1. Objectifs

Intentions :
To draw the attention on the lack of serious longitudinal studies on immigrants and refugee children’s health in Canada.

Questions/Hypothèses :
How does immigrant and refugee children’s health compare with majority-culture children? How health patterns evolve over time? To what extent the health needs match the use of services?

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
« The ’New Canadian Children and Youth Study’ (NCCYS) focuses on the health and development of approximately 4500 immigrant and refugee youngsters living in six Canadian cities and makes comparisons between immigrants and native-born. The sample includes mainland Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, Filipino, Haitian, Ethiopian, Somali, Jamaican, Serbian, Vietnamese, Lebanese, Salvadorian, Guatemalan, Nicaraguan, Colombian, Kurdish, Iranian, Punjabi, Tamil and Afghani. Interviews with the children and their parents were held every two years, making it possible to study children’s development over time. » (p. 22)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« One every five children living in Canada was either born somewhere else or born into immigrant and refugee families, and Canada expects a lot from them. The literature about immigrant and refugee children is riddled with paradoxes, inconsistent results and unanswered questions. Longitudinal research, employing sufficiently large samples of children in differing situations, living in different regions of the country, and using culturally and situation-sensitive measures is badly needed. The NCCYS is one attempt to address this need. » (p. 21)