From the Four Corners of the Globe: Immigrant Family and Community in Winnipeg

Dan Chekki, Department of Sociology, University of Winnipeg
Paul Redekop, Menno Simons College at the University of Winnipeg

Paper for Presentation at-the Fourth Prairie Regional Workshop, Winnipeg November 8- 10, 2001.

The presentation will involve initial findings from a study of the role of the family and community in the adaptation of immigrants to the urban Canadian milieu. The study includes immigrants from South Asia, the Philippines, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, and examines the nature and characteristics of integration into the urban community of Winnipeg between 1968 and 2000. This exploratory research is based on empirical data gathered from face-to-face interviews with first-generation immigrants and their children residing in the Greater Winnipeg area. A "snowball sample" method was employed, beginning with key informants from each immigrant community. With this method, we were able to obtain more than 700 face-to-face interviews during the 1999-2000 period. The majority of these interviews were conducted in the immigrant family households. The interviewers were generally from the same geographic region as the respondents. A total of 440 interviews were selected for the purpose of our analysis. We excluded all interviews that were incomplete, and included all interviews where more than one member of the household was interviewed. The sample population according to affiliation is indicated in the following table:

Relevant features of Winnipeg's urban milieu will be reviewed, including an overview of major patterns of immigration past and present, ethnic composition, and significant features of the cultural, social and economic environment. A socioeconomic profile of respondents and their families will be provided. Immigrants' work and family life will be analyzed in terms of relationship to ethnocultural affiliation, common characteristics of immigrants, and differences among immigrants from the four regions included in the sample. Some exploratory findings re attitudinal and behavioral variables will also be included. Questions of ethnic identity will be discussed. Do respondents identify more with their ethnic group, or as Canadians, and how is this affected by duration of stay in Canada, by generation, and by ethnocultural affiliation? Patterns of language usage in the family, the workplace and the community will be explored, Finally, some features of relationship to the media and media usage will be examined.