RESEARCH

ABSTRACT

Newcomers are living and working across rural and smaller communities in Canada. However, immigration research and policy are overwhelmingly focused on large, urban centres. Responding to this knowledge gap, this article presents the results from a scoping review of the Canadian literature on immigration outside of Canada's largest cities. An analysis of 90 studies reveals several key trends in the literature related to the geographic focus and themes addressed. The results of the review demonstrate that the majority of studies focus on regions with a high population density that are in close proximity to major urban centres, thus revealing a gap in knowledge regarding settlement across more rural and northern parts of the country. Issues related to settlement services, employment opportunities, welcoming communities, public policy, infrastructure, and retention and secondary migration were the most addressed themes across the literature and represent the diversity of rural Canada. In response to these findings, we conclude with a discussion of the potential opportunities for future research and policy change.

The urban focus of knowledge production around immigration in Canada excludes the rural experience and has resulted in an incomplete portrait of settlement and integration. As governments continue to promote the regionalization of immigration, more research on rural immigration and funding for settlement services and infrastructure in smaller places is urgently needed. Addressing the challenges that newcomers face in rural and smaller places will require systemic policy change that accounts for the urban policy bias in Canada and diversity of rural spaces.

Des nouveaux venus vivent et travaillent dans les petites communautes rurales au Canada. Cependant, les recherches et les politiques d'immigration sont concentrees sur les grands centres urbains. Pour repondre a cette lacune en termes de connaissances, cet article presente les resultats d'une revue de litterature sur l'immigration en dehors des grandes villes du Canada. Une analyse de 90 etudes revele plusieurs tendances cles dans la litterature liees a l'orientation geographique et aux themes traites. Tout d'abord, cette demarche confirme un manque d'interet concernant l'implantation des nouveaux arrivants dans les regions rurales ou celles situees au nord du pays. Par ailleurs, les problemes lies aux services d'accueil, aux opportunites d'emploi, aux differentes communautes territoriales, aux politiques publiques, aux infrastructures existantes, a la retention et a la migration secondaire sont les themes les plus souvent traites a travers la litterature. Ces enjeux sont aussi presents au sein des milieux ruraux. A la lumiere de ces resultats, nous terminons notre propos avec une discussion sur des pistes de recherche a approfondir ainsi que sur des changements souhaitables aux politiques actuelles.