YC100: Lecture 11 – November 3, 2022

Newcomer Children in Canada, Ch. 8

Chapter 8

- Common experience for newcomer children = speaking English for the family

Changing Immigration Policy – Historical overview

- one of the early goals of immigration policy was to help populate the country with
European settlers
- especially in the West, before our neighbours to the south could lay claim to it. The goal
was to attract farmers, agricultural labourers, and female domestics from Great Britain,
the United States, and northern Europe
o The government had its unofficial list of preferred immigrants and an even longer
list of those considered “undesirable”

- Women, wives, and children were discouraged from migrating with the hope that
permanent communities would not be established.
o when migrants were deemed acceptable, entire families were recruited and
encouraged to settle; when they were deemed undesirable, men were encouraged
to migrate alone and temporarily, so as not to settle, have children, and build a
future in Canada

during the first 100 years of Canadian immigrant = immigrant children and children of
immigrants were desired if they were deemed to be of the “right stock” (country of origin) and
were prohibited through discriminatory practices if they were believed to be from
“undesirable” ethnic groups (those who share ancestral origins, customs, beliefs) or racialized
groups (a socially constructed classification of people into categories based on real or imagined
physical characteristics)
- 1960s = the government abolished almost all restrictions to immigration openly based on
ethnicity and race

In 1967, changes to the Immigration Act removed “race” restrictions for entry to Canada and
introduced a merit point system. Independent (economic) immigrants were granted entry to
Canada based on the number of points accorded for various qualifications they possessed—
including education, job skills, knowledge of English or French

Recent Immigration Numbers and Trends

that families often choose to migrate to provide their children with a better future

This influx of newcomers has had a major impact on the composition—the look, sound, and
needs—of schools and communities in the major urban centres where newcomers have settled.

The vast majority of children 14 years of age and younger arriving to Canada live with their
relatives. Newcomer children are more likely than other Canadian children to live in extended
families, with their grandparents in particular. Most newcomer children, like other Canadian
children, live in nuclear families.

recently arriving newcomer children are more likely than Canadian-born children to live in
families with incomes below the median family income (income that falls in the middle of the
income range or spectrum in a society)
- large proportion of recent immigrants are racialized and that many racialized Canadians
are living in poverty

- children of skilled workers and business immigrants had the highest university
completion rates and earnings
- children of live-in caregivers and in the family, class had the lowest university
completion rates
- children of live-in caregivers and refugees had the lowest earnings

o Their analysis showed that some of the variation was due to differences in the
education and official language ability of parents and to the unique pre- and post-
migration circumstances experienced by parents and children in the various
admission classes.

Understanding Immigrant Children’s Experiences

- many newcomer mothers in particular felt isolated and overwhelmed, as many lacked
traditional family supports
- parents were concerned about their children losing culture, language, and values (they
feared assimilation); some felt judged and pressured to conform to Canadian norms;
some felt stigmatized when accessing publicly funded services or low-cost programs

Settlement, Adaptation, and Other Challenging Experiences

- When children enter a new country, they can expect to experience changes and
disruptions that require a great deal of adaptation or adjustment to fit into a new culture
- integration of newcomer children into the host society depends on their parents’ social
and economic status and well-being, the age at which they immigrated, their knowledge
of English or French, the type of support they receive in school, and a host of other
factors.

Parents and Parenting

- when understanding immigrant parenting take into account ecological contextual factors
o consider the impact of parental social support networks, socioeconomic status,
and economic hardships endured by parents, which would inevitably affect
parenting
o parenting practices of newcomers also depend on the maturity of the parents, the
number, age, gender, and personalities of their children, as well as the families’
cultural and religious backgrounds
 o consider how long parents have lived here, how much contact they have had with
other members of Canadian society, and their own world views that help them
interpret the world around them

- children often become cultural brokers = dependency role reverses

o Parents can then become reliant on children for support in the new society. This
can be difficult for both generations, as parents fear the destabilization of their
authority and children may experience embarrassment and fear of discrimination
over their parents’ lack of knowledge

Racism and Discrimination

- Racism and discrimination are high for immigrants
o discrimination can deny these children a sense of belonging and can drive them
into social isolation, alienation, and poor health
- violent racism in school
- social exclusion they face

- children who attract negative aptitudes because of racialized differences face

study/educational problems
o institutional level, when children do not see their “race,” language, or culture
reflected in the classroom, they do not feel part of the group

- teachers’ discriminatory attitudes and practices affect immigrant children’s social

competence and academic performance and contribute to lower self-esteem
- Discrimination by their peers and an absence of an inclusive environment similarly
contributed to immigrant children’s low self-esteem
o discrimination and social and psychological isolation were important factors
negatively affecting the development and future prospects of immigrant children.

Language Retention and Educational Outcomes

- acculturation for newcomer children takes place in school
- Lack of knowledge in English and French
o Impacts skills development in school
 Less developed skills in reading, writing and mathematics than their
classmates with Canadian-born parents
 overcome this disadvantage and in some cases even exceed the
performance of children of Canadian-born parents before the end
of elementary school
o Children from immigrant families whose mother tongue was neither English nor
French (allophones) caught up to or surpassed their peers by age 10 or 11

- loss of the first language occurs rather quickly following immigration for most children.
- not all immigrants are equally likely to pass on their mother tongues to the next
generation.
 o the highest levels of education and those with the highest incomes are least likely
to pass on their mother tongue, whereas those who partnered with someone of the
same mother tongue or who reside in Quebec are more likely to pass on their
mother tongue.

- loss of the first language has some potentially negative effects on assimilation, the loss
of distinctiveness through the absorption into the dominant culture and language.

Health and Emotional Status

- children often learn a new language rapidly and some become high achievers in school,
but many also experience discrimination, witness difficulties at home, fall behind in
school, and experience developmental challenges related to their resettlement
experiences.

- Some families immigrate to Canada in better health then Canadian-born but years in
Canada makes their health decline
o newcomer children have been found to develop, over time, physical and mental
health problems requiring specialized care.
o parents’ depression and poor mental health, intrafamilial conflict, and
resettlement stress each affected children’s psychological well-being.

- new immigrant families were much more likely than Canadian families to be poor.
o enjoyed a mental health advantage than non-immigrant children on a number of
mental health measures.

- immigrant girls had even fewer emotional problems than immigrant boys
- non-immigrant girls living in poverty tended to have more emotional problems than non-
immigrant boys in the same situation.
- Asian immigrant children had a mental health advantage over European or white
immigrant children

- Heath care system challenges: language obstacles, discrimination, fear of Western

medicine, and lack of knowledge of health care services
o Leads to misdiagnose and incorrectly treated

Refugee Children
laws affecting refugees are different from immigration laws
- Refugees are generally defined by international regulations, such as those of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
- UNHCR defines refugees as children and adults who reside outside their country and
cannot return due to well-founded fear of persecution because of their “race,” religion,
nationality, political opinion, or membership in a certain group.
 - Refugee children, whether they migrate with or without an adult accompanying them,
must deal with the disruption that comes with migration, dependency reversal at home,
and challenges associated with identity development while bridging generational and
cultural gaps
o Deal with tragedy, trauma, war, persecution, dangerous escapes, refugee camps,
witnessing violence, killing, atrocities against family members, servicing as child
soldiers
 Denied access back to their home country and lost everything familiar to
them

- number of challenges surrounding settlement, including lack of understanding about

their plight, marginalization at school, challenges with their health, limited access to
health care and other services, and the assumption that children are resilient and will
“mend”
o hardships put refugee children at increased risk of malnutrition and chronic health
problems after resettlement.

- Sand play therapy = a therapeutic intervention that uses a sandbox and other accessories
to create miniature worlds or scenes intended to reflect a person’s thoughts and concerns
o Common for adults and children that suffered trauma, neglect, or abuse

Transnational Families
- many other nuclear families are forced to live apart, separated by national borders for
personal, economic, and political reasons = multilocal or transnational families
o when families make the decision to separate, they assume they will be reunited
quickly
 when reunited children and parents may have drifted apart
 some children become resentful for being left behind, some rebel against
the heightened levels of discipline and control that their parents, especially
mothers

- As parents work to establish themselves in Canada, their children, back home, are often
cared for by grandparents or other guardians
o Grandparents often provide less guidance and discipline then traditionally given
by a parent
o They lack parental authority
o Some cases caregivers have some control but are inclined to spoil and indulge the
children

Satellite Children and Astronaut Families

astronaut families, often involving older newcomer children

- Satellite children are sons and daughters of ethnically Chinese immigrants to North
America who have returned to their country of origin after immigration.
- young people migrate on their own to pursue education in Canada as international
students
 - challenges that transnational children and families face include changes in family
structure, parental absences, youth identity construction, and racialization and minority
status while here.

Summary
- many arriving in Canada have had their share of government-induced and -supported
hardships
- Newcomer children and children of immigrants arriving today face challenges not
experienced by many of their Canadian-born peers.
- Newcomer children and children of immigrants arriving today face challenges not
experienced by many of their Canadian-born peers.
- we may assume that all children and especially newcomer children live with their parents,
we saw that some, including unaccompanied refugee children, children in transnational
families, and satellite children, do not—at least temporarily.
- newcomers continue to help build the future of Canada.

Additional Reading
Immigrants Make up the Largest Share of the Population in over 150 years and Continue to
Shape Who we are as Canadians

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/221026/dq221026a-eng.htm

- In 2021, more than 8.3 million people of the population were or have been a landed
immigrant or peremanent resident in Canaanada
o Highest amonf the G7

- For Canada: fertitiley is below the population replacement level and immigration is the
main driver of population growth
o Immigration could represent from 29.1% ti 34% of the population of Canada by
2041\

- Immigration is critical to the labour market

- Asia has become the top source region of ner immihrants
 - Immigration contributed to 79.9% of the growth in Canada’s labour force
- Close to two-thirds of recent immigrants are of core working age
- More than half of recent immigrants are admitted under the economic category

Immigrants are selected according to three broad objectives:

1) to enhance and promote economic development
2) to reunite families
3) fulfill the country’s international obligations and uphold its humanitarian tradition

immigrants admitted under the economic category are selected based upon their potential
economic contribution to meet labour market needs, or to create economic opportunities by
owning, operating or investing in a business or through self-employment

Provincial Nominee Program, which is a program where people who have skills, education and
work experience are nominated to contribute to the economy of a specific province or territory.

- More than one-third of recent immigrants have pre-admission expiereince

 o Pre-addmion expierence is gained when immigrants first come to Canada
temporatily on work or study persmits or asylum claiamants before seeking
permentant residence
 Process called “two-tep immigration”
 ease an immigrant's integration into the Canadian labour market
and improve earnings in both the short and long term
 the two-step immigraition process has the objective to improve
outcons for imigrants, employers, society and the economy, giving
both the recieiving country and the potentional immigrant the
opportunity to test the situation before making the move permanent

Work Permits:

- It plays a key role in lifting immigrants' wages, as it provides pathways for immigrants to
acquire language skills and knowledge of the Canadian labour market.
- Immigrants with prior experience in Canada have contributed to recent improvements in
labour force outcomes among new immigrants.

- Increasing shares of recent immigrants settling outside Canada’s three largest urban
centers
- New immigrants often settle in regions where they have existing social networks,
economic and employment opportunities and enjoy the general appeal of the area
o Several immigration programs and investments were also designed to help
balance the geographical distribution of recent immigrants across the country and
encourage settlement in both small and large metropolitan areas

- The share of recent immigrants settling in Atlantic Canada has nearly tripled since 2006

- Changes in the place of birth of immigrants over time contribute to Canada’s linguistic
and ethnocultural landscape
- Largest proportion of new immigrants come from India
 - Over 450 mother tongues reported on the census, as newcomers contribute to linguistic
diversity
- Non-official languages of Canada: Arabic, Tagalog, Mandarin, Panjabi

- The vast majority of recent immigrants can conduct a conversation in either English or
French

- The first official language spoken (FOLS) is a general indicator of linguistic orientation
o (the knowledge or predominant use of English or French generally to one of
Canada’s two official language communities in the public sphere and the private
sphere)

- The vast majority of immigrants, recent or established, live in a major urban center

- Almost one-third of all children in Canada have a least one parent born abroad
o Canadian-born children of immigrants are also called “second generation”
 Have at least one foreign-born parent
 second generation may adopt a dual cultural background,
combining the values and culture of their parents' country of origin
with the values, social norms and official languages of the host
country, and act as a bridge between their immigrant parents and
the rest of the population.

- Children of immigrants—both young and old—contribute to the population renewal,

economic growth and diversity of Canada.

Lecture Notes

ADDITIONAL READING ON EXAM

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/221026/dq221026a-eng.htm

Historical Overview
• 19th century: Birth rates were higher than death rates, but people were leaving
• Initial purpose of immigration was to populate Canada with European Settlers
• Farmers, agricultural laborer's, female domestics
• Interest in people from Great Britain, US, northern Europe (that looked the same
– white!)
• List of desirables vs undesirables, made it difficult for undesirables to immigrate to
Canada
• People from Southern Europe, Chinese, and South Asian were viewed as cheap labor
• Attempted to create a bachelor community – migrate alone and temporarily
• E.g., Head tax of $50 per Chinese immigrant, this amount only increased
 • For 100 years (1867-1967) discriminatory practices were implemented to determine who
could immigrate to Canada
• 1967 – government stopped immigration policies related to “race” and replaced it with a
merit point system to get into Canada
• Racialized groups: a socially constructed classification of people based on real
or imagined characteristics
• Merit points: qualifications based on characteristics like education, skills, spoken
language (English/French)
• This resulted in a change in Canada’s composition (increase in the number of people of a
visible minority)

Recent Numbers and Trends

• Supplementary reading (stats can) – read this for exam!
• In 2021, more than 8.3 million people (23.0% of the population were a landed
immigrant in Canada)
• Largest proportion came from Asia, including the Middle East (62%)
• Today, immigration is the main driver of population growth!
• Reasons: aging population, low fertility rates
• If these trends continue, by 2041 immigrants could represent 29.1-34% of Canada’s
population
• We need to ensure positive wellbeing among immigrants!

• Majority of newcomers settle in large urban areas (with most in Toronto)

• Impacts needs of schools and communities in major urban centers
• Children who immigrate are more likely to live with extended family (e.g., grandparents),
and are just as likely to live in nuclear families
• Recent Newcomer children are more likely than Canadian-born children to live in
families with incomes below median family income
• Recent immigrants have wages about 74% of the Canadian average
• Labor market fails to recognize international work experience/credentials
• Racial discrimination plays a role

Immigrant Families and Social Support

• Programs available to help newcomer families (differs depending on place of origin and
qualifications)
• Study by Joyette (2014) found the following created barriers for access:
• Reliance on public transit (strollers/cost)
• Limited knowledge of English (hard to communicate)
• Feelings isolated and overwhelmed
• Many have concerns of assimilation (losing culture, values, language)
• Many felt judged and pressure to conform; felt stigmatized accessing publicly
funded/low-cost services

Experiences of Immigrant Children

• A lack of research examining children’s perspectives
• Against the UNCRC – freedom to express thoughts/opinions!
 • Gonick (2017) worked with recent Newcomers (immigrant girls), and helped them share
their experiences via art
• Racism (wearing a Hijab)
• Bullying
• Feelings of isolation
• What are some other experiences can you can imagine?

• Immigration Youth Report (review of research – not child-centric)

• Significant difference in immigrant children in school performance depending on
country of origin
• Age impacts experiences (earlier immigration, better outcomes)
• Negative aspects:
• Experience high levels of stress and other mental health issues
• Feelings of isolation, social exclusion, and marginalization
• Families often struggle financially, impacts general quality of life
• Positive aspects:
• Immigrant youth cultural practices often help them avoid health risks
(eating healthier, smoking less, being engaged in more sports)
• Higher resilience, self-esteem, self-efficacy – often built on struggles
• Low involvement in criminal activities

Other Challenging Experiences:

Parents and Parenting

• Every child’s experiences are unique (temperament, SES (socioeconomic status),
knowledge)
• Cultural brokers: when children become cultural/linguistic interpreters for their parents
 often results in parent-child strain
• Research showing parents want their children growing up being: (1) educated; (2)
financially secure; and (3) have good family relations
• Differences among immigrants with feelings of importance of cultures/religion
• Newcomer parenting: Cannot focus on culture, too broad
• Impact of social supports, SES, hardships, how long they’ve been here
• Universal impacts: maturity, age, gender, personalities of children, etc.

• Ochacka & Janzen (2008) framework for understanding newcomer parents and parenting
• Identifying parent orientations (beliefs, expectations about children’s
behaviour/future)
• Parenting style (how they relate/interact with their child)
• Host country context (where they immigrated to, values there)
• Parenting modifications (changes to orientation based on immigration country)
• Parenting contributions (give understanding of parenting in host country)
• Parental supports (i.e., social services, processing parental modifications, etc.)

Racism and Discrimination

• Newcomer children often experience racism (despite UNCRC, article 2)
 • Can result in negative outcomes: social isolation, alienation, and poor health
• Psychological factors affect development and future outcomes
• Teachers’ negative attitudes  can result in lower competence, achievement, self-esteem
• Children as young as 3-4 have been found to favor those who share ”group membership”
– can result in discrimination
• What can we do to reduce these biases among children?

Language/Education
• Acculturation – process of change (social, psychological, cultural) that stems from
balancing two cultures, while adapting to the prevailing culture of society
• Many Newcomer’s don’t speak English/French
• Sometimes there are a lack of language resources at the provincial level (schools,
community services) – may cause issues
• Study with the NLSCY 1994-1998: Immigrant children start school with less developed
reading, writing, mathematics, but overcome this and sometimes exceed Canadian-born
students
• Allophones (neither English/French) caught up/surpassed by age 10 or 11
• English/French mother tongues caught up/surpassed by age 9

Health and Emotions

• Health immigrant effect: foreign-born family members arrive in Canada in better health
than Canadian-born, but with increasing years in Canada their health declines
(physical/mental health)
• Newcomer children’s health is correlated with several factors:
• Neighborhood safety
• Parental education
• Parental mental health
• Family functioning (relationship, support)
• Shared goal of immigrant families of hope for a brighter future may buffer mental health
issues

Refugee Children
• Laws defining refugee are different from immigration laws
• UNHCR: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
• Defines refugees as people who reside outside of their country and cannot return
due to fear of persecution because of membership in a certain group (i.e., race,
religion, nationality)
• Half of the world’s refugees (22.3 million) are children (most from conflict zones –
Africa, Middle East, Pacific region)
• Some of these refugee children arrive alone or unaccompanied
• Face what many immigrants do (acculturation, discrimination) but also have experienced
trauma (e.g., war, persecution, refugee camps, etc.)

• 80-90% of refugee children have been exposed to harsh conditions (long-term hunger,
violence)
• Increased risk for health problems and malnutrition
 • Some asylum-seeking children who arrive in Canada are kept in “immigration detention
centers” – like prison
• Studies find for children 3-13 there is additional trauma caused by incarceration
• Stories through sandplay – form of play therapy
• What impacts do you think this could have on them as they integrate into Canada?

Transnational Families
• Transnational or Multilocal Families: Refugees that come to Canada from nuclear
families that are forced to live apart for a variety of reasons (personal, economic,
political)
• These families experience unique experiences when reunited – often having different
caregivers will make it tough when families come back together
• Parents and children may have drifted apart during separation
• Children may be resentful for being left behind
• Parents may experience shame and guilt for leaving children behind
•  may not feel comfortable accessing social services because of this

Summary
• Newcomer children, and children of immigrants arriving today may experience
challenges that Canadian-born children do not
• Mental and physical health
• Children do fair well in terms of educational outcomes, sometimes surpassing their
Canadian-born peers
• Newcomer children and parents continue to build Canada’s population – we must ensure
they have the support they need!