Inter-CMA Migration of the Immigrants in Canada: 1991-1996 and 1996-2001

Based on the tabulations of the IMDB, I characterized, explained and compared the 1991-1996 and 1996-2001 inter-CMA migration of the immigrants in Canada. The spatial and temporal patterns were consistent with the neoclassical economic theory and the ethnic enclave theory. In making their decisions on departure and destination choices, the immigrants (both the 1991 landing cohort and 1996 cohort) were responsive to income and employment incentives, as well as the retaining and attracting powers of ethnic communities. This research also discovered an interesting temporal pattern -- while the inter-CMA migration of immigrants accentuated the over representation of the immigrants in Toronto and Vancouver in the 91-96 period, the rise of the “secondary” CMAs led to a spatial dispersal of the immigrants in the 96-01 period. This “new” finding supplements the existing literature on internal migration of Canadian immigrants, which discovered little evidence of an increased dispersion of immigrants over time.