The Perspectives of Second-generation Immigrants in Canada

Nicole Jarrett and Andrew Parkin

Outcomes for second-generation immigrants are typically measured in terms of educational attainment, employment rates and income. These indicators are important, but they tell us little about the experience that second-generation have balancing the values and expectations of their immigrant parents with those of Canadian society more generally. This report addresses this knowledge gap by exploring the outlook of second-generation immigrants in Canada, and how it compares both to those of first-generation immigrants, and to non-immigrants.

This study draws upon a unique survey of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 40 (those described as Generation Z or Millennials) conducted in the autumn of 2020. It finds that the experiences of second-generation immigrants cannot be easily generalized: this group of Canadians is neither consistently similar to, nor consistently different from, the other two groups.

Taken together, this study’s findings are encouraging. They are suggestive of a process in which integration occurs first in aspects related to more material aspects of life, and then later in terms of more cultural aspects. But more importantly, the analysis does not find that second-generation immigrants are outliers in a negative sense; that is, while in some cases they have more pessimistic views than first-generation immigrants, they do not tend to have more pessimistic views than non-immigrants – views that, were they present, would point to the existence of major barriers to integration into Canadian society.

Second-generation immigrants certainly have worries, with many expressing concerns about their current financial situation, or about the performance of governments. But these concerns are shared by younger Canadians of all backgrounds, and do not divide the country according to how long their families have lived here.

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The Environics Institute would like to thank Century Initiative and the Diversity Institute for funding this research report. This report is funded by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Program. The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.