An indicator of the social and civic integration of migrants in Canada: The development of an immigrant integration index and some findings

This paper reports on a research project that utilizes a large quantitative data set in Canada to measure the “well-being” among immigrants in Canada. More specifically an index is developed as an indicator of social and civic integration of immigrants in Canada taking into consideration variables related to civic participation, political participation, feelings of “comfort, trust, and belonging to Canada” and experiences of discrimination. The paper first reviews the literature and examines the various attempts in some other countries to develop an immigrant integration index using individual level data. Then it explains how, using factor analysis, an immigrant integration index was developed for Canada and describes the process used. As a statistical tool it can be argued that this index is measuring in a composite way some aspects of immigrants’ quality of life in Canada. Finally the paper applies this index to some specific groups in Canada. More specifically this last part of the paper presents index scores and analysis for: 1) nativity (immigrants/ native born); 2) generational status; 3) visible minority/racial status; and 3) nativity by generation and visible minority/racial status.