Introduction
In the past the rate of population growth in Canada did not originate from immigration but through occurrences of natural birth that were more than the incidences of death. However in the period from 1901 to 1911, a huge advent of immigrants from the East Europe came to Canada. Nevertheless this tendency has changed since the early 1990. The population growth in Canada has resulted from the changing immigration trends in Canada (Bone, 2003). This change is important as it helps to predict the future legal requirements. Close to twenty percent of the Canadians population is made up of the first Canadian generation; more than fifty percent normally originate from America or European countries (Bone, 2003). Nevertheless the period from 1991 to 1996 only twenty two percent arrived from these areas (Saul, 1997). Recently half the immigrant population comes from India as well as Asia whereby in the past it only accounted for fourteen percent of the immigrant population in Canada (Saul, 1997). It is noteworthy that the immigrants do not form one group thereby making their lawful requirements diverse. A large portion of the immigrants tend to have a larger salary than the native Canadians. However, the majority of the immigrant families are poor. This goes to show that a procedure is followed while admitting immigrants: the immigrant’s family class is made up of children who are independent, spouses as well as the extended family inhabiting Canada (De Blij and Murphy, 2006). The refugee population is made up of the populace who come to seek refuge in Canada as well as the populace made up of persons brought to Canada by churches, private sponsors as well as the federal government. Some immigrants also came due to economic purposes and they were mainly skilled labourers with their families plus business people including investors and entrepreneurs together with their relations.
Geographers are interested in specific regions one comes from, since different regions have different characteristics that shape an individual’s life. Initially geographers put a lot of emphasis on the characteristics of a region which influenced human beings as well as the organizations set up by human beings as opposed to focusing on the impact the presence of human beings has on his surroundings (D’Haenens, 1998). The physical processes present in our surroundings shape the earth in terms of the interaction between the plants and animals, which maintain and adapt to the cultural and natural environment. These include climate types, processes like weathering and so on. On the other hand human geography is concerned with the actions taken by man for example the settlement pattern, movements by the population, economic activities, and organization in terms of politics and so on.
This study aims at understanding Canada’s geography with a focus on the core/ periphery model as well as the push/pull factors so as to understand the factors that shape the immigration patterns in Canada.
Human/physical geography
As discussed in the introduction various human and physical geography shape the immigration patterns in any part of the world. According to the pull/push model, migration is influenced by aspects which are either upbeat in the regions they are going or downbeat in the areas they originate from or presently residing. As a result an area believed to have aspects that attract a population as opposed to the area the migrating population resides, is believed to have the pull factors. Lee (1996) argues that the immigrants, who react according to the pull aspects of a certain region, tend to be attracted by aspects which are upbeat for example skills, education, age as well as motivation. The immigrants moving because of the push aspects tend to be chosen in a negative way. Migrants who move due to the pull factors move willingly as opposed to those who migrate due to the push factors. Historically man has been on the move since his first appearance in East Africa (Wade, 2007). For the past ten thousand years, man has reached most areas of the world. However this did not mark the conclusion of man’s movement from one place to another as it has been an ongoing process such that it is regarded as the norm. The process of migration has slowed down but however it has not come to a standstill. The immigration of human beings can also be described by the utilization of the core/periphery model. This model explains the progress of the monetary scheme from their simple forms to more complex forms (Norton, 2007). The transformation from one economic scheme to another started with the Industrial revolution and hence the European states as well as England were at a better position. Simply stated industrialization takes place in a few favoured areas referred to as the cores (Barnes, 1993). As these centres develop, the demand for unrefined resources, food as well as power also develops. These areas where resources are obtained from are referred to as the peripheries. Theoretically it is the centres which direct the speed at which the peripheries will develop. Currently the European countries are not the only industrialised areas in the world as China and Japan are increasingly becoming industrialised (Mathews, 1983).
The Canadian population is becoming varied in many proportions such as religion, culture, language as well as different races inhabiting Canada. It is this increase in diversity which could contribute to different levels of productiveness among different ethnic groups or more ranging from fresh as well as distinct migration course (Marsh, 1998). According to the conservative index, Canadians populace was dissimilar at the beginning of the twentieth century as opposed to the current trends where this case has changed due to the increase in migration where the migrating populace seems to originate from areas that were not considered as traditional mainly Southern Europe and Eastern. The growth in Canada’s population in recent years comes from international immigration. This shows a strong cyclic outline of how the Canada’s government has been adjusting its policies to fit in with the modification in terms of the labour needed, societal outlook people as well as the situation overseas (Beaujot 1991). It is noteworthy that the modification in the immigration course in Canada has occurred in recent times such that, initially, close to eighty percent of the immigrants originated from Europe (Beaujot, 1991). However this seems to change due to the industrialisation experienced in Europe where policies regarding immigration changed leading to an increase in immigrants originating from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean as well as Latin America (Savoie, 1986). These countries were experiencing turmoil in their economy as well as in the political sphere. During the early 1990’s, immigrants from these areas accounted for eighty percent of Canada’s immigrants who had diverse economic as well as social backgrounds (Beaujot, 1991).
Regionalization of the economy in Canada
The changing trends in the current immigration course make up, has great impact on the regions in Canada as well as the topographies in Canada. In some sections as well as the towns, the height of out- migration surpasses the normal rise in the populace. While migration makes for the increase in population, some areas in Canada experience low levels of migrants. Currently there has been focus on the course of, migration, especially in small numbers of urban centres. The year 1996 saw to it that seventy three percent of the migrants who went to Canada in the years 1991- 1996 lived in the urban centres of Montreal, Vancouver as well as Toronto (De Blij and Murphy, 2006). For example, forty two percent of the immigrants resided in Toronto (De Blij and Murphy, 2006). According to data, the urban areas of Vancouver, Toronto as well as Montreal were entry points for the immigrants into Canada. It is notable that the current migrating populace into these areas tend to stay in these areas as opposed to early immigrants into these urban areas who would move to the smaller towns in Canada. The current trend does not come as a surprise due to the transformation in Canada’s financial system, the position of the immigration links which encourages absorption of migrants by the relations they form for them to get employment opportunities as well as accommodation (Scott, 1998). The fact that most immigrants will be distinguished as minorities due to their different cultures as well as religion, they prefer to dwell in towns that are broad-based.
Social tensions
The immigration policies in Canada were such that Canada is more concerned about the economic growth of Canada (Mitchel, 2004). The trend has however changed in that the Canadian immigration policy is based on Canadians main ideals mainly the social, humanitarian as well as economic (Saul 1997). This could bring tension as immigrants are grouped in terms of labor migrants, independent migrants as well as refugees. The social tensions are likely to come about if the rights of immigrants who come to Canada are not upheld (Lipset, 1990). .
One fault line that will be talked about in this discussion is the newcomers versus the old- timers fault line. The land of Canada can be described as a region of immigrants with the push and pull factors which cause people to migrate. The French and English who settled their early found it tough in their bid to adjust to their new environment. During the early periods of the 90’s, settlers came to inhabit the Western parts of Canada where they felt at peace with themselves since they now had a place they could call home. Initially immigrants originated from the Northern parts of Europe as well as the Isles in Britain. However, recently inhabitants in Canada have come from various parts of the world which include Africa as well as the Middle East. This has come out as source of discrimination to the immigrants from Africa who is seen as inferior while the immigrants from the Middle East are treated with contempt due to the September 11 terrorist attack. Marginalized groups in Canada do not feel attached to Canada and so do the inhabitants who come after this (Lewington, 2007).
Conclusion
The above study was aimed at looking at the immigration patterns putting into focus the factors affecting the immigration patterns in Canada. These factors include the human/physical geography where there are different pus and pull factors affecting the trend of immigration patterns in Canada. The other issue regards the regionalization of Canada’s economy and how it is a contributing factor in the changing migration trends in Canada. It is noteworthy that big cities attract a huge population of immigrants as opposed to the smaller urban centres in recent times. The major contributing factor is in these areas the immigrants have a high chance of getting jobs as opposed to small towns. Furthermore the large towns are diverse and thus the immigrants will feel at home as they feel accepted here. As opposed one discovers in the past the immigrants preferred to go to smaller towns but this has changed due to the favouring conditions in big towns. This study also examines the social tensions arising from the changing immigration trends. It is therefore important for a geography student to understand the changing immigration patterns for a better understanding of immigration in Canada. This study is also helpful to the policy makers as it will guide them in the policy formulation that is in line with the changing immigration trend in Canada. Once the government is aware of the changing trends in Canada’s immigration patterns it will ensure that policies are put in place to fit in the current changing immigration trends in Canada.
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