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Remittance Behaviours Among Recent Immigrants in Canada

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  • Schellenberg, Grant
  • Houle, Rene

Abstract

Remittances "the money immigrants send to family members in their country of origin" are now centre stage in development and immigrant research. Yet, in spite of this interest, research on the characteristics of remittance senders in Canada remains quite limited, in large part because of the absence of household survey data. More broadly, studies of remittance senders in Canada and elsewhere often focus on immigrants from only one or two source countries and, consequently, do not provide a broad cross-national perspective on the issue. This study addresses these gaps by using the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada to document the incidence of remitting and the amounts remitted by immigrants from a wide range of countries. Using a common set of concepts and methods, we find that the incidence of remitting by the 2000 to 2001 landing cohort ranges from less than 10% to 60% across immigrants from different countries, while the average annual amounts remitted range from about $500 to almost $3,000. Turning to the factors associated with remitting, the financial and family characteristics are consistently significant among immigrants from all world regions. In contrast, other factors, such as gender and education, are associated with remitting among immigrants from some regions but not from others.

Suggested Citation

  • Schellenberg, Grant & Houle, Rene, 2008. "Remittance Behaviours Among Recent Immigrants in Canada," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2008312e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    • Handle: RePEc:stc:stcp3e:2008312e
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Amoyaw, Jonathan Anim & Abada, Teresa, 2016. "Does helping them benefit me? Examining the emotional cost and benefit of immigrants' pecuniary remittance behaviour in Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 182-192.
    2. James Ted McDonald & Maria Rebecca Valenzuela, 2017. "How Does Skills Mismatch Affect Remittances? A Study Of Filipino Migrant Workers," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(1), pages 216-231, January.
    3. Chowdhury Murshed & Das Anupam, 2016. "Remittance Behaviour of Chinese and Indian Immigrants in Canada," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 67(2), pages 185-208, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ethnic diversity and immigration; Household; family and personal income; Immigrants and non-permanent residents; Income; pensions; spending and wealth;
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