Grant: Operating Grant

The proposed study will develop knowledge about the impact of immigration and settlement on the health and wellbeing of immigrants in Canadian small cities. The increased number of immigrants to smaller cities is expected to benefit the social and economic progress of these cities. However, the benefits to immigrants' health and wellbeing are unknown when smaller cities are unprepared to meet their needs in the context of financial cuts to essential services and immigrant settlement services. Therefore, this study seeks to understand: 1) What are the roles of settlement experiences in shaping recent visible ethnic minority immigrants' health and wellbeing in the social-geographic context of smaller cities? 2) How do recent ethnic minority immigrants conceptualize an understanding of their health and wellbeing in their social-geographical context? 3) What are the strategies that recent visible ethnic minority immigrants develop and use to maintain their health and wellbeing in smaller cities? The study seeks to illuminate the experience of immigrants in small cities by making their existence and life conditions visible by using Photovoice, a Participatory Action Research (PAR) method. A sample of 72 eligible participants ages 24 to 44 will be drawn from Kelowna, British Columbia, Red Deer, Alberta, and Brandon, Manitoba. The perspectives and stories of immigrants' health and wellbeing will be collected at each site. Participants will be provided cameras to take pictures that represent their perceptions and experiences of their settlement experience, health, and wellbeing from their point of view. Photo-elicitation interviews will provide dynamic insights for building better understanding of immigrants' experiences in smaller cities. An in-depth understanding of these factors is critical to developing appropriate forms of clinical care to prevent poor health outcomes among new and not-so-new immigrants.