Immigrants in Canada are more likely to die from COVID
The study showed how many percent of deaths from the virus were attributed to immigrants.
A recent study found that during the pandemic, areas of Canada with ethnic minority populations were twice as likely to report deaths from COVID-19 as areas with low immigrant populations.
Between March and July 2020, more than 8 300 people died in Canada because of the virus. About 67% of the deaths occurred in the province of Quebec, 28% were recorded in Ontario and 3% in British Columbia.
According to the study, the percentage of immigrant deaths out of all cases is higher than the immigrant share of the total Canadian population: 30% of those who died were immigrants, compared to 20% of the total population. This is especially true for men under 65 years old. Most of the immigrants who died lived in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. In addition, the study found that between 44% and 51% of people who died from COVID-19 in Vancouver and Toronto were immigrants.
In several other studies, researchers have concluded that immigrants are at higher risk of death because they work in the service industry, may rent housing for many people at once or live in multi-generational homes, and may have poorer language skills and lower health literacy.
Andy Yang, who works at Simon Fraser University, said the data from the study is similar to those he has been collecting and studying over the past few months. His study found that the risk of fatalities is higher in people who work in manufacturing, and in families where 3 or more people work or live together with more than 5 people. Unfamiliarity with the language, economic instability and discrimination also increase the risk.
However, Jan stresses that immigrants do not automatically have a higher risk of dying from disease than native Canadians. It is more influenced by the conditions in which immigrants live and work.
