Immigrant Women Having More Children

A new study shows that the birth rate among immigrant women is nearly twice that of their Canadian-born counterparts.

The study was conducted by two noted economists who wanted to examine how birth rates affect newcomers’ ability to integrate. The study found that although immigrant women were more likely to give birth, the birthrate does vary by country of origin. Women from African and Southeast Asian countries tended to have higher birthrates.

The information from the study – which was conducted based upon two decades’ worth of data culled from Statistics Canada – will be useful to Canada’s government which is currently adjusting to large demographic shifts and an aging workforce.

The findings support earlier studies which have found that immigrant birthrates tend to correlate to religion and that Muslim, Hindu and Sikh women were more likely to give birth. Ethnicity and birth rate studies in the past also support the recent findings with Chinese, European and Caucasian women having the lowest birth rates in Canada.

Education was found to impact birthrates, but not significantly, as overall the birthrates were higher for both educated and uneducated immigrant women.

The findings are important, say the authors of the study, because they allow the government to anticipate priorities in the coming years.

"The ability to forecast population growth, demand for public services or even labour supply increasingly requires considering immigrant fertility," the report says.