Notes on People of Dominican Ancestry in Canada

Transcription

1 City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Publications and Research CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Notes on People of Dominican Ancestry in Canada Ramona Hernandez CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Sarah Marrara CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Utku Sezgin CUNY Dominican Studies Institute How does access to this work benefit you? Let us know! Follow this and additional works at: Part of the Political Science Commons, and the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Hernandez, Ramona; Marrara, Sarah; and Sezgin, Utku, "Notes on People of Dominican Ancestry in Canada" (2016). CUNY Academic Works. This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute at CUNY Academic Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Publications and Research by an authorized administrator of CUNY Academic Works. For more information, please contact

2 RESEARCHBRIEF Notes on People of Dominican Ancestry in Canada Ramona Hernández Sarah Marrara Utku Sezgin

3 Founded in 1992 and housed at The City College of New York, the Dominican Studies Institute of the City University of New York (CUNY DSI) is the nation s first, university-based research institute devoted to the study of people of Dominican descent in the United States and other parts of the world. CUNY DSI s mission is to produce and disseminate research and scholarship about Dominicans, and about the Dominican Republic itself. The Institute houses the Dominican Archives and the Dominican Library, the first and only institutions in the United States collecting primary and secondary source material about Dominicans. CUNY DSI is the locus for a community of scholars, including doctoral fellows, in the field of Dominican Studies, and sponsors multidisciplinary research projects. The Institute organizes lectures, conferences, and exhibitions that are open to the public. Ramona Hernández, Ph.D. Dr. Ramona Hernández is Director of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, The City College of New York. She is also Professor of Sociology at The City College and is on the faculty of The Graduate Center, CUNY. Sarah Marrara, M.S. Sarah Marrara is a Research Associate of CUNY Dominican Studies Institute. She holds a M.S. in Demography from Florida State University and a M.S. in Community Health from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Utku Sezgin, Ph.D. Dr. Utku Sezgin is a Senior Researcher at the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and Government from The City University of New York. Graphic Designer Javier Pichardo, CUNY DSI Research Brief no1 December 2016

4 INTRODUCTION While the social science literature on Latinos in the United States is quite vast, the literature on Latin Americans in Canada is much sparser. With that, the scholarship on smaller Latino populations, such as Dominicans is even more limited. This research brief by the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute offers a brief profile of the Latino population in Canada, with a particular focus on Dominicans, in an attempt to develop wider interest and more scholarly research on the subject. DATA Using publicly available data from Statistics Canada and Canada s Open Government Portal we examine the 2011 National Household Survey data, immigration data and Census data on Central American, South American and Caribbean origin populations. Before diving in, it is important to note that Canadian designations of Central American, South American and Caribbean do not directly correspond with U.S. notions of Latin American or Latino. That is, under the Canadian category of Central American and South American, populations from English speaking countries such as Belize and Guyana and other non-spanish speaking countries in the region are enumerated. Similarly, under the Caribbean category, persons of Haitian origin, Jamaican origin and origins based in other non-spanish speaking countries are also enumerated (Armony, 2014). Because we are interested in Dominicans relative to other Latinos (using a U.S. definition of the term) we must examine categories of Central American, South American and Caribbean origin persons. ANALYSIS Table 1 below displays the 2011 population counts of select ethnic groups in the country of Canada. Notable is the overall size of the Caribbean origin population versus the Central and South American origin population, 627,590 versus 544,380. Also noteworthy is the distribution of the detailed ethnic groups. In Canada, as in the U.S., the Mexican origin population is the largest at 96,055. However, after Mexicans the comparison ends. In the U.S. the size of the Latino population typically reflects the following order: Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran (in more recent years Cubans and Salvadorans sometimes switch places), Dominican (Ruggles et al., 2015). It is clear based on this table that such a distribution does not hold true in Canada, with Colombians and Salvadorans as the second and third largest Latino groups in the country, 76,580 and 63,970 respectively. With regard to Caribbean origin populations, we also see a different distribution of the population, with Cubans occupying the top spot at 21,440 followed by Dominicans at 16,720 and then Puerto Ricans with a population of only 2, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute

5 Table 1: Population of Select Ethnic Groups, Canada 2011 Single and multiple ethnic origin responses Total - Single and multiple ethnic origin responses Single ethnic origin responses Multiple ethnic origin responses Caribbean origins (overall) Latin, Central and South American origins (overall) 627, , , , , ,305 Mexican 96,055 44,675 51,390 Colombian 76,580 55,595 20,985 Salvadoran 63,970 42,155 21,815 Chilean 38,140 17,160 20,975 Cuban 21,440 6,895 14,545 Dominican 16,720 7,545 9,170 Puerto Rican 2, ,135 Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 National Household Survey, Statistics Canada Catalogue no X Table 2 examines Canadian citizenship status for select ethnic groups based on country and region of birth. Here we have separated out the category of Central American and South American to provide a more nuanced view. As can be seen, the overall Central and South American populations have similar levels of citizenship in Canada, both around 70%. Persons from the Caribbean, however, have a slightly higher citizenship rate at 78%. Among the detailed ethnic groups, it is Colombians and Cubans with the lowest citizenship rates at approximately 52%, and Salvadorans with the highest citizenship rate at 82%. Chileans also fall near the top with citizenship levels of about 77%, while the Caribbean origin populations of Dominicans and Puerto Ricans land in the middle with citizenship rates of approximately 68%. The levels of citizenship exhibited in Canada are in stark contrast to that which is observed among Latin Americans in the U.S. Using 2015 IPUMS ACS data (Ruggles et al., 2015) we observe the following citizenship rates for persons born in Latin American countries and now reside in the U.S: Mexico- 28%, El Salvador- 32%, Chile- 52%, the Dominican Republic- 54%, Colombia- 56%, and Cuba- 59%. It is only among Colombians and Cubans that citizenship rates are relatively similar between Canada and the U.S. Notes on People of Dominican Ancestry in Canada 2

6 Table 2: Canadian Citizenship Status by Country of Birth for Select Groups, Canada 2011 Place of birth Canadian Citizens Not Canadian Citizens Canadian Citizenship Rank Central America (overall) 68.2% 31.8% 3 South America (overall) 70.8% 29.2% 2 Caribbean and Bermuda (overall) 78.1% 21.9% 1 Mexico 56.4% 43.6% 5 Colombia 51.5% 48.5% 7 El Salvador 82.4% 17.6% 1 Chile 76.8% 23.2% 2 Cuba 52.5% 47.5% 6 Dominican Republic 68.4% 31.5% 3 Puerto Rico 67.4% 32.6% 4 Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 National Household Survey, Statistics Canada Catalogue no X Table 3 examines the geographic distribution of select ethnic groups across the country of Canada. As can be seen, the largest number of each ethnic group are concentrated primarily in Ontario and Quebec, with smaller, though notable populations in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Interestingly, among all groups examined except Dominicans, the population size is larger in Ontario than Quebec. The reverse holds true for Dominicans, where the largest number of people, 8,345, live in Quebec versus the 7,085 that live in Ontario. 3 CUNY Dominican Studies Institute

7 Table 3: Population of Select Ethnic Groups by Province, Canada 2011 Prince Newfoundland New Edward Nova Scotia and Labrador Brunswick Quebec / Geography Canada Island / Île- / Nouvelle- / Terre-Neuveet-Labrador Brunswick / Nouveau- Québec du-prince- Écosse Édouard Ontario Manitoba Saskatchewan Alberta British Columbia / Colombie- Britannique Northwest Territories / Yukon Nunavut Territoires du Nord-Ouest Caribbean 627, ,215 1, , ,485 8,605 2,705 25,035 20, origins (overall) Latin, Central and South 544, ,380 1, , ,545 17,845 4,990 54,650 52, American origins (overall) Mexican 96, ,045 31,690 6,420 1,320 14,460 15, Colombian 76, ,570 34,995 1, ,270 4, Salvadoran 63, ,630 28,765 3, ,895 7, Chilean 38, ,210 12,225 1, ,325 4, Cuban 21, ,860 11, ,790 1, Dominican 16, ,345 7, Puerto Rican 2, Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 National Household Survey, Statistics Canada Catalogue no X Notes on People of Dominican Ancestry in Canada 4

8 Figure 1: Map of Dominicans in Canada by Province, 2011 Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 National Household Survey, Statistics Canada Catalogue no X CUNY Dominican Studies Institute

9 Figure 2 examines work permit statuses for select groups by country of citizenship. Specifically, this chart focuses on International Mobility Program (IMP) work permit holders, Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) work permit holders and work permit holders for Humanitarian and Compassion (H&C) purposes. Percentages are calculated for each country of citizenship by first summing each of the permit holder types, then dividing the individual permit type value by the summed value, and multiplying that by 100. As can be seen from the graph, the data suggests some clear patterns regarding the comparative skill levels of individuals from different countries, as well as patterns of how countries differ in terms of their citizens receiving H&C work permits from Canada. Firstly, the data on workers with the H&C permit status show that Chileans have the lowest share of such work permit holders. Immigrants accepted from Mexico and the Dominican Republic are the second and third least likely groups to receive entry privileges under the H&C program. The share of Dominicans receiving such permits from Canada show a clear trend of decline from 2004 to At the opposite end of the scale, it is Salvadorans, Cubans, and Colombians who receive the highest share of H&C permits among the select groups analyzed. The second type of entry program analyzed is the IMP, which is a program that recruits relatively high-skilled workers who are exempt from certain onerous vetting requirements and who often have employment offers already extended to them by Canadian businesses (CanadaVisa.com; Government of Canada, 2016). In this category, the Dominican Republic comes second only to Chile, which has the highest share of its immigrants recruited under IMP. Dominicans have been using this program to emigrate to Canada in steadily increasing numbers: from 26% of all Dominicans receiving IMP permits in 2004 to 47% in This implies a brain-drain type of migration attracting highly skilled Dominicans to Canada from the Dominican Republic. The data also imply that a larger percentage of Dominicans going to Canada are more highly skilled than those Dominicans who emigrate to Europe or the United States (Hernández & Rivera-Batiz, 2003; Pellegrino, 2004). Colombia follows closely behind the Dominican Republic in this category. But the shares of Dominicans receiving high-skilled IMP work permits far surpass the percentages of immigrants doing the same from all other select Latin American countries. Lastly, the proportion of workers from the Dominican Republic who receive temporary work permits (which is a category of entry designed mainly for low-skilled workers) is quite high, second only to workers from Mexico. These data paint a picture of a socio-economically bifurcated Dominican population in Canada: The Dominican Republic sends larger shares of highly skilled workers to Canada in comparison to the other select Latin American countries, while also sending larger shares of Labor migrants. However, it is important to keep in mind, that the proportion of highly skilled Dominicans in 2015 (47%) significantly exceeds the share of Dominicans recruited under the TFWP, implying that despite the bifurcated structure of the Dominican immigrant population in Canada, there is still a very substantial proportion of Dominicans who are highly skilled. Very small percentages of other Latin Americans receive this type of work permit compared to Mexicans and Dominicans. Notes on People of Dominican Ancestry in Canada 6

10 Figure 2: Proportion of Migrants in Canada by Work Permit Type for Select Work Permits and Ethnic Groups Source: Government of Canada. (5/31/2016). Open Data Portal- Temporary Foreign Workers. Retrieved from 7 CUNY Dominican Studies Institute

11 Table 4 takes a deeper dive into the ethnic group category and examines the generational status for persons of Dominican descent. As is evident, a little over half of all Dominicans in Canada are first generation, while another sizeable chunk, 44%, are second generation. A much smaller proportion of Dominicans, 4%, are third or greater generation, suggesting then that Dominicans are progressively laying roots in Canada. Table 4: Dominicans in Canada by Generational Status, 2011 Generation Persons of Dominican Origin Percentage Total 16, % First Generation- Foreign-Born 8, % Second Generation-Canadian-Born of Dominican Ancestry Third or Greater Generation-Children of Canadian Born Persons of Dominican Ancestry 7, % % Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 National Household Survey, Statistics Canada Catalogue no X Table 5 goes even deeper and examines Canadian citizenship status for persons born in the Dominican Republic based on the year they arrived in Canada. As might be expected, there is a fairly clear linear trend, where length of time in Canada (an earlier arrival year) is associated with a higher citizenship rate. Generally, with every 10 year increment, moving closer to the present, there is roughly a 4 percentage point drop in citizenship rates. What is particularly notable is the large drop-off in citizenship rates between the period and the period. While we cannot say for certain, this may be related to Canadian eligibility requirements regarding citizenship in which a person must be a permanent resident of Canada (among other things) and be present in the country for at least 1,460 days during the 6 year period immediately preceding their application date (Government of Canada, 2016). Table 5: Canadian Citizenship Status by Year of Arrival for Person s Born in the Dominican Republic, 2011 Year of Arrival Canadian Citizens Before % % % % % Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 National Household Survey, Statistics Canada Catalogue no X Notes on People of Dominican Ancestry in Canada 8

12 Table 6 goes one step further and examines Canadian citizenship status for foreign-born Dominicans based on their province of residence. Overall, approximately 70% of Dominicans born in the Dominican Republic are Canadian citizens, however this distribution does not necessarily hold true across all of Canada s provinces. In Quebec and Ontario, where the largest number of Dominicans in Canada reside, the figures are consistent with the national average. Approximately, 70% of persons born in the Dominican Republic are Canadian citizens. In Manitoba the citizenship rate is slightly below the national average at 64%; and in Alberta and British Columbia the proportion of persons born in the Dominican Republic that are Canadian citizens stands at 42% and 38% respectively. While the overall number of Dominicans in these latter 3 provinces is relatively small compared to Quebec and Ontario, future research may wish to further examine the lower levels of citizenship in these provinces as compared to other ethnic groups as well as Dominicans residing in Quebec and Ontario. Table 6: Canadian Citizenship Status for Person s Born in the Dominican Republic by Province of Residence, 2011 Geography Percent Canadian Citizen Percent not Canadian Citizen Canada 68.4% 31.6% Newfoundland and Labrador / Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador Prince Edward Island / Île-du-Prince- Édouard 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Nova Scotia / Nouvelle-Écosse 0.0% 0.0% New Brunswick / Nouveau- Brunswick 0.0% 0.0% Quebec / Québec 70.3% 29.7% Ontario 70.5% 29.5% Manitoba 64.3% 35.7% Saskatchewan 0.0% 0.0% Alberta 42.2% 57.8% British Columbia / Colombie- Britannique 37.8% 62.2% Yukon 0.0% 0.0% Northwest Territories / Territoires du Nord-Ouest 0.0% 0.0% Nunavut 0.0% 0.0% Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 National Household Survey, Statistics Canada Catalogue no X CUNY Dominican Studies Institute

13 CONCLUSION: As is evident from this brief profile, the Latino population in Canada is fairly diverse in terms of the nationalities that comprise it and the citizenship rates of its detailed ethnic groups. Conversely, the Latino population in Canada is fairly consistent in terms of its distribution across the country, residing primarily in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Future research should take aim at further profiling each group in relation to one another, considering socioeconomic status, educational characteristics, and health outcomes among other things. WORKS CITED: Armony, V. (2014). Latin American Communities in Canada: Trends in Diversity and Integration. Canadian Ethnic Studies. 46(3), CanadaVisa.com. International Mobility Program. Retrieved from international-mobility-program.html. Government of Canada. (2/29/2016). Determine your eligibility Citizenship. Retrieved from Government of Canada. (07/07/2016). Hire a temporary worker through the International Mobility Program. Retrieved from Government of Canada. (5/31/2016). Open Data Portal- Temporary Foreign Workers. Retrieved from Hernández, R. & Rivera-Batiz, F. (2003). Dominicans in the United States: A Socioeconomic Profile, New York: CUNY Dominican Studies Institute. Pellegrino, A. (2004). Migration from Latin America to Europe: Trends and Policy Challenges. International Organization for Migration. Retrieved from report%20migration%20lac%20to%20eu.pdf. Ruggles, S., Genadek, K., Goeken, R., Grover, J., & Sobek, M. (2015). Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 6.0 [Machine-readable database]. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. Statistics Canada, 2011 National Household Survey, Statistics Canada Catalogue no X Statistics Canada, 2011 National Household Survey, Statistics Canada Catalogue no X Notes on People of Dominican Ancestry in Canada 10