Overview

Abstract (English)

This thesis focuses on the characterization and explanation of the initial destination choices and subsequent relocations of Canadian immigrants, with an investigation of the temporal pattern of migration processes as well as a component on the second generation. The research relied primarily on the LIDS (Landed Immigrant Data System), the PUMFs (Public Use Microdata files) of the 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, and 2001 population censuses, the longitudinal Immigration Data Base (IMDB), and the primary data files of the 2001 census. ^ The descriptive and multivariate analyses of the initial destination choices of the skilled-worker immigrants from South Asian countries to Canada in 1992-2001, the post-landing interprovincial migration made by newly landed immigrants during three-year time intervals after landing, and the 5-year intermetropolitan migration of the 1991 and 1996 landing cohorts of immigrants have revealed that both the initial destination choice and post-landing relocation processes were strongly affected by changing economic opportunities in labor market and attractions of co-ethnic communities. The findings indicate the importance of the neoclassical economic theory and the ethnic enclave theory. Moreover, the spatial choice processes at both provincial and metropolitan levels have also shown selectivities with respect to immigrants’ personal backgrounds such as educational attainment, ethnicity, and especially immigration class. The findings from the investigation of the 1996-2001 intermetropolitan migration of the second generation are also highly consistent with the neoclassical economic theory and the ethnic enclave theory. Furthermore, there is evidence that compared with the first generation immigrants, the second generation were less dependent on ethnic communities and more sensitive to the changing spatial economy of Canada. ^

Abstract (French)

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