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The Impact of Migration on the First Nations Community Well-Being Index

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Abstract

Migration of First Nations people in Canada can affect social and economic conditions of First Nations communities in different ways. Overall levels of migration might cause challenges for infrastructure or service delivery, and selective in- or out-migration might have implications for community human capital. Seen through the lens of social capital, migration could be important for maintaining bridging connections to outside institutions and communities, but might also disrupt social bonds within the community. We investigated the relationships between migration and well being of Canadian First Nations communities using 5-year (2001–2006) census migration rates and the 2006 Community Well-Being Index (CWB), which measures labour market, educational attainment, income and housing conditions in First Nations communities. We found that, on average, both in-migrants to and out-migrants from First Nations had more education and higher incomes than non-migrants, but the difference was greater for out-migrants. This did not strongly affect CWB scores, however. Regressions of CWB scores on in-, out-, net, and gross migration rates, controlling for geography, found small positive effects of both in- and out-migration, as well as gross migration, on CWB scores.

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Notes

  1. In this paper we use “First Nation” to refer to a community and also to refer to the Reserve territory occupied by that community. We use the term “Status First Nations” to refer to people who are registered under the Indian Act, a situation also known as having “Registered Indian Status.”

  2. The data for these analyses were provided by Statistics Canada through the Research Data Centres program. The analyses and the conclusions are the authors’ alone and do not reflect the views of Statistics Canada or Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

  3. The 2001 and 2006 populations were calculated from the Census 2A form, distributed to all Canadian households, and provided in custom tabulations by Statistics Canada. For a small number of CSDs, 2001 populations were not available. These were approximated by subtracting the number of children aged 0–4 in 2006, and the number of in-migrants between 2001 and 2006, from the 2006 CSD population and adding out-migrants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Legal Studies & School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, 200 University Dr. W., Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Martin Cooke

  2. Strategic Research Directorate, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Ottawa, ON, K1H 0H4, Canada

    Erin O’Sullivan

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  1. Martin Cooke
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  2. Erin O’Sullivan
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Correspondence to Martin Cooke.

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Cooke, M., O’Sullivan, E. The Impact of Migration on the First Nations Community Well-Being Index. Soc Indic Res 122, 371–389 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0697-4

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