Chinese Immigrants in Vancouver: Quo Vadis?

Abstract

This paper reports findings from a Vancouver study which examines the settlement and adaptation experience of Chinese immigrants in Vancouver. The study reveals that noneconomic reasons, such as the environment, education and citizenship, constituted the primary motivations for Chinese immigrants to move to Canada. Employment and language facilities were the most frequently cited barriers inhibiting their integration into the Vancouver social and economic spheres. Their poor economic performances coupled with the devaluation of both their acquired Chinese education qualifications and labour market experience have hindered integration and increased dissatisfaction with their lives in Canada. Given the logic of our posited triangular migration model we argue that this dissatisfaction will encourage Chinese emigration from Vancouver.

Full text

IZA DP No. 2340
Chinese Immigrants in Vancouver: Quo Vadis?
Shibao Guo
Don J. DeVoretz
DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES
Forschungsinstitut
zur Zukunft der Arbeit
Institute for the Study
of Labor
September 2006

Chinese Immigrants in Vancouver:
Quo Vadis?
Shibao Guo
University of Calgary
Don J. DeVoretz
RIIM, Simon Fraser University
and IZA Bonn
Discussion Paper No. 2340
September 2006
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IZA Discussion Paper No. 2340
September 2006
ABSTRACT
Chinese Immigrants in Vancouver: Quo Vadis?
*
This paper reports findings from a Vancouver study which examines the settlement and
adaptation experience of Chinese immigrants in Vancouver. The study reveals that non-
economic reasons, such as the environment, education and citizenship, constituted the
primary motivations for Chinese immigrants to move to Canada. Employment and language
facilities were the most frequently cited barriers inhibiting their integration into the Vancouver
social and economic spheres. Their poor economic performances coupled with the
devaluation of both their acquired Chinese education qualifications and labour market
experience have hindered integration and increased dissatisfaction with their lives in Canada.
Given the logic of our posited triangular migration model we argue that this dissatisfaction will
encourage Chinese emigration from Vancouver.
JEL Classification: J15, J61, J60
Keywords: Chinese immigrants, emigration, integration, triangle theory
Corresponding author:
Don J. DeVoretz
RIIM
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6
Canada
E-mail:
devoretz@sfu.ca
*
The authors would like to thank both Bryan Yu and Roman Deng for their excellent research
assistance and note the Vancouver Centre of Excellence for its financial support. Finally, SUCCESS
provided useful contacts and a venue to interview their clients.

2
Introduction
The 2001 Census of Canada reveals that Canada’s population is becoming increasingly
ethno-culturally diverse. It reports that as of May 15, 2001, 18.4% of Canada’s total
population was foreign-born and that 13.4% identified themselves as visible minorities
(Statistics Canada, 2003). According to the 2001 census, the Chinese have become the largest
visible minority group in Canada, approaching a total of 1,029,400 up from 860,100 in 1996.
At the provincial level, Chinese residents comprised the largest proportion of the visible
minority populations in British Columbia (44%), Alberta (30%), and Saskatchewan (29%).
While many Chinese permanently settle in Canada, an increasing number return “home,” be
it Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Mainland China. Factors which increase or decrease their level of
satisfaction while residing in Canada will ultimately influence their move-stay decision. This
paper attempts to identify the salient factors which affected the ability of these Chinese
immigrants resident in Vancouver to realize their goals and influence their levels of
satisfaction.
This survey based study is part of a large scale research project entitled “The Chinese
Leaver-Stayer Project,” which examines the underlying forces that influence the “move-stay”
decision for Chinese immigrants after their arrival in Canada. The study is comprised of two
stages. Stage One seeks to understand the settlement and adaptation experience of Chinese
immigrants in Vancouver. Their responses will be compared with those of Chinese
immigrants who returned “home” in Stage Two. We employ two distinct methodologies.
First, we employed an online survey investigation complemented with in-person
questionnaires such that the survey respondents would mimic the salient features of the
actual Chinese population in Vancouver circa 2002.
1
The paper is organized into four parts. The first part provides contextual information
and a review of the literature on immigrant circulation. The second section introduces our
research methodology. Third, we report the findings of the study. Finally, we conclude with a
discussion of the results and their policy implications.
1
The Web-based instrument can be found at www.riim.metropolis.net/surveys/chinesestayers/. The in-person
questionnaires used an identical set of questions.

3
Chinese Emigration to Canada
To understand the experience of Chinese immigrants, it is important to examine the
social and political contexts within which Chinese immigrants lived before their arrival in
Canada. According to Li (1998), the majority of the Chinese immigrants originated from
three areas: Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China – the focus of this review.
Hong Kong was the primary source of Chinese emigration to Canada after the Second
World War (Li, 1998). According to Wong (1992), there have been three major waves of
emigration from Hong Kong since the end of the Second World War. The first occurred
between 1958 and 1961, owing to dramatic changes in Hong Kong’s agriculture sector. The
second wave was triggered by a political crisis, the 1967 riot. This riot was a spill-over effect
of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in China. Threatened by bombs and political
instability, thousands of Hong Kong’s elite left for the United States and Canada. The third
wave of emigration, described by Wong, began in the 1980s. According to the 1984 Sino-
British Agreement on the future of Hong Kong, the colony would become a special
administrative region under the rule of China. Many of the residents who were worried about
their future began to leave Hong Kong. A large number of them found homes in Canada.
Wong described this latest group of emigrants as “predominantly ‘yuppies’ – young,
educated, middle class professionals” (Wong, 1992, p.4).
China had been isolated from the rest of the world since the People’s Republic of
China (PRC) was founded in 1949. Until the 1980s direct emigration from China to Canada
was relatively small (Li, 1998). The pro-democracy student movement in 1989 became a
catalyst as well as a hindrance for the emigration of Chinese people. On the one hand, the
event prompted the Canadian government to issue permanent resident status to many Chinese
students and scholars who were studying in Canada at that time. On the other hand, the
Chinese government tightened the rules to further restrict people’s mobility. However, this
restriction did not last long. The 1990s witnessed substantial emigration from China to
Canada. China’s “open door” policy and economic development resulted in an economic
boom in China and a new middle income class. Combined with the relaxed Chinese passport
restrictions by the Chinese government, China entered the “emigration phase” (Wallis,

4
1998).
2
Given these developments, the PRC émigrés outnumbered Hong Kong’s and
Taiwan’s émigrés in 1998, as the PRC became the top source region for immigrants to
Canada after 1998 (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 1999).
Taiwan is a unique case. The influx of emigrants from Taiwan has always been
closely related to the island’s political instability, particularly with regard to Taiwan’s
relationship vis-à-vis mainland China (Tseng, 2001). In addition to this concern over political
instability, emigration from Taiwan may also be understood as a middle-class response to the
problems resulting from discontent with the quality of life under rapid industrialization.
According to Kotkin (1993, cited in Tseng, 2001), an estimated 50,000 Taiwanese emigrated
between 1985 and 1991, with the United States, Australia, and Canada being the most
popular destinations.
Review of Literature
The move-stay decision has a long history in the migration literature. The original
work of Grubel and Scott (1966) and Vanderkamp (1968) on the move-stay decision
reflected on the narrow decision that only economically disappointed migrants returned home
during their presumably productive years. This neo-classical view argues that migrants were
economically rational and only moved if the increase in income exceeded the costs of
movement. If their post-movement experience proved this incorrect, then economically failed
immigrants returned home to increase their economic gains.
3
In the 1990’s two new branches of migration literature emerged to rationalize the now
observed repeated moves of modern immigrants. The first, transnationalism, focused on
repeated moves between the sending and one receiving country. Thus migration in a
transnational model is described as continuous phenomenon rather than completed event
(Ley & Kobayashi, 2005). Drawing from the experience of returned Hong Kong Chinese
immigrants from Canada, Ley and Kobayashi argue that return migration represents one stop
in a transnational sojourner’s journey. The authors identify economic activity as the recurrent
2
Furthermore, Canada opened its immigration office in Beijing, which processed immigration applications
directly from China.

5
pull to Hong Kong and quality of life as the attraction which draws the family back
repeatedly to Canada. Strategic switching between the two identifies appears as they move to
separate stations within an extended but unified social field.
We agree with Borjas and Bratsberg (1996) that transnationalism is an incomplete
model and we will favour the more strategically rich explanation embedded in the triangular
immigration model.
4
DeVoretz, Ma, and Zhang (2003) earlier adopted a triangular model to
explain the movement of Chinese immigrants between Hong Kong, Canada, and the rest of
the world (ROW). This model predicts a complex movement pattern of immigrants from
sending countries (including Hong Kong) to entrepôt countries (Canada and Australia), and
then on to the rest of the world (USA). The authors argue that immigrants initially choose an
entrepôt country like Canada because it supplies subsidized human capital (language training,
education) and other free public goods (a passport, good government, etc.). However, the
authors continue to argue that, after the initial move to the entrepôt country, these immigrants
face three future choices: (i) staying permanently in the new entrepôt country (Canada), (ii)
returning to the origin country (Hong Kong or PRC), or (iii) moving on to a third country
(U.S.A. or the rest of the world). This triangular model further predicts that immigrants will
stay in the entrepôt destination (Canada) or move on depending on their economic
satisfaction while resident in the entrepôt country relative to other possible destinations given
their new citizenship status. We will use the theoretical arguments of the triangular model to
frame our survey questions and to analyze our findings when we assess the level of
satisfaction of the resident Chinese in Vancouver and their prospects of remaining in Canada.
Research Methodology
This research adopts a questionnaire approach. Earlier work by DeVoretz, Ma and
Zhang (2003) and Ma and Tian (2006) on this topic clearly stated the limitations of an
econometric analysis based solely on census data. Thus, the raison d’être for a web-based
3
Neo-classical theory allowed return migration after retirement since pensions earned in the host country often
would lead to greater disposable income in the sending country so this return movement was deemed rational.
4
Borjas and Bratsberg (1996) argue that return migration could be rational in a Neo-Classical model if we note
that immigrants acquire skills after moving and may exploit these skills by returning home.

6
questionnaire approach derives from its capability to explore in depth the motivations that
might ultimately condition the decision to stay or move and to maximize the number of
responses in a reasonably short time. There are four parts to the questionnaire: i) basic
demographic information, ii) a description of the motivations for immigrating to Canada, iii)
the Canadian experience of Chinese immigrants including their level of satisfaction with
Canada, and iv) concluding remarks.
Part one seeks to understand the participants in terms of their age, gender, citizenship,
immigrant entry category, and their educational background. Part two aims to examine the
Chinese immigrants’ motivations for moving to Canada, and whether they have achieved
their original goals they had prior to immigrating to Canada. Part three is the core of the
questionnaire, which addresses their integration experience in Canada, including their
economic, social, cultural, and language integration, and their experience with government
and non-government organizations. The last part includes only open-ended questions which
invite participants to comment on changes they feel need to be made in order to help
immigrants integrate into Canadian society more effectively. The questionnaire was made
available in both English and Chinese.
The sample that was ultimately drawn covered 322 completed questionnaires for
those reported to be Vancouver residents, with 174 drawn from the web source and the
remaining 148 the result of in-person questionnaires up to August 17th, 2005. In order to
make this sample representative, we allowed our sample to mimic the main characteristics of
the economically active Chinese-born population resident in Vancouver as reported in the
2001 census.
5
The response rate for the web based survey is not possible to calculate directly
since presumably everyone is eligible to fill in the form but of course they first must be
aware of the form’s existence. A proxy for the response rate is the number of questionnaires
that were “opened” on the website but not completed. This ratio was 30% indicating that of
those who self selected to open the questionnaire 30% actually completed the questionnaire
5
The economically active is defined as those respondents who were aged 20 to 65 and were currently in the
Vancouver labour force.

7
on line for all questions posed.
6
In addition, of the 148 face to face administed questionnaires
the response rate was 100%.
7
One bias inherent in this web based approach is that the computer literate web based
population is young and highly educated. In order to minimize this bias we, as earlier noted,
we compared our original web based sample to the Chinese population as reported in the
2001 Canadian census and filled in the gaps with in-person questionnaires. Thus the survey
while small is representative of the Chinese immigrant population in Vancouver circa 2001.
Research Findings
Sample Design
This survey is strategic in nature; namely we seek to understand the motivations of
recent Vancouver Chinese immigrants to consider staying or leaving. In fact, as Figure 1
portrays, we are oversampling the economically active Chinese immigrant population
residents in Vancouver circa 2004-2005 since over 90% of our surveyed population are aged
20 to 60.
Figure 1: Age Distribution
0.00%
2.00%
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
14.00%
16.00%
18.00%
<20 20-25 26-30 31-33 34-36 37-39 40-42 43-45 46-48 49-51 52-55 56-59 >=60
Age
%
6
The exact breakdown of the response ratios by linguistic type of questionnaire was (61 Chinese + 249 English)
/ (222 Chinese + 813 English).
7
We completed 43 questionnaires at SUCCESS and the remaining 105 at MOSAIC, ISS, and Surrey-Delta
Immigrant Services. All these agencies arranged these interviews as a by product of their citizenship or other
integration classes.

8
In addition, as Figure 2 demonstrates, over 60% of the sample was comprised of
males and 40% females, which again mimics the gender distribution of Vancouver’s Chinese
labour force circa 2001 and fulfills our goal of emphasizing the economically active Chinese
immigrant population.
8
Figure 2: Gender
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Male Female
Place of birth is an essential conditioner in the move-stay decision since the level of
development in the origin country relative to Canada will often entice immigrants to return
(DeVoretz, Ma, and Zhang 2003). Moreover, an historical analysis of Chinese immigrants
who leave Canada suggests that the majority who leave are from the PRC and they leave in
the first five years.
9
Thus, to capture that portion of the Vancouver Chinese population that is
most prone to leave, we would like to over sample recent PRC immigrant arrivals. Figure 3
demonstrates that this survey sample fulfills this goal since mainland China (PRC) arrivals
represent 58% of the sample with Hong Kong (27%) and Taiwan (10.4%) providing another
33% by place of arrival.
10
Figure 3: Place of Birth
2.21%
26.50%
10.41%
2.21%
58.68%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
Canada Mainland China Taiwan Hong Kong Other
%
8
See Statistics Canada (2003).
9
See Abdurrahmna and Robinson (2006).
10
Between 1997 and 2004, PRC Chinese immigrants represented 18.4% of the Canadian immigrant inflow.

9
In sum, Figures 1 to 3 report that the survey population reflects those we aimed to
target, namely the economically active recent Chinese immigrant arrivals to Vancouver who
are most prone to leave.
Sample Statistics
Marital status and visa status may also condition the immigrant’s degree of
integration and hence satisfaction with Vancouver and these characteristics for the Chinese
sample population in Vancouver are reported in Figures 4 and 5.
Figure 4: Marital Status
The majority of our survey population is married (62%) with permanent residence
status in Canada since they are either Canadian citizens (48%) or landed immigrants (44%).
These two characteristics, married with Canadian citizenship should positively influence the
sampled households’ economic outcomes and enhance integration if the Chinese immigrant
community in Vancouver follows the general Canadian immigrant population (DeVoretz &
Pivnenko, 2006).
0.00%
2.49%
3.74%
1.56%
61.68%
30.53%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
Single Widowed Married Separated Divorced Common law
%

10
Figure 5: Current Status in Vancouver
50.00%
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Chinese Citizen Temporary Canadian Citizen Landed Immigrant
or PR
Resident
The length of time in residence in Canada (Figure 6) for our sampled population is,
on average, short (7 years, 5 months) and this short residency may hinder integration.
Nonetheless, the vast majority of the Chinese immigrants sampled (75%) have been in
residence greater than three years, which would explain this relatively high rate of
citizenship acquisition.
11
Figure 6: Length of Stay
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
0-12 Months 1-3 Years 3-6 Years 6-10 Years 10-15 Years 15-18 Years Over 18
Years
Years
%
11
Three years of continuous residence qualifies a permanent Canadian immigrant to apply for citizenship. In
practice, citizenship acquisition requires at least four years in residence (DeVoretz & Pivnenko, 2006)

11
Conditions Prior to and at Arrival in Canada
Why did this sampled Chinese group of immigrants move to Vancouver? The answer
to this question can ultimately shed light on the degree of satisfaction experienced by recent
Chinese arrivals to Vancouver. Since our sampled group is young and married and living in
Canada with permanent visa status or citizenship, we would anticipate that their motives to
move were long term and perhaps economic in nature. An inspection of Figure 7 indicates
that, in fact, economic motivations (i.e. a higher paying job, greater job security or
promotion) taken collectively only motivated 37% of the recent arrivals. Acquiring Canadian
citizenship (39.7%) and Canada’s pleasant physical environment (51.7%) were clearly the
strongest forces motivating a move to Vancouver. In addition, the immigrant’s intentions to
acquire further education (25.5%) and facilitate their children’s education acquisition
(32.1%) were also incentives to move to Vancouver. In sum, what economists would label as
tax financed public goods – the environment, education and citizenship were the stated
primary goods which attracted these immigrants to Vancouver. This is a unique finding and
in the concluding section we will explore the implications of this non-economic motivation
in the context of the triangular model outlined above.
Figure 7: Motivations for Moving to Canada
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Study
Higher-Paying
Job
More Job
Security
More Promotion
Opportunities
Less Stress
Family Reunion
Taking Care of
Parents
Living in the
Canadian Culture
Speaking English
Seeking New
Opportunities
Acquiring
Canadian
Education/School
System for
Natural
Environment
Joining Old
Friends
Other
%
Given these motivations to move and remembering the average length of stay of this
surveyed population was seven years, did these immigrants realize their defined goals?

12
Figure 8: Main Goals Achieved?
58.24%
41.76%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
Yes No
%
A majority (58.2%) did indicate according to Figure 8 that they had achieved their
goals with 42% indicating disappointment in not achieving their goals. Of those who did not
achieve their goals, over 70% rated their chances of achieving their remaining goals as
uncertain or slim (Figure 9).
Figure 9: Possibility of Achieving Main goals
7.81%
9.38%
53.13%
21.88%
7.81%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Very High High Not Sure Slim Very Slim
%
Given this uncertain status of achieving their goals, it is not surprising that 74% of the
surveyed population encountered difficulties after arrival (Figure 10), with language and
employment being the most frequently cited barriers.

13
Figure 10: Major Difficulties
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Cultural
Adjustment
Language
Social
Networking
Finances
Corruption
Bureaucracy
Employment
Pollution
Being a
Foreigner
Acquiring
Canadian PR
or
Citizenship
Other
%
Given that employment was viewed as one of the major difficulties encountered by
these surveyed immigrants, we explored the nature of their employment difficulties in detail
below.
Figure 11: Employment Status in Vancouver
Over 60% of the Vancouver surveyed Chinese population indicated that their
employment situation in Canada was worse than in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland
China and only a minority (17%) perceived it as better (Figure 11). This finding is
noteworthy since our data report that 72.5% of our survey population have post-secondary
education, among whom 26.7% have either a master’s or doctoral degrees. Moreover, the
majority of our surveyed respondents felt that their Chinese labour market experience was
not helpful (Figure 12) in the Vancouver labour market.
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
%
40.00%
Much Better Better Same Worse Much Worse

14
Figure 12: Chinese Work Experience
30.95%
51.59%
17.46%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Yes No Don't Know or hard to say
%
Table 1: Income Distribution in Vancouver (CND $)
Household Income in Canada (CND $ 2005)
Up to 20000 43.7%
20001 to 31000 15.9%
31001 to 46000 17.1%
46001 to 62000 8.2%
62001 to 78000 4.45%
Over 78000 10.6%
These pessimistic responses are mirrored in their reported household incomes (Table
1) with over 60% of the surveyed households reporting earnings of less than $31,000 with
44% reporting poverty level incomes of less than $20,000.
12
Even more pressing than this lack of employment integration was the cited language
barriers reported by the Chinese in Figure 10. We also explore this impediment in detail
below.
Figure 13: English Level upon Arrival
54.69%
19.18%
20.82%
0.00%
20.00%
40.00%
60.00%
Advanced Intermediate Basic
%
12
These reported income levels of this highly skilled group is less than for refugees in Canada (Biser, DeVoretz
& Pivnenko, 2005).

15
Given the stated linguistic difficulties noted in Figure 10, the results reported in
Figure 13 seem puzzling with 55% of the surveyed Chinese stating that at the time of the
survey they had advanced level English skills.
Figure 14: Language Classes Ever Attended
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
English French Both None
%
Figure 14 reports a high number of Chinese immigrants attending English classes
after arrival (70%) and confirms our suspicions that their language skills were not as stated as
in Figure 13, or their English (e.g., Chinese accent) was not acceptable in the host society.
Immigrant Assessment of Vancouver
Given their stated motivations to move and their linguistic and employment
difficulties encountered after arrival in Vancouver, what was this group’s overall assessment
of Vancouver when compared to their expectations prior to arrival? In other words was there
a significant gap between expectations and reality?
Figure 15: Vancouver Compared with Expectation
The even split between those who felt they were better or worse off (Figure 15) after
arrival reflects their reported employment and linguistic experiences in Vancouver.
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30
%
.00%
40.00%
50.00%
Much Better Better Worse Much Worse

16
Figure 16: Any Regrets about Moving to Vancouver
80.00%
40.00
%
60.00%
%
20.00%
0.00%
Yes No In Some Ways
How did this reported gap between expectations and reality translate into a summary
statement about any regrets about moving to Vancouver? The results in Figure 16 which
report stated regrets are surprising given the often stated gap in expectations and reality for
their Vancouver integration experience since only 11.7% of the respondents felt any regrets
about moving to Vancouver.
Nonetheless, even given this lack of regret about moving to Canada, the Chinese
sought help from friends and not NGOs or governments (Table 2). However, if they did visit
a Vancouver NGO, the majority (60% of visits) visited mainly a uni-cultural Chinese
organization (S.U.C.C.E.S.S.) primarily to find a job (60% of cases).
Table 2: Distribution of Organizations Visited in Vancouver
Organization(s) Visited n = 188
Burnaby Multicultural Society 5.9%
Family Services of Greater Vancouver 0.00%
ISS 12.2%
MOSAIC 6.4%
North Shore Multicultural Society 2.7%
SUCCESS
59.6%
Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Society 8.0%
Other 5.9%
Logistic Regression Analysis
In order to predict which groups of Vancouver resident Chinese are the most likely to
experience dissatisfaction and possibly leave Vancouver, we offer a simulation exercise based
on a logit analysis. The intuition at this point is to look at several questions which would

17
indicate the subject’s inherent willingness to stay or leave Vancouver. Next, we attempt
through logit analysis to find what elements reported in the survey influence the respondents’
answers to the question under consideration.
13
For example, question 2.6, or: “Have you
achieved your main goals in Canada?”
a. Yes
b. No
c. Don’t know or hard to say
allows an analysis of the determinants of the log odds of answering yes or no to this question.
We argue that the answer to question 2.6 takes the form of logistic function which can
be expressed as the probability of observing a positive response (or yes) from a
representative sample of Chinese immigrant in Vancouver conditioned on a vector of
independent explanatory variables.
14
The independent variables that condition the log odds of
answering yes are age, education (number of years of
education), Canadian education,
number of years in Canada and the income level of the household.
The vector of parameters
was estimated with the Maximum Likelihood Method.
We report the results of the first stage of this analysis below in Table 3 with the
significant coefficients denoted in bold face and the variables defined in the Appendix.
13
We thank James Kwan for this insight.
14
The logistic function is
)exp(1
)exp(
)|1(
β
β
i
i
ii
X
X
XYP
+
==
where
)|1(
ii
XYP
=
is the probability of
observing a positive response from a sampled Chinese immigrant in Vancouver conditioned on a vector of
explanatory variables
i
X
, which may influence the likelihood of a positive or negative answer.

18
Table 3. Did Chinese Immigrants achieve their goals whilst in Canada: A Logit analysis of question 2.6
Variable Coef. Std. Err. z P>|z| [95% Conf. Interval]
Gender -.026575 .3430713 -0.08 0.938 -.698983 .6458316
Age .0915444 .022728 4.03 .0.000 .0469982 1360906
Marital
state
-1.07540 .442433 -2.43 0.015 -1.94256 -.2082543
Education
Level
-.129855 .1483841 -0.88 0.382 -.420682 .1609725
Canadian
Education
-.983042 .3580266 -2.75 0.006 -1.68476 -.2813229
Length of
Stay in
Canada
-.003608 .0058829 -0.61 0.540 -.015138 .0079216
Household
income
.0000398 9.69e-06 4.11 0.000 .0000208 .0000588
Constant -1.4748 1.052621 -1.40 0.161 -3.5379 .5882988
Notes: Number of observations = 203, Pseudo R
2
= 0.2051
Age, marital status, educational location and household income all significantly
conditioned the log odds of answering question 2.6.
15
The older an immigrant (age) and the
greater his/her household income, the greater the log odds of having achieved his/her goals
whilst in Canada. On the other hand, if the individual was unmarried or obtained a non
Canadian education the log odds of achieving his/her goals in Canada was lower.
16
We further explore the respondents’ answers to question 2.6 by analyzing through a
logistic analysis the answer to question 2.6.2:
2.6.2 If you answered question 2.6 “no,” what is the possibility of achieving the
main goals you set up for yourself before moving to Canada?
The possible answers were as follows:
a. Very high
b. High
c. Not sure
d. Slim
e. Very slim
In this second stage for ease of analysis we regroup the answers to question 2.6.2 into
three categories: (1) very high and high (2) not sure and (3) slim and very slim.
17
Now we
perform a multi-nominal logit to determine which of above variables predict the log-odds of
being in categories 1 to 3. In effect, this model attempts to predict which of these variables
15
If the null hypothesis is rejected then the coefficient is not equal to zero. For the coefficient to be significant
than the z value should be greater than .85.
16
Note a negative coefficient just indicates a reduction in the log odds of responding question to question 2.6.
17
This regrouping yielded allowed us to have sufficient cell sizes.

19
significantly changed the log odds of influencing the immigrant’s chances of achieving their
unrealized goals.
We divided our analysis into those Chinese who felt optimistic about achieving their
goals and then carried out the same analysis for those Chinese who stated they were
pessimistic about achieving their goals. We used the same variables as those reported in table
3 and the majority of these variables (unreported) were not significantly related to either
being very optimistic about achieving their goals or very pessimistic about achieving their
goals. However, an increase in household income did significantly increase the log odds of
stating that the likelihood of being successful in the future was either very high or high. On
the other hand, as the respondent aged the log odds of stating that the likelihood of success
was slim grew significantly.
A second crucial question which could reveal the Chinese resident’s satisfaction and
ultimate intention to stay in Vancouver or leave appears in the survey as:
“Compared with your situation in China, how would you describe your social life in
Canada?”
With the following possible answers:
a. Much better
b. Better
c. Same
d. Worse
e. Much worse
Which for purposes of our logit analysis were regrouped into these three groups:
1. Much Better/Better
2. Same
3. Worse/Much worse

20
Table 4. Multinomial Logit Analysis of Questions 3.11
Variable Coef. Std. Err. Z P>|z| [95% Conf. Interval]
Panel A. Comparison of category 2 to 1
Gender .0094964 .3618503 0.03 0.979 -.6997171 .7187098
Age -.0492663 .0201535 -2.44 0.015 -.0887665 -.0097661
Marital State
.2717483 .2658162 1.02 0.307 -.2492419 .7927385
Educational
level
.3031285 .1535447 1.97 0.048 .0021864 .6040706
Canadian
education
.5431739 .3610247 1.50 0.132 -.1644214 1.250769
Length of
stay
-.0042336 .00564 -0.75 0.453 -.0152878 .0068206
Household
income
-6.17e-07 9.23e-06 -0.07 0.947 -.0000187 .0000175
constant -.4858698 1.18561 -0.41 0.682 -2.809623 1.837883
Panel B: Comparison of category 2 to 3
Gender -.1985158 .4321508 -0.46 0.646 -1.045516 .6484843
Age -.1121822 .0292965 -3.83 0.000 -.1696023 -.0547621
Marital
State
.5432876 .3374052 1.61 0.107 -.1180144 1.20459
Educational
level
.2239037 .190089 1.18 0.239 -.1486639 .5964713
Canadian
education
.525899 .4407227 1.19 0.233 -.3379015 1.3897
Length of
stay
-.0038618 .0060732 -0.64 0.525 -.015765 .0080414
Household
income
6.63e-06 .0000107 0.62 0.534 -.0000143 0000275
Constant 1.020565 1.358957 0.75 0.453 -1.642942 3.684073
Notes: N=322 Pseudo R
2
= 0.08
Table 4 Panel A reports the significant effect (in bold) of variables collected from our
Vancouver sample on the log odds of being in category 2 (the same) versus 1 (much
better/better). The older the respondent was in the survey period, the less likely would be the
log odds that this person would report that he or she was much better or better off socially in
Vancouver. If the respondent had a high educational level or obtained his/her education in
Canada the log odds of being socially satisfied in Vancouver increased significantly.

21
Panel B where indicates that the log odds of moving from being much worse (or
worse) socially in Canada relative to an identical standing vis-à-vis China is significantly
negatively affected by the respondent’s age, and positively affected by being married.
In sum, this logit analysis indicates that well know sample characterisitics including
age, education, marital status influence the Vancouver Chinese resident population’s degree
of integration.
Suggestions from Immigrants
Recognizing the fact that the majority of questions we posed offered limited space for
participants to express their opinions in detail, we included two open-ended questions in the
questionnaire:
1) From your experience, what could the Canadian Government do to help new
Chinese immigrants integrate into Canadian society more effectively?
2) Is there anything both the Canadian and Chinese governments could do in
cooperation to better help Chinese immigrants?
We received 145 entries to these open ended questions. Responses concerning what
the Canadian government can do are organized into two major categories: pre-landing
immigration and post-landing settlement actions. Many people suggested that immigrant
settlement should start before immigrants have landed in Canada. One respondent said:
“[The] Canadian government should go to China to let those who want to emigrate to
Canada better understand Canada.” Another suggested to: “Hold classes in China to help
immigrants adjust to the life in Canada.” Still another commented that Canada should: “Help
immigrants to know the difference between the two countries from all aspects as early as
possible.”
Some people felt misinformed about Canada before applying for immigration.
Therefore, many of them suggested that the Canadian government: “Provide Chinese people
[with] a more realistic view of Canada.” “[The] Canadian government should tell people in
advance of all difficulties they may encounter in Canada in the near future and help them

22
prepare for it.” And “Inform potential immigrants that their qualifications may not be
recognized by [the] Canadian society.”
A few respondents also commented on the application process. One respondent
suggested to: “Speed up the processing time of immigration applications.” Another one said:
“Improve immigration application and management” while others suggested to: “Encourage
international graduates to immigrate to Canada.”
Suggestions concerning post-landing settlement are mainly concentrated in four
areas: 1) employment, 2) the recognition of Chinese credentials and work experience, 3) the
provision of English training programs, and 4) settlement services. In particular, many
surveyed Chinese are concerned with their unemployment and underemployment situations.
Some people suggested government intervention to: “Provide more training and employment
opportunities,” or to: “Fund immigrants to find a job or start [their] own business.”
Some respondents also made concrete suggestions, such as: “Create and introduce
more internship or co–op opportunities so that new immigrants can obtain their first North
American experience to find a job they like,” or: “Help local companies to hire new
immigrants by providing (a) funding/incentive. “
Many respondents attributed their unemployment and underemployment situations to
the non-recognition of their Chinese credentials and work experience. Some commented that:
“Immigrants are underemployed because their educational levels are not recognized;” or
that the lack of: “‘Canadian experience’ is a racist excuse,” and “The federal government
needs to cooperate with professional associations (such as establishing committees) to keep
immigrants [in Canada].”
Furthermore, people made numerous comments about existing English language
programs. Many respondents feel that current English classes do not meet the needs of
immigrant professionals and that the wait time to enrol in Vancouver is too long. Some
people specifically commented on the Host Program and funding for community
organizations. Sample comments include: “Improve services for immigrants and provide
help when there are difficulties,” “Need more programs like the Host Program,” and “Give
more funds to organizations such as SUCCESS to help more immigrants systematically,
provide permanent rather than temporary services.”

23
Some respondents felt that cooperation between the Canadian and Chinese
governments could help Chinese immigrants integrate and argued that “dual citizenship” or
the elimination of a visa requirement would help the free flow of Chinese immigrants.
These suggestions, while often politically naïve, reveal the multidimensional nature
of the challenges facing Chinese immigrants in Vancouver.
Conclusions
The primary aim of this research project was to better understand the integration experience
of Chinese immigrant residents in Vancouver circa 2004-05 and to infer the prospects of their
staying or moving in the future. In particular, we surveyed that portion of the Chinese
Vancouver immigrant community that would be most prone to move. Our Web-based survey,
supplemented with in-person questionnaires, produced 322 respondents in the economically
active group (20-65) who had high levels of education and putatively good English language
skills. In addition, those surveyed were relatively recent arrivals (average 7 years in
residence), predominantly from Mainland China, who were predominately married with a
permanent residency status in Canada. Given this background we asked how well integrated
this most recent Chinese immigrant group felt in Vancouver with respect to several key
measures. Did they achieve their original goals prior to moving, and if not, what were the
perceived impediments?
This surveyed resident group definitely had a long-term time horizon if we reflect on
their motivations to emigrate to Vancouver. They came to Canada to become Canadian
citizens, enjoy the natural environment and educate their children. Superficially these
motivations appear to reflect the traditional goals of Canada’s past immigrants whose
intention was to presumably remain permanently in Canada. However, there exists another
interpretation that is more consistent with the work of DeVoretz, Ma and Zhang (2003),
which suggests that these motivations are those of sojourner immigrants who, when faced
with short-term economic exigencies, may later be tempted to leave Vancouver.
The key sequence of events in the triangular migration model are the arrival of
immigrants to an entrepôt country such as Canada who then begin to equip themselves with
subsidized education and citizenship to hedge against future movement. This interpretation

24
mirrors the findings for the surveyed Vancouver Chinese immigrant group. The necessary
conditions for the triangle model to hold (citizenship acquisition and human capital
accumulation) are fulfilled by many of the Chinese residents in Vancouver. However, if these
necessary conditions are supplemented by weak (strong) economic outcomes in Canada
(China or the rest of the world) then later onward movement will (not) occur to complete the
triangle.
In fact, the reported poor employment prospects of Chinese immigrants in
Vancouver, the devaluation of both their acquired Chinese education and their labour market
experience and finally their low incomes all fulfill the necessary conditions for this group to
move on as predicted by the triangular model. Faced with these dire economic circumstances
these surveyed Chinese immigrants in Vancouver did exactly what the triangular model
would predict. They invested in themselves with subsidized public goods with 70% of the
adults reporting further language training, acquiring citizenship and educating their children.
Thus, this penultimate prediction of the triangular model of extensive human capital
acquisition would suggest that our surveyed Chinese immigrants experienced dissatisfaction
with Canada and prepared themselves to move on. In fact 50% of the respondents felt they
were worse off in Vancouver than in China. Thus, we predict that both the necessary and
sufficient conditions exist for a continued large-scale emigration of the post-1998 Chinese
immigrant arrivals as earlier reported by Abdurrahmna and Robinson (2006).
18
This study argues that successful integration into Vancouver of Chinese immigrants
depends on their ability to realize their initial goals. An analysis of our econometric results
indicates marital status, obtaining at least one degree in Canada and having a high income all
increased the respondent’s likelihood of realizing their goals and being socially satisfied
while in Vancouver.
19
This increased satisfaction will presumably enhance the probability
that recent Chinese immigrants will stay in Vancouver. It is important to note that none of
these conditioning factors, except possibly the educational location of their highest degree, is
amenable to Canadian policy makers’ actions.
18
They report that up to 40% of the working age immigrants from Hong-Kong to Canada have left Canada.
19
Being single reduced the log odds of realizing their goals while the opposite was true for their degree of
social satisfaction in Canada.

25
Moreover, for those who have not achieved their goals and presumably would be
more likely to leave, only an increase in household income increases their log odds of feeling
optimistic about achieving their goals in the near future. Again, this variable is not directly
amenable to public policy action. However, government action to expedite credential
recognition could increase both their employment prospects and their eventual income. Thus,
there appear to be two indirect policy measures (credential recognition and Canadian
educational bridging) available to stem the tide of pessimism of this group with respect to
achieving their goals. However, without credential recognition or local educational bridging
we should expect a continued exodus of Vancouver Chinese immigrants in the near future.

26
Appendix A Variable Definitions For Logit Analysis
Variable Name Variable Definition Operational Definition
Gender Male or Female Male=1 Female=2
Age Respondent’s age Age= Midpoint of
interval
Marital Status Marital Status Single=1 Married=2
Separated=3 Divorced=4
Widowed=5 Common=6
Education Respondent’s Highest level High school =1 H.S.=2
Diploma=3 BA=4 MA=5
Ph.d=6
Canadian Education Location of Highest Degree 2=Canada 1=China
Other=0
Length of Stay Months since arrival
Income Household Income in intervals Midpoint of interval
SSTNCA Compared to China how is Much Better=1 Better = 1
Your social life in Canada? Same=2, Worse=3 Much
Worse=3

27
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