Comparing Canadian Born
and Foreign Born Respondents
The Panel Study on Homelessness in
Ottawa
F. Klodawsky, T. Aubry, B. Behnia, C.
Nicholson, M. Young
Outline of the Presentation

Foreign Born Respondents
– Design and Methods
– Results:
• Profile of Foreign Born Respondents
• Comparison with Canadian Born Respondents
– Findings
– Recommendations
Nov 22, 2005
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Design

Panel Study sampling goals: 25% of adult
women and 40% of adults in families should not
be Canadian citizens
 Cultural interpreters were utilized whenever
appropriate.
 One Panel Study interviewer, trained as cultural
interpreter, spoke Somali as his mother tongue
and Arabic
 Ninety-nine of 412 respondents were not born in
Canada
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Nov 22, 2005
Methods

The original question on citizenship was not
linked to reasons for arrival
 But further discussion and research indicated
that we should re-categorize respondents as
immigrants (IMM) or as refugees (REF)
 When comparing the situations of Canadian Born
Respondents (CBR) and Foreign Born
Respondents (FBR), and IMM and REF, we used
matched samples based on sex and age
Nov 22, 2005
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Results

Profiles of Respondents
–
–
–
–
–

Distribution of Refugee and Immigrant Respondents
Sex
Age
Year of Arrival in Canada
Country of Origin
Comparisons Among Matched Samples
–
–
–
–
–
–
Nov 22, 2005
Number of Children
Reasons for Homelessness
Number of Time Homeless
Educational Attainment
Health Status
Health and Social Service Utilization
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Immigrant and Refugee Origins and
Citizenship Status

REFUGEES
– 52/99 respondents came to Canada as
refugees;
• 25% were Canadian citizens and 40% were
refugee claimants

IMMIGRANTS
– 47/99 respondents came to Canada as
immigrants;
• 60% were Canadian citizens
Nov 22, 2005
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Citizenship Status by Subgroup (#)
Subgroup
Came as
Immigrants
Came as
Refugees
Refugee
Claimants
Adult Female
11
5
8
5
16
2
8
2
2
0
16
3
5
0
1
0
11
4
Adult Male
Youth Female
Youth Male
Adult Female in
Families
Adult Males in
Families
Nov 22, 2005
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Sex

PREPONDERANCE OF WOMEN
AMONG FOREIGN BORN
RESPONDENTS
– 79% of foreign born respondents
– 84% of refugees were female
– 74% of immigrants were female
– 87% of adults in families were female

AMONG CANADIAN BORN…
– 48% were female
Nov 22, 2005
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Age

MAJORITY WERE WORKING AGE
ADULTS
– Smaller clusters of:
• Immigrant youth
• Refugees over 50 years of age
Nov 22, 2005
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Year of Arrival (%)
FBR
N=99
2001-2003 32
IMM
N=47
17
REF
N=52
48
1996-2000 23
22
23
1990-1995 28
26
29
PRE 1990 16
35
0
Nov 22, 2005
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Country of Origin









Somalia
United States
Haiti
Unknown/Missing
Rwanda
Djibouti
Zaire
Ethiopia
D.R. Congo
22
8
6
7
5
4
3
3
3
Colombia 3
Kenya
2
Ukraine
2
Palestine 2
Italy
2
Burundi
2
Philippines 2


And one person each from:

Africa (Unspecified)
The Gambia
Angola
Trinidad
Armenia
Vietnam
Burk. Faso
Yemen
China
Kuwait
Sudan





Costa Rica
England
Eritrea
Guatemala
India
Lebanon
Poland
Saudi Arabia
Scotland
Singapore
South Korea

Nov 22, 2005
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Matched Comparisons
FBR v. CBR
IMM v. REF
Number of Children (%)
None
FBR
N=98
31
FBR
N=78
37
CBR
N=78
30
IMM
N=32
25
REF
N=33
30
1-2
33
26
46
50
18
3-4
24
25
19
19
33
5+
11
12
6
6
18
Nov 22, 2005
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Reasons for Current Episode of
Homelessness (%)
FBR N=99
FBR N=78
CBR N=78
IMM N=33
REF N=33
REFUGEE
CLAIMANT
10
9
FINANCIAL/
HOUSING
43
42
41
54
33
FLEEING
ABUSE
18
18
18
21
24
FAMILY
CONFLICT
20
24
14
18
3
OTHER
5
6
11
3
3
SUBSTANCE
ABUSE
3
4
10
3
0
LEFT
FACILITY
0
0
5
0
0
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21
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Number of Times Homelessness
(%)
1x
FBR
N=99
42
FBR
N=78
39
CBR
N=78
31
IMM
N=33
42
REF
N=33
54
2x
29
31
23
33
24
3x
11
10
13
6
9
4x
5
5
14
3
6
5x
3
3
6
3
3
10
12
13
13
More than 5
times
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4
Level of Education Attained (%)
FBR N=78
FBR N=78
CBR N=78
IMM N=33
REF N=33
Grade 11 or
Less
34
35`
55
27
34
High School
w. or w/o
diploma
25
38
36
33
40
Some trade,
college, etc.
no diploma
9
5
3
9
3
Some postsecondary
20
13
5
21
12
University
Degree
10
9
1
9
9
Nov 22, 2005
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Norm-based Mental and Physical
Health Component Scores (SF-36)
USN
CBR
FBR
IMM
REF
Mental
Health
49.3
41.2
46.9
47.4
46.5
Physical
Health
51.3
49.7
53.7
52.7
54.5
Nov 22, 2005
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One or more social or health service
contacts in last 12 months (%)
FBR N=99
FBR N=78
CBR N=78
IMM N=33
REF N=33
General
Practitioner
62
59
72
76
61
Specialist
22
25
36
30
21
Nurse
27
31
36
24
27
Social
Worker
33
39
51
39
30
Psycholog.
10
13
12
12
12
Shelter
Worker
31
34
53
39
24
Dentist
17
14
28
18
15
Nov 22, 2005
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Overview

Overall, FBR in Ottawa have significantly
different demographic characteristics and
patterns of service usage than do CBN;
differences between IMM and REF are less
pronounced but noteworthy where they exist
 Their reasons for being homeless are more
likely to be explained by structural barriers,
such as lack of access to: a) jobs, b) housing,
c) child care and d) appropriate health and
social services.
Nov 22, 2005
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Findings

Financial reasons, family violence and
conflict, and reasons tied to being a refugee
claimant dominate among the reasons for
being homeless among FBR.
 Higher family conflict possibly linked to FBRs’
greater propensity to extended family living,
and to initial informal housing arrangements
 Health and substance abuse problems are
less significant among FBR overall. Probably
due to citizenship screening but also
resiliency among refugees. Needs more
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Nov 22, 2005
research.
Recommendations

Pressing need for coordinated involvement by
all levels of government (ie. federal
government immigration policies are not wellcoordinated with municipal level settlement
services.
 State programs and policies need to be
focused, yet to recognize ways that different
issues overlap (ie. Family violence,
inadequate housing, stress, poverty)
Nov 22, 2005
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Recommendations (continued)
There is a clear need for greatly
enhanced availability of permanently
affordable, safe and appropriate
housing
 There is a clear need for greatly
enhanced appropriate health and social
services for newcomers

Nov 22, 2005
National Housing Day Ottawa