Beyond the City Limits: An Examination of Adjustment among Immigrants in Rural Canada

Th e present research sought to investigate some of the key elements that are related to rural immigration in the province of Ontario where the experience of declining immigration to rural areas is typical for Canada. 104 immigrants living in rural Canada participated in the study. Th ose who reported a high level of psychological well-being were less likely to report socio-cultural diffi culties; those who perceived high levels of discrimination were more likely to report socio-cultural diffi culties and psychophysical distress; and low levels of linguistic competence predicted psycho-physical distress. Acculturation attitudes also predicted socio-cultural diffi culties in that those who endorsed integration, assimilation and marginalization were less likely to report socio-cultural diffi culties. Th e cultural adaptation problems of rural immigrants were found, in this study, to be similar to those of their urban counterparts, which indicates that services to support adaptation and higher levels of integration should also be off ered to rural immigrants. Th e results of the present study are important for policy making, economic development and service delivery in rural Canada. Part_2. indd 271 2007-05-07 14:10:33  Part . Cultural Diversity Rural immigration patterns and motives are largely understudied in the Canadian immigration research, with most of the literature on recent settlement patterns of immigrants in Canada focusing on the urban centres (e.g. Lo & Wang, 1997; Safdar, Lay, & Struthers, 2003). Th e case is similar internationally; researchers have focused on immigrants in large metropolitan areas such as Chicago, San Francisco, Helsinki, London, and Sydney (Pamuk, 2004; Kauppinen, 2002; Newbold & Spindler, 2001; White, 1998). Th e study of immigrant settlement patterns involving smaller cities and rural areas, however, has been neglected. Th ere was a time when most immigrants settled in rural areas in Canada (Knowles, 1995, cit. after: DiBiase & Bauder, 2005). In large part, this was due to a constant stream of European farmers coming over to the New World for better land. Now, however, over 70% of recent immigrants are of nonEuropean descent (Statistics Canada, 2001) and most settle in larger cities. In 2001, immigrants constituted 18.4% of Canada’s population (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2003). Th e vast majority of these immigrants were located in urban zones and industrialized provinces (Beshiri & Alfred, 2002). In fact, recent immigrant settlement patterns in Canada refl ect inter-regional and intra-regional disparities. In 2002, Ontario, the second largest and most populated province in Canada, received 58.3% of all immigrants to Canada, most of them settling in Toronto (Citizen and Immigration Canada, 2003). Although Ontario has a long history of rural immigration into many of its diverse rural areas, mainly to work in agriculture, forestry and mining, it has experienced very low levels of rural immigration since the Second World War, as immigrants have increasingly concentrated in cities. Th ere were very few immigrants to rural Ontario in 2001 (hardly 10% of the total), a percentage that had declined since 1991 (Rural Secretariat, 2005). DiBiase and Bauder (2005) report that the perception of a desired life was an infl uential factor in determining where immigrants would settle in Ontario. Rural areas were less popular because immigrants knew little about them prior to arriving. Walton-Roberts (2005) also examined reasons for immigrant settlement in a rural context in another Canadian province, British Columbia. She reports that municipal governments do not actively recruit immigrants and that attraction and retention of immigrants is related to social and economic factors within small communities. Walton-Roberts (2005) suggests that with greater governmental involvement through the provision of funding for settlement and language services, smaller communities could develop cultural Part_2. indd 272 2007-05-07 14:11:00 S. Safdar, T. Fuller, J. R. Lewis. Beyond the City Limits:.  diversity within an economically strong social framework. She also argues that extreme clustering of a minority in urban centres can be detrimental to their integration into society as a whole (Walton-Roberts, 2005). In sum, there is an increased interest in Canada in understanding rural immigration. Th ere have been calls for further investigation of the geographic distribution of immigrants in non-metropolitan regions, and for greater understanding of the characteristics of immigrants who settle in rural zones (Hiebert, 2000; Citizenship and Immigration, 2001; Beshiri & Alfred, 2002; WaltonRoberts, 2005). Th ere is also a particular need to learn more, in terms of both processes and outcomes, about the psychological and social adjustment of immigrants in rural areas.