Research Team:

• Dr. Tracy Peressini (University of Toronto) - Principal Investigator
• Dr. H. Polo Diaz (University of Regina)

Research Domain(s): Economic; Social; Public Services and Political

The instabilities of many national economies usually affect the capacity of households to generate stable and permanent incomes and their capacity to provide for and ensure the welfare of their members (Sparr, 1994; Castles, 1989; Beneria and Sen, 1986). In response, many households and families have opted to migrate to new countries and attempt to integrate into a new economic structure with the hope of improving their life chances and restoring stability to their individual livelihoods. The process of economic integration into a new country is not, however, without its obstacles or difficulties.

For many families or households economic integration into a new country involves adapting to a new culture, language and social context (Logan, 1994); adaptations which, in turn, often involve fundamental changes in the internal structure of the family, as well as with household relations (Elson, 1992). In many instances, the inability of immigrant men to find employment, in tandem with availability of low-wage work for immigrant women, has forced the immigrant family/ household to transform itself in order to adapt to the market place (Sparr, 1994; Armstrong, 1984). For example, immigrants, particularly women, are increasingly represented among low-wage workers in Canada (Gingrich, 1995). In the process of restructuring the household, choices are negotiated within the unit about allocating and accessing resources. The process of integration typically involves the negotiation and mediation of decreased resources for household survival that alter work, access to household /community resources, status and family structures. All of these factors serve to transform the internal structure of the household and the nature of relations within it. It is the internal adaptations and changes that households must undergo in order to facilitate the process of integration into the Canadian economy that is the focus of this study.

The study will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will entail constructing a demographic profile of the immigrant population in Regina and the surrounding area. The profile will be created using existing data and information sources, as well as the responses from a structured questionnaire which will be mailed out to respondents. A mail listing will be constructed from the mailing lists of the following agencies (who have been contacted and have, at the present time, tentatively agreed to release their mailing lists for the purposes of the study: Immigrant Women of Saskatchewan, the Regina Multicultural Council, the Learning Centre at the Regina Public Library, the Regina Open Door Society Inc., and the Saskatchewan Institute for Applied Arts, Science and Technology.

The second phase of the research will entail selecting a panel of 25 families from the survey sample to be administered an in-depth semi-structured interview designed to address a variety of factors, including: household organization; household relations such as the gender culture, choices and decisions on household resource allocation, survival strategies and power relations. The results of these interviews will be used to determine the similarities /dissimilarities between household organization and relations before and after immigration and at various stages of integration. Prior to the administration of these interviews, a series of consultations will take place with key informants of the above stated agencies in order to determine what particular services and organizations immigrants are accessing and using in the Regina area.