably more difficult for immigrants to feel a part of Quebec society than it was for immigrants in other parts of the country to feel Canadian.

The majority of young immigrants indicated that they now felt comfortable in Canada and they expected to continue to adapt as their language skills developed further. Most, however, said that they did not "feel Canadian" and did not ever expect to feel truly Canadian. Many focus group participants began this aspect of the discussion by noting that they were unsure about what being Canadian meant. "What is a Canadian, really?" Many believed that one’s country of birth determined your identity for life. According to this view, only people who were born in Canada were truly Canadian. Others saw the issue more in terms of their ability to integrate. "As long as I have an accent, I don’t think I can feel really Canadian."

Feeling Canadian, for some participants, was less important to them than feeling comfortable being who they wanted to be while living in Canada. Most felt that this was acceptable to native-born Canadians. "It’s not important to me. I call myself a Greek-Canadian and people don’t have a problem with that."

Most focus group participants who had immigrated with their parents agreed that it was much more difficult for their parents to integrate into Canadian society. Some of these difficulties related to a lack of fluency in English or French, while others involved getting accreditation for their training or degrees earned in their country of origin. Learning English or French was, by far, the most difficult challenge for their parents. "My father has been in Vancouver for five years and he still can’t speak English." Obtaining employment was also described as a huge barrier faced by their parents. "It took a long time for my mother to get a job. Even now she still only works part-time." Indeed, a few participants said that one of their parents had moved back to their country of origin because they felt that life was too difficult in Canada, particularly with respect to obtaining employment. A number of participants also lamented the fact that their parents were forced to take what they considered to be menial jobs, either because their grasp of English or French was insufficient, or because their academic credentials and work experience counted for very little in Canada. "In Algeria, my father owned businesses. Here, he is unemployed." "At home my father was an engineer. Here all he can get are odd jobs."

While young immigrants were generally reluctant to discuss the details of difficulties they endured at home, it was apparent that the frustrations felt by their parents had had a significant impact on the young people. "My father was very depressed for a long time. He still can’t find a job, but he knows that my mother and I are safe and that seems to be enough for him."

For the majority of young immigrants, North American culture was both a boon and a bane. As mentioned earlier, most were bothered by what they considered to be Canadian society’s emphasis on material achievement. The importance that young people in Canada placed on the trappings of wealth – such as clothes, cars, cellular telephones, and jewellery – made the immigrants’ integration more difficult, since most of them had little disposable income. On the other hand, most said that they liked the relative freedom that young people enjoyed in Canada and many were capitalizing on it. "My parents don’t like me going out and they’re always wanting to know who I’m with, or they want me to bring my brother, but I don’t. I go out with my friends and they accept it."

While many focus group participants acknowledged that the use of drugs and alcohol was fairly widespread among youth, most did not feel imperilled by this. "I come from Pakistan and for my parents, drugs are the worst thing. They want me to stay away from them and I do." A number of immigrants noted that drugs, alcohol and sex were a part of youth culture in many countries, including their countries of origin. A few even felt that their home country was more permissive than Canadian society. "In Croatia, kids do what they want. Here there are more rules."

Many young immigrants felt that people from their country were often negatively depicted in films, television and in the news media. Black and Hispanic people, they said, were portrayed as gangsters and criminals, and Russians as "lovers of vodka" and arms dealers. Immigrants from Algeria felt that Muslims and North Africans were portrayed as terrorists; Haitians and Africans were stereotyped as impoverished and uneducated. "You would think that everyone in Africa is starving to death and living in huts. That’s not the case. In the cities, for example, we have things like mass transit systems." Indo-Pakistani people were said to be depicted as grovelling shopkeepers. "Well, there’s Apu on the Simpsons." While the focus group participants clearly felt that the use of stereotypes to depict immigrants, foreigners and visible minorities was a sad commentary on the state of North American culture, most were not overly bothered by the stereotypes. In fact, many participants chuckled when expressing their views on this issue.

Almost all young immigrants said that it was very important for them to maintain their culture, heritage and language. Many had trouble imagining not doing so. "It’s who I am." "It’s part of me." There was agreement among the young people that their homeland’s language, culture and traditions formed an important part of their personal identity. "If you forget your roots, you forget who you are." Quite a few also said that they intended to pass on their heritage to their children.

The extent to which the focus group participants were making an effort to maintain their culture and language varied a great deal. Most made no additional efforts beyond speaking with their parents and friends in their native language and reading the odd book or magazine from their country of origin. Others made an effort to attend religious services. "The Mosque is the place where we keep in touch with our roots." Some said they participated in community activities such as parties or receptions where their traditions were practised and the language spoken, while a few attended classes given in their native language.

Focus group participants’ access to the media of their country of origin was also quite uneven. Those who belonged to some of Canada’s largest immigrant groups – such as Chinese or Indian – had easier access to a variety of cultural products, including television programming. At the other end of the spectrum, some participants had to rely on relatives to send them CDs or reading material from their country of origin. "Once in a while, my uncle will send us a bunch of newspapers." Overall, participants did not appear to be concerned that they would have difficulty maintaining their culture and language.

The issue of racism was raised spontaneously in all of the focus groups. Often it arose as part of the discussions about negative aspects of Canada. Younger participants in particular felt that the police and, more significantly, teachers could be racists. Even participants who did not raise the issue themselves and those who had not faced racism from teachers agreed that certain teachers and school administrators seemed to single out certain students or groups of students for harsher treatment based on their ethnicity. "I have a teacher who hates the Hispanic kids." "Teachers don’t like me because I am Greek." "I had a teacher who deducted 20 points from an oral presentation I gave because of my accent. She said that she marked everyone on their diction and she was going to treat me just like the others because it was the only way I was ever going to learn." "If a white kid does something and I do the same thing, there is no question that I’m going to get into worse trouble. In fact, teachers don’t even bother with me. I go to the principal’s office for the slightest offence."

Some participants felt that the police "hassled" them because they were "dark-skinned." "My friend and I get stopped all the time, for nothing. He looks like me, he’s tall, dark and has ‘dreads’." "I get the feeling that police are always looking at us suspiciously, but my friends and I don’t do anything wrong." Participants agreed that it was difficult to tell whether the discrimination they perceived to be coming from authority figures was based on the fact that they were immigrants or because they were members of visible minority groups. "I think it’s probably both."

Younger immigrants agreed that racism was also a problem among students in high school. A number of participants recounted how other students had taunted them, especially when they first arrived. "My accent was pretty bad when I first got here and some kids would say ‘why don’t you go back to Russia’." In Vancouver, younger participants who had emigrated from China said that they were often picked on or ostracized by Canadians of Chinese decent. "These kids are Chinese, but they were born here. They call us Chinks." It seems that in a number of high schools, cliques have developed along racial lines.

Some older immigrant youth spoke of the discrimination and bigotry they had faced in trying to find employment. This seemed to be of particular concern among participants in the Montreal focus groups.

The young immigrants’ main reaction to the racism and bigotry they encountered was to ignore it. It was also apparent that the racism and rejection they felt from native-born people led some immigrants to retreat to their ethnic community and strengthen their relationships with people of their same ethnic background.

While most focus group participants – and almost all of those who were members of visible minority groups – had experienced racism or bigotry in Canada, it is important to note that only a few felt that it was a very serious problem. The majority were rather philosophical about the issue, noting that racism and bigotry are found in all countries and cultures, and thus, one could not expect Canada to be exempt from this problem. Many also pointed out that, compared to other countries, Canada’s multicultural makeup likely made racism less of a problem here. In terms of solutions, several participants felt that efforts to promote tolerance and understanding should be focussed on schools and aimed at both teachers and students.

Younger participants, as well as some of the older participants who attended high schools in Canada, described school as the focal point of their lives. According to these young people, school can be a fairly traumatic place for immigrants. They also spoke about the crucial role that schools can play in the integration process. Many described being thrust into a "sink or swim" situation – having to learn the language and make friends quickly.

While almost all the focus group participants agreed that the school experience can be shocking and difficult initially, most agreed that it helped them to adjust quickly to Canadian society, much more quickly than their parents, for example. "They put me in a class and I didn’t speak a word of English. I couldn’t follow in class, except for some math and I couldn’t talk to anyone, but I worked hard and I caught up." Immigrants who came to Canada with little or no grasp of English or French were most often placed in ESL classes or the Quebec equivalent. The vast majority of focus group participants who had taken ESL classes agreed that the experience had helped them a great deal, both in terms of learning English or French and in making friends. Often these new-found friends were of the same ethnic background, or they were recent immigrants from another country. In either case, the participants said it was helpful to be with other young people who were in a similar situation.

Overall, participants in the focus groups felt that the school system had placed them in the appropriate class or level. Most said that they were given tests of their needs and abilities and that their academic records were part of the school’s evaluation. A few participants said they were not placed in the right school level, most often, it seems, because they did not have the appropriate academic records. "I only had a couple of documents, but they wanted report cards going back to grade school. They also gave me a test, but I was not prepared for it and did poorly. I think I ended up two grades behind where I should have been."

In the focus group discussions, young people were asked about their experiences with services in their communities. Services were broadly defined as school services (such as seeing a guidance counsellor); health services; welfare or social assistance services; youth services, clubs, or organizations; and immigrant services, both community-based and government-operated. The use of such services varied significantly from one participant to another. While most indicated that they had accessed some type of service during their time in Canada, it seemed that only a handful had relied heavily on them.

Most participants had visited a physician and a number of participants’ families had received social assistance. Few had seen a school guidance counsellor and, in fact, quite a number of participants said they would "never" see a guidance counsellor because they did not trust them. "They talk to the principal. I went to see one and he told my whole story to the principal." It seems that as with teachers, police and school administrators, guidance counsellors are viewed as somewhat untrustworthy, and perceived to be part of a system to monitor and control young people, not help them. As was found in other research on youth conducted by Ekos, the young immigrants in these focus groups said that if they found themselves confronted by a serious problem, they would turn to a friend for help.

Many participants indicated that the health professionals they had dealt with were members of their own ethnic group. In most instances, their parents had made the selection. The young people said they were glad to be able to deal with health professionals who spoke their native language because it made communications easier. "For medical problems and stuff like that, you want to be comfortable, so it helps to be able to talk in your own language."

Many young immigrants said that they and their families relied a great deal on support and guidance from other family members and friends, as well as from other members of their ethnic group who were already living in Canada. "When I came here, I went to a Japanese food store. There was advertising for sharing an apartment. As it turned out, the girl was Japanese too. She helped me a lot at first." "It wasn’t too bad for us because we had family already here when we arrived. We relied on them a lot."

Other participants explained how they obtained assistance from programs and volunteer groups that assist immigrants. "My mom goes to a place that’s run by a women who helps immigrants. At Christmas, they have food and presents, like chocolate, for kids." Other focus group participants had used services such as social assistance or they had participated in job-finding clubs and resume-preparation workshops – services that are aimed at all members of the public, not just immigrants.

As noted earlier, school services that target immigrant students were generally grouped under ESL or other language class activities. Most young immigrants who had participated in these classes acknowledged that the programs were a good way to learn the language and facilitated their integration into the school and society. "This is pretty good. I don’t think they can do any better." However, the level of services and programs available to immigrant students seemed to vary from one school to another.

Perhaps the best example of a service which seemed to help young immigrants to integrate into Canadian society was described by a number of younger participants in the Montreal and Vancouver focus groups. Identified by one participant as a "buddy program," it was described as a type of social club for immigrant youth. Youth members of the organization met regularly, mainly it seems, to go on outings together. "Sometimes you go swimming, sometimes you go to a movie. It’s all free." All those who had participated in this type of a program agreed that it worked very well. The groups provided them with an opportunity to have fun and make friends with other youth who shared the common experience of immigrating to Canada. The groups also allowed the youth to enjoy activities that they might otherwise not be able to afford, and to practice their English or French with others who shared their fears of having to express themselves to native-born speakers. It is important to note that some participants in the Montreal focus groups said that their classes for French as a Second Language provided them with similar opportunities, including the occasional group outing.

Most of the other young immigrants in the focus groups who had not heard about these types of community-based programs said that they would have been interested in participating in such programs, and perhaps still would. Given that social isolation is an early and major hurdle faced by most immigrant youth, these types of programs appear to represent both an appropriate and effective response to this particular problem.

Relatively few focus group participants were active in any type of community or cultural organizations. Most participants said that they and members of their family met people of their ethnic group in church, ethnic restaurants, or at the occasional social event. "We get together for Chile’s independence day. We eat traditional foods, dance and talk about home." "We go to this Russian restaurant. A lot of people from Russia go there."