Establishing an Evidence Base for Future Directions in Settlement By: Lori Wilkinson, Jill Bucklaschuk & Janine Bramadat Victoria Esses, Leah Hamilton and Li Zong Presented at the Vision National Settlement Conference Ottawa, November 14 13
Research Questions Who uses settlement services? Are existing services helpful? Are they easy to find? Who doesn t use settlement services? Why don t they use settlement services? Can our observations be confirmed by examining more than one dataset?
Pan Canadian, Alberta and Western Canada Survey Methodology Random samples drawn from a CIC data file Included all immigrants over 18 years, who landed between January 1, 7 and December 31, 12. Indicated intention to reside in target province or territory. Telephone survey conducted in late 12/early 13 N: Alberta Survey = 1,6 Western Canada Survey = 3,6 Pan Canadian Survey =,818 Newcomers must have arrived in one of the four western provinces or territories Response rates: between 24.6% and 38.% An important note on data interpretation
WHO USES SETTLEMENT SERVICES?
age of Newcomers using settlement services on arrival Alberta Settlement Survey Western Canada Settlement Survey Accessed Services 47.1% 52.9% 33.3% 66.7% Pan Canadian Survey NA NA Have not used services Significant provincial differences: -Manitoba highest at 41.9% -Saskatchewan/Alberta at 29.9%
Demographic: Who accesses services? Accessed services Did not access services Gender Males: 49.3%; Females: 5.7% Males: 49.6%; Females: 5.4% Age 25-34 (42.1%) 25-34 (46.5%) Highest level of education prior to arrival University undergraduate degree (.7%) (37.8%) Income $.-$14./hour (31.9% Total N=953 N=194 University undergraduate degree $.-$14.99/hour (29%)
Have you used settlement services from an organization in your Province? 8 7 6 5 Yes No Male Female
Newcomers who use services by sex and employment status 7 6 64.2 Used Services, by gender & employment status 5 37.6 12.2.5 5.1 3.3 9.6 14.8 Full time Part time Self-employed Unemployed, looking for work 1.9 3.3 Unemployed, not looking for work 7.1 Other.6 Male Female
Newcomers experiencing difficulty finding work are more likely to use services 5 45 44.1 35 25 27.5 15 5 Not difficult Very to extremely difficult
Use of Settlement Services by Entrance Class 7 6 73.6% AB 59.3 5 52.5% AB 37.4 39.2% AB 26.4.% AB 36.3 47.6% AB 31.3 Skilled worker or Professional Family Class Provincial Nominee Refugee Other Note: similar use pattern
Use of services by age group 8 73.7 7 6 69.1 63.2 61.3 67.7 67.3 5 26.3.9 36.8 38.7 32.3 32.7 Yes No 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 & over
Effect of Language Knowledge on Service Use 8 7 72.7 6 5 45.5 36.3 36 22.7 English French English and Other French and Other Other
Use of services by English language use 5 47.6 45 36.8 42.1 41 36.2 38.7 37.4 35 32.4 25 19 24 15 5 None 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Excellent
Reasons for Not Using Services, by Province 6 5 AB 1st AB 2ND AB 3RD Lack of information or awareness of services Lack of services in your local community Confusion about who to go to in order to get help You feel that you do not need help to settle in your Province BC AB SK MB
Why haven t you used services by sex Why have you not used any service? 6 5 5.2 49.8 55.8 54.8 44.2 45.2 46.4 53.6 You feel that you do not need help to settle in your Province Lack of information or awareness of services Confusion about who to go to in order to get help Lack of services in your local community Male Female
Why haven t you used services by entrance class 45 47.7% 41.6 Why have you not used any services? 38.5% 39.7 39.3 37.1 35 49.5% 27.5 27.9 25.3 57.9% 32.% 27.8% 32.2 29.2 23.8 24.2 24.3 15 5 33.3% 33.3% 8.2 6.2 5. 4.5 2.4 2.4 2.2 2. You feel that you do not need help to settle in your Province Lack of information or awareness of services Confusion about who to go to in order to get help Lack of services in your local community Skilled worker Family class Provincial nominee Refugee Other
Newcomers who do not use services by sex and employment 8 7 71.7 Not using services, by gender & employment status 6 5 41.9 19.3 22.6 8.1 6.5 4.1 5.7 Full time Part time Self-employed Unemployed, looking for work 7.3.7 4.8 Unemployed, not looking for work 7.3 Other Male Female
Services Needed Prior to Arrival 6 5 67% 63% 64% 49.1 49.5 48.7 5% 55% 52% 54% 39.9 34.3 35.1 36.8 47% 48% 45% 36.4 33.3.7 6.1 7.9 1.5
Services most needed after arrival by Province 6 5 Employment services Health and wellness English language assessment and instruction BC AB SK MB Information about living in your Province
Helpfulness of Services or Programs
How helpful are services you accessed? (by sex) 35 25 15 5 Male Female
How helpful are services you accessed? (by entrance class) 5 45 35 25 15 5 Skilled worker or professional Family class Provincial nominee Refugee Other Provincial nominees & Canadian Experience class were the most satisfied in the Alberta Survey
EASE IN ACCESSING SERVICES
It is easy for me to get the services I need to settle in Canada Pan Canadian Survey: 68% Alberta Survey: not comparable at this time Western Canada Survey: 57.1%
How easy has it been for you to get the services you need to settle in your province? 45 35 25 15 5 Skilled worker or professional 71% Family class 65% Provincial nominee Refugee Other 67%
Summary of observations Dependent variable Survey Use of Services Service usage higher among Alberta survey than Western survey Who does not use services? Alberta and Western results similar Helpfulness of Services Alberta and Western results similar Ease of locating services Western and Pan Canadian results similar Note: we can expand our analysis of many of the findings for all three studies.
Future Directions Understand how sex, place of birth, urban/rural and other aspects influence access to services Develop a multivariate model to control for external and internal factors Confront and triangulate our findings against other data: LSIC IMDB Develop an index for successful integration New study to obtain a fuller picture of settlement use in Canada
Sources V. Esses, M. Burstein, Z. Ravanera, S. Hallman and S. Medianu, Alberta Settlement Outcomes Survey. Edmonton: Alberta Human Services, March 13 V. Esses, L. Hamilton, L. Wilkinson, L. Zong, J. Bucklaschuk and J. Bramadat. Western Canada Settlement Outcomes Survey. Calgary: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Western Region Office, June 13. Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Evidence from the Pan-Canadian Settlement Outcomes Survey, 12. Ottawa: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, January 13.
Acknowledgements Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Western Region Citizenship and Immigration Canada, National Headquarters Project Coordinator: Martin Gaal, University of Saskatchewan Palak Dhiman, University of Manitoba Project Facilitator: Dr Joseph Garcea, University of Saskatchewan Social Science Research Laboratory, University of Saskatchewan Population Research Laboratory, University of Alberta Advisory Committee
Contact Information Dr. Lori Wilkinson Department of Sociology 331 Isbister Building University of Manitoba Winnipeg, MB Canada R3T 2N2 Email: Lori.Wilkinson@umanitoba.ca