Page 56 - IJPS-11-6

International Journal of

Population Studies

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Migration to non-metropolitan communities:

Community-based perspectives on immigrant
settlement and multicultural diversity in a small

city in Canada

1
Ryan Thyra Lok * and Zhixi Cecilia Zhuang 2
1 School of Planning, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
2 School of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Community Services, Toronto Metropolitan
University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Immigrants in Canada are increasingly moving into non-metropolitan communities
(smaller cities). Non-metropolitan communities are unique contexts of settlement
due to a fabric of difference in the physical and social landscape in comparison to
larger, multicultural cities that are renowned for immigration and diversity. Policies
and immigration pathway programs in Canada are deliberate about promoting non-
metropolitan communities as places for immigrant settlement due to the necessity
*Corresponding author:
Ryan Thyra Lok of addressing demographic challenges, such as an aging or declining population.
(rtlok@uwaterloo.ca) However, less is known about the experiences of settlement in a smaller city from
the perspective of immigrants living in the community. This study explored the
Citation: Lok, R.T. & Zhuang, Z.C.
(2025). Migration to non- community-based perspectives about multicultural diversity and the reasons for
metropolitan communities: migration to a non-metropolitan community in Canada. It involved interviews with
Community-based perspectives immigrants from multicultural backgrounds, municipal officials, and a key informant
on immigrant settlement and
multicultural diversity in a small city on immigrant settlement and integration. The findings of this study indicated that
in Canada. International Journal of economic and family-related factors were the primary reasons for migration to
Population Studies. 11(6): 50-66. and settlement in a non-metropolitan community. This paper contributes to the
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.6309
literature on population and demographic change by emphasizing the importance of
Received: November 20, 2024 understanding place satisfaction from the perspective of diversity in the community
1st revised: November 26, 2024 as an approach to addressing demographic challenges in non-metropolitan
communities.
2nd revised: February 4, 2025
Accepted: April 29, 2025
Keywords: Migration; Immigration; Immigrants; Community; Non-metropolitan; Canada
Published online: May 15, 2025
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the 1. Introduction
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution, Immigration will continue to be the primary factor of population growth and
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is demographic diversification in Canada (Government of Canada, 2023a). Between July
properly cited. 2022 and July 2023, Canada welcomed 468,817 immigrants and 697,701 non-permanent
Publisher’s Note: AccScience residents – a combined total that marks the highest number of newcomers admitted in
Publishing remains neutral with a single year in Canadian immigration history (Government of Canada, 2023b). During
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional this period, Canada experienced the fastest population growth rate since 1957 (the post-
affiliations. war baby boom) at 2.3%, largely due to immigration (Statistics Canada, 2023a). The

Volume 11 Issue 6 (2025) 50 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.6309