Quality of Life of Immigrants in Canada

Quality of life research is a key component of policymaking. Research on this topic can embrace two approaches––social or health-related perspectives. With a focus on the social aspect, this study uses cross-sectional data from the Canadian Community Health Survey to explore differences in the level of satisfaction and quality of life of immigrants and non-immigrants. To examine changes over time, recent immigrants are compared with earlier immigrants who are further compared with non-immigrants. Some subjective indicators are selected from the available data and an index of quality of life is computed using the methodology developed by the United Nations Development Program for measuring human development. Findings of the study show that among the three groups, earlier immigrants are least satisfied with life in general but most satisfied with their financial situation. The score on the quality of life index is lowest for earlier immigrants mainly due to deterioration in their health. Non-immigrants enjoy the best quality of life attributed particularly to their higher income and participation in leisure and social activities

Demographic economics · Economics · Geography · Immigration · Index (typography) · Quality (philosophy) · Quality of life (healthcare) · Sociology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Global Health Care Issues · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Psychology · Gerontology