Boundaries of Identity: Geographic Knowledge, Identities and Migration in Canada and the United...

Boundaries of Identity: Geographic Knowledge, Identities and Migration in Canada and the

United States

Susan Hardwick and Jack Jedwab July 2nd

Ottawa Public Library Main Branch 120 Metcalfe,

Room 1A - 1B.

IASC Mandate

• A division of the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS), the International Association for the Study of Canada (IASC) is a think-tank that will promote bilateral and multilateral exchange of knowledge between Canada and other countries on issues of mutual concern and interest. It will pursue its mandate through by organizing forums, generating publications and engaging in research partnerships

Methodology

• The web surveys of 1500 Canadians and 1000 Americans were done by web panel during the week of June 15th, 2009. They were commissioned by the new International Association for the Study of Canada (IASC) with the support of the Association of American Geographers from the firm Leger Marketing. A probabilistic random sample of the same size would yield a maximum margin of error of 3.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Part 1

• Geographic Knowledge

• Attachment/Identities

• Travel Patterns

• Migration

United States more vizmin than Canada. Higher percentage of Asians in Canada; higher

percentage of Hispanics and Black in the USPercentage of population in the United States by racial and

Hispanic origins and in Canada by Visible Minority Status, 2006

84

11

1 2.5

66

4.4

14.612.4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Canada (Census of Canada2006)

84 11 1 2.5

United States (AmericanCommunity Survey 2006)

66 4.4 14.6 12.4

White/Non-Visible Minority

AsianHispanic/Latin

AmericanBlack

Source: ACS-Leger PollIASC June 2009

Other than knowledge of cities, Americans and Canadians give themselves similar marks on geo knowledge; smaller

the area the greater the knowledgeLevels of self-assessed geographic literacy

21% 20%

34%

40%36%

39%43%

52%

60% 59%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

The World 21% 20%

United States 34% 40%

My State 36% 39%

My city or town 43% 52%

My Neighborhood 60% 59%

Canada United States


Men self-report higher knowledge of geography than women

I have a very good knowledgeof thegeography of…

The World United States/Canada State/Province

Canada US Canada US Canada US

Male 29 28 40 52 43 50

Female 13 12 27 29 30 29

18-24 17 22 25 40 27 34

25-34 15 29 26 42 27 38


With the exception of Franco-Quebecers, Canadians and Americans report similar rates of

attachment to countryPlease indicate whether you feel very attached to each of the following:

76 7870 72

60

73

25

62

50 49 51 53 55 5661

4445 4452

45 43 4738 40

0

20

40

60

80

100

Canada/United States Province/State City or Tow n

Canada/United States 76 78 70 72 60 73 25 62

Province/State 50 49 51 53 55 56 61 44

City or Tow n 45 44 52 45 43 47 38 40

United States

Caucasian African

American Hispanic Canada English French Allophone


Attachment to Country Rises with age

Very Attached to Canada (percentage in brackets represents

the percentage of English Canadians that are very attached to Canada)

Very Attached to the United States

Age % Attached % Attached Age

18-24 43 (52) 57 18-24

25-34 46 (60) 68 25-34

35-44 60 (74) 78

35-49

45-54 62 (76)

55-64 66 (78) 84

50 and over

65 and over 77 (88)


Canadians much more likely to go over to the

other side; also more likely to go overseas

Have you travelled outside of your home country over the past three year and if so, which of the following places did you visit?

18% 17%

12%

6% 6%

9%

59%

62%

24%

7%9%

16%

26%

16%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

United States 18% 17% 12% 6% 6% 9% 59%

Canada 62% 16% 24% 7% 9% 16% 26%

United States for Canadians/Canada for Americans

Mexico Europe Asia Latin America Other Places No travel outside home country in

the last 3 yrs


Canada’s allophones travel most; White and African Americans least Have you traveled outside of your home country over the past three years and if so, which of

the following places did you visit?

English French Allophone Caucasian African Americans

Hispanic

United States for Canadians and Canada for Americans

66 47 73 18 14 12

Mexico 17 12 17 15 12 29

Europe 21 21 36 11 8 15

Asia 6 3 16 3 2 8

Latin America 8 12 10 4 5 17

Other Places 18 13 11 9 11 12

No, have not traveled outside home countryin the pastthree years

26 39 13 63 66 45


Why do Canadians travel more?

• Closer proximity of Canadians to USA border

• Higher percentage of immigrants and second generation

• Higher percentage of Asian and European immigrants in Canada

British Columbians most travelled Have you traveled outside of your home country over the past three year and if so,

which of the following places did you visit?

North East

Mid West

South West Maritimes Qc Ontario MB/SK Alta BC

United Statesfor Canadians and Canada for Americans

25 21 12 18 59 49 67 64 61 76

Mexico 14 15 16 24 8 11 16 18 15 27

Europe 14 11 10 15 21 24 27 13 24 25

Asia 5 2 6 12 3 3 9 2 12 13

Latin America

9 4 6 4 6 10 10 4 7 10

Other Places 12 8 10 8 24 15 18 7 19 9

No travel outside home country in the last 3 yrs

53 59 64 53 31 36 22 29 25 15


Americans prefer homogeneous neighbourhoods more than Canadians; francophones, white

Americans and Hispanics prefer them the most

CANADAI prefer to live in a neighborhood made up mostly of people who

share my ethnic or racial background

119

17

9

23 22

35

14

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Total English French Allophones

Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree

USAI prefer to live in a neighborhood made up mostly of people who

share my ethnic or racial background

11 13

7 8

3234

19

35

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Total Caucasian African American Hispanic

Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree


Americans more likely to say they’ll move than Canadians

In the next five years, will you live

48

16

1

64

10

4

21

14

3

18

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

United States 48 14 16 1 21

Canada 64 10 4 3 18

...in the same city ...in another city...in another

province or state ...in another

country I don’t know


In the next five years, will you live in ... ?

English French Allophone Caucasian African American

Hispanic

In the same city 67 70 54 51 41 44

In another city 10 12 11 13 15 18

In another state/province

4 2 4 14 24 13

In another country 3 3 5 1 1 2

I don’t know 17 13 26 20 20 24

Ethno-racial Minorities most likely to say they’ll move…

Stronger geo-knowledge=stronger

attachment to country; USA≥Canada Cross-

tabulation of knowledge of

geography with

attachment to Country

Do you have a very good knowledge or somewhat good knowledge of the following:

United States/Canadian Geography

Are you very attached to

Very good knowledge Somewhat good knowledge

The United States

81.0% 73.0%

Canada 73.5% 57.1%

Part 2

• Immigration

• Integration

• Attachment to Religion and Ethnicity/Ancestry

• Language

Canada receives far higher percentage of immigrants than USA but immigration spread across more cities south of the border

% ‘s of respective country’s total

immigration (000’s)

2008 2007 2006 2005

Total US 1107.1 1052.4 1266.1 1122.2

Total Canada 247.2 236.7 251.6 262.2

New York, NJ, 179.9 175.7 224.4 172.8

Los Angeles 96.5 95.4 120. 8 98.2

Toronto 86 87.1 99.2 112.8

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-

87.8 78.1 98.9 79.5

Washington 42.8 40.6 54.5 37.1

Chicago 39.8 39.5 49.7 49

Montreal 39.5 38.7 38.3 37.1

San Francisco-Oakland

36.1 35.6 38.3 33.8

Vancouver 37 32.9 36.3 39.4

Houston 30.5 26.8 31.5 34.7

Boston 26.4 24.6 28.4 27.1

Dallas 24.6 23.2 26.6 28.9

Atlanta 22.2 22 25.2 25.3

Two out of three Canadian immigrants in MTV-one in four of US immigrants in New York and LA

% ‘s of respective country’s total immigration

2008 2007 2006 2005

New York, NJ 16.3 16.7 17.7 15.4

Los Angeles 8.7 9.1 9.5 9.8

Toronto 35.1 36.8 39.5 43

Miami 7.9 7.4 7.8 7.1

Washington 3.9 3.9 4.3 3.3

Chicago 3.6 3.8 3.9 4.4

Montreal 16 16.4 15.3 14.2

San Francisco-Oakland

3.3 3.4 3 3

Vancouver 15 14.1 14.4 13.9

Houston 2.8 2.6 2.5 3.1

Boston 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.4

Dallas 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.6

Atlanta 2 2.1 2 2.3

Source:

Americans more likely to agree there are too many immigrants in the country-but percentage drops in

city or town

There are too many immigrants in... (Total Agree)

66

72

5254

3943

38 37

6763

52 52

3836

43

37

4952

4543

2826 27

34

15

25

35

45

55

65

75

My Country My state My City or Town

My Country 66 72 52 54 39 43 38 37

My state 67 63 52 52 38 36 43 37

My City or Town 49 52 45 43 28 26 27 34

United States

Caucasian African



Canadians that prefer homogeneous neighbourhoods much more likely to agree there

are too many immigrants in their city or town Canada I prefer to live in a neighborhood made up mostly of people who share my

ethnic or racial background

There are too many immigrants in my city/town

↓ Strongly agree Somewhat agreeSomewhat

disagree Strongly disagree

Strongly agree 45.1% 10.7% 4.6% 2.7%Somewhat agree 25.5% 25.7% 17.0% 7.2%

Somewhat disagree

19.0% 42.4% 48.2% 22.9%

Strongly disagree 7.2% 17.9% 26.0% 62.8%

I don't know / I prefer not to answer

3.3% 3.3% 4.2% 4.5%


Canadians more likely than Americans to think that immigrants should give up their customs and traditions; African and Hispanic Americans most supportive of

multicultural principle

Immigrants should be encouraged to give up their customs and traditions and become more like the rest of

the population

We should try harder to accept immigrant's customs and

traditions

Agree Disagree Agree Disagree

United States United States 37 63 59 41

Caucasian Caucasian 41 59 53 47

African African American American

23 77 70 30

Hispanic Hispanic 29 71 69 31

Canada Canada 45 55 46 54

EnglishEnglish 44 56 49 51

French French 54 46 31 69

Allophone Allophone 40 60 53 47


Give up customs and traditions

Too Many Immigrants in my Country

USA Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree

Somewhat Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree 32.0 7.2 2.1 .9

Somewhat Agree

30.9 29.4 17.9 3.8

Canada Too Many Immigrants in my Country

Strongly Agree 58.3 20.1 8.6 4.3

Somewhat Agree

26.6 42.2 27.5 14.1

Though fewer Canadians agree there are too many immigrants, those who do believe so more likely to want immigrants to give up customs

and traditions than Americans

African Americans strongly value their ethnicity and faith, Canada's francophones value ethnicity but not religion, Canada’s allophones

value both most in the country

Please indicate whether you feel very attached to each of the following

4742

70

47

31

25

39 4037

34

57

34

20 20

14

31

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Ethnicity or Ancestral Group Religion

Ethnicity or Ancestral Group 47 42 70 47 31 25 39 40

Religion 37 34 57 34 20 20 14 31

United States

Caucasian African



Allophone Canadians and African Americans score themselves highest on knowledge of ethnic and religious customs

I have a very good knowledge of the customs and traditions of:

3532

45

38

3127 28

45

37 3641 41

33 32

25

48

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

My ethnic group My religion

My ethnic group 35 32 45 38 31 27 28 45

My religion 37 36 41 41 33 32 25 48

United States

Caucasian African



Neither in Canada or the US does attachment to ethnicity undercut attachment to country; indeed those reporting stronger ethnicity possess stronger national affinities

Relationship with your ethnic or ancestral group

Attachment to: United States

Very Attached Somewhat Attached

Not Very Attached

Not Attached at all

Very Attached 87.9% 66.9% 62.4% 61.1% Somewhat Attached

10.8% 29.7% 31.5% 16.7%

Attachment to: Canada

Very Attached Somewhat Attached

Not Very Attached

Not Attached at all

Very Attached 69.3% 57.2% 57% 50%

Somewhat Attached

15.9% 32.4% 27.7% 34.8%


Canadians somewhat more bilingual (English/French-English/Spanish) than Americans and supportive of

services extended in both languages

Official Languages

23

12 11

0

33

20

71

2835

27

5852

6355

90

58

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

UnitedStates

Caucasian AfricanAmerican

Hispanic Canada English French Allophone

Ability to speak a second language Spanish in the US/French for anglophones in Canada and English forFrancophones

The government of Canada/the United States should provide services in both English and French/Spanish across thecountry


Caucasian/White English Canada

% Agree I can carry on a conversation inSpanish

I can’t carry on a conversation in Spanish

I can carry on aconversation in French

I can’t carry on aconversation in French

Government should provide services in both languages

44.7 24.8 71.7 49.9

We should try harder to accept immigrant's customs and traditions

67.6 52.4 62.8 44.6

Immigrants should give up customs and traditions

27.1 42.9 33.1 44.3

Prefer to live in a neighborhood

35.3 49.1 27.3 30.3

Amongst racial and language majorities in Canada and the USA respectively second language knowledge=more

openness to diversity

Avenues for Future Research

Controlling for proximity to the borders (Canada/US and Mexico/US) in each country look more deeply at the following

• Travel patterns of Canadians and Americans based on proximity • Knowledge of what’s on the other side. What do Canadians know

about the United States and Americans about Canada• Does proximity result in different attitudes towards the national

neighbour? • Proximity and security. Do those closer to the border have different

perception of security than those further from the border? • What role does the composition of neighborhood play in the sense

of security or comfort? • Temporary migration, integration and identity issues • Comparing the experiences of similar communities in Canada and

the US (i.e. Asians in the two countries)

• Build on the notion that an interesting paradox exists in the US as compared to Canada whereby people in the US are more likely to feel there are too many immigrants yet seem more likely to favor encouraging immigrant groups to maintain their own cultural identities.

.• How do the travel patterns and behaviors of

these two groups differ and how these experiences may or may not play into shaping their attitudes toward immigration (and their overall global awareness?).

Further explore some of the reasons why Americans more strongly prefer to live in homogenous neighborhoods than Canadians do. What is the composition of the neighborhood in which the communities currently live and how does this affect their views? (We may want to focus on 2-3 cities in Canada and 2-3 in the US for this comparative analysis of residential preferences, perception of immigrants and diversity, and identity. How do gender, age, income and family status influence opinion on such issues

The finding on the strong preference of African Americans to hold onto their own culture and ethnic/racial identity and related desire to maintain their group’s distinctive cultural traditions might be an interesting place to begin to understand the impact of race on the construction of identity. Thus we may want to develop this finding from our poll into a larger project centered in understanding more about how visible minorities in Canada who have lived there for more than two generations and who may or may not cling to the identities of their own ethnic/racial group and maintain their own cultural traditions as compared to African Americans?

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