ABOUT THE REPORT

The report presents data from MHRC's partnership with Pollara Strategic Insights during our national mental health polling initiative. The information in this report was collected from April 2020 to May 2023, encompassing Poll 1 to 16 of our national population study. The data consists of responses from 2,152 individuals who are foreign-born residents and have been residing in the country for less than 15 years.

With quantitative and qualitative input from Canadians with lived experience, we explore the challenges faced by newcomers and the factors that impact their mental health.

This report presents a comprehensive analysis of the newcomer experience in Canada, focusing on key aspects such as demographics, mental health, service accessibility, and financial concerns.

Key findings:

One important finding from this analysis is the higher prevalence of anxiety and depression among newcomers compared to non-newcomers. Notably, self-rated anxiety and depression over the past 3 years is higher among newcomers  (26% and 20% respectively) than non-newcomers (22% and 14% respectively). This finding emphasizes the urgent need for targeted mental health support and resources to address the specific challenges newcomers face in their journey of settlement.

Further, this analysis explores challenges in accessing services, especially among newcomers. Specifically, 11% of newcomers indicate the need to access services but have not done so, compared to only 4% of non-newcomers. Additionally, housing insecurity is a significant issue, particularly for newcomers with five years or less in Canada, with two in five (39%) indicating housing related anxiety compared to 22% of non-newcomers.

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A collection of our previously released research briefs providing an in-depth investigation of our polling results can be found here.