Immigrants' Social Relations with Neighbours: Does the Population Density of the Neighbourhood Matter?

The population density of immigrants' places of settlement matters for their level of social integration, according to data from Statistics Canada's 2020 General Social Survey. Generally, immigrants who live in lower density places have stronger social relations with their neighbours than immigrants who live in higher density places. The largest difference was observed between immigrants who lived in small cities and rural areas versus those who lived in high-density neighbourhoods in larger cities. Those from smaller cities and rural areas had comparatively more extensive and higher quality relations with their neighbours. This difference was not attributable to variation in the sociodemographic composition of these settlement environments or differences in the built environment. To a lesser extent, immigrants from low- and medium-density neighbourhoods in large cities had stronger relations with their neighbours than those from high-density neighbourhoods, but this was observed only for the quality of relations, and was partly attributable to compositional differences between these neighbourhood types.

Automated summary

The population density of immigrants' places of settlement significantly affects their level of social integration. Immigrants living in areas with lower population density tend to have stronger social relations with their neighbors compared to those living in higher density areas. The greatest difference is observed between immigrants living in small cities and rural areas and those living in high-density neighborhoods in larger cities. Immigrants from smaller cities and rural areas have more extensive and higher quality relations with their neighbors, which cannot be attributed to variations in sociodemographic composition or built environment. Immigrants from low- and medium-density neighborhoods in large cities also have stronger relations with their neighbors, particularly in terms of the quality of relations, which is partly due to compositional differences between these neighborhood types.