Are Refugees More Likely to Leave Initial Destinations than Economic Immigrants? Recent Evidence from Canadian Longitudinal Administrative Data

Unlike economic and family class immigrants, who mostly make their own choice about where to settle in Canada, the initial geographic location of refugees is strongly influenced by government resettlement programs. Government-assisted refugees (GARs) are assigned to one of many designated communities based on a pre-approved regional quota of refugee allocation and the match between a refugee’s needs and community resources. Privately sponsored refugees (PSRs) are received by their sponsors, who are scattered across the country. While previous research suggests that refugees, especially GARs, are more likely to undertake secondary migration than other immigrants, no large-scale quantitative study has compared the rates of departure from initial destination cities for different immigrant categories in the long term. This study compares long-term secondary migration in Canada by immigrant admission category, with a focus on the size of the initial city of settlement.