Exploring Minority Enclave Areas in Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver

1. Exploring Minority Enclave Areas in Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver Daniel Hiebert Metropolis British Columbia and Geography, UBC June, 2009

2. Acknowledgement • Thanks to Multiculturalism Branch of CIC (was in Heritage when this research was commissioned) • Thanks to Canadian Heritage for access to a special tabulation of data

3. Outline • Context: Growing interest in the geography of immigrant settlement and social diversity • Basic questions motivating the study • Methodology: Neighbourhood typology • Analysis: Enclave dynamics in MTV • Conclusion: Should we be concerned?

4. 1. The context: Growing public interest • Are poor, 'ethnic' areas cages? Doug SaundersThe Globe & Mail. 2 March 2009 • How best to serve students in culturally clustered schools?; Educators debate need for same-culture role models amid reality of 'segregated' schools Louise Brown. Toronto Star. May 20, 2008. pg. A.6 • In urban areas, minorities no longer; Visible minorities dominate some Toronto suburbs Graeme Hamilton. National Post. Apr 3, 2008. pg. A.1 • In praise of ghettoes San Grewal. Toronto Star. Feb 2, 2008. pg. ID.2 • New immigrants to GTA choosing suburbs over city, Uof T study finds Natalie Alcoba. National Post. Apr 1, 2008. pg. A.9 • Do ethnic enclaves impede integration? Marina Jiménez. The Globe and Mail. Feb 8, 2007. pg. A.8

5. Interest from government and NGOs

6. Why the interest? • Maybe the micro-patterns of residential location are irrelevant to national public policy • But… • The media makes these inescapable issues • Housing is fundamental to the settlement process • “where” can tell you a lot about “how” (i.e., how well is integration going?)

7. Further potential connections and questions: • Are worsening economic outcomes for newcomers linked to their geography of settlement? • Are “cultures of poverty” being developed, of immigrants / visible minorities adopting defeatist attitudes and transmitting them to their Canadian-born children? • Could this be a source of social tension? • Is there a possibility of race-based riots, as in some other countries? (Diane Francis; Martin Collacott)

8. Academic work • In general enclaves are interpreted in polarized terms • As revealing economic marginalization and a lack of assimilation / integration • Or as helpful social environments essential to the well-being of newcomers and members of minority groups

9. International context • These questions are at the forefront of public debate in many countries, especially in Europe • Terrorist acts, riots (UK, France), politically-motivated murder (Netherlands), have all contributed to these concerns • Several countries have even adopted “desegregation” policies • Public opinion is sharply negative of perceived minority isolation

10. Qualification • There are VERY FEW studies of social life and attitudes in Canadian minority enclaves • Ironically, for all the attention to this issue, we know little • This study: broad statistical overview of enclaves in MTV • But it cannot answer many critical questions… need more research…

11. 2. Questions motivating this study • How has the residential geography of Visible Minority groups changed between 1996 and 2006? • Are enclaves becoming more prevalent in MTV? • What is the socio-economic profile of Visible Minority enclaves? • Who lives in them? Who does not? Are there systematic differences between these sub-populations? • Are enclaves ethnoculturally homogeneous? • What is the relationship between enclaves and poverty? • Where are the areas of concern, where we find overlapping social isolation and socio-economic marginalization? • What is the demographic profile of these areas of concern?

12. 3. Methodology • Defining enclaves: Neighbourhood typology • Census data

13. Defining enclaves • There is no perfect measure • Definitions of enclaves vary • Traditional urban geography: maps and indices of segregation between groups • Emerging international comparative method using neighbourhood typology

14. Neighbourhood types (after Poulson et al 2001) • I. “White areas” (citadels) or “Isolated host communities”: at least 80% White • II. “White dominant areas”: between 50-80% White • III. “Mixed, Visible-Minority dominant areas”: 50-70% Visible Minority • IV. “Mixed minority enclaves”: at least 70% Visible minority but no dominant group • V. “Minority group enclaves”: as above but with one group >2x any other group • VI. “Ghettoes”: when 60%+ of a group are in Type V areas (does not occur in Canada)

15. Utility of the typology approach • Conceptually simple • Easy to calculate (based on Census Tract units of measurement) • Possibility of international comparison • The types are probably meaningful in lived experience, though this needs investigation to verify

16. Based on the types, what do we ask? • Change over time (census->census) • Distribution of different groups • Association between neighbourhood types and other variables, especially poverty • Another study: generational dynamics

17. 4. Results of the analysis • Question 1: Are more people living in enclaves in MTV? • No and yes…

18. Residential change in Montreal

19. Residential change in Toronto

20. Residential change in Vancouver

21. How does this compare? • 2000: USA: The typical African-American person (12% of population) lives in a census tract that is 51% Black, 33% White, 16% Other (more than 4x over-representation) • 2001: Vancouver: The typical Chinese-Canadian person (17% of population) lives in a census tract that is 46% White, 34% Chinese, 20% other (2x over-representation)

22. Results… • Question 2: Who lives in / outside enclaves?

26. Results… • Generalizations • Montreal: few live in enclaves but they are part of the landscape of deep deprivation • Irony: penalty is highest in the city with the least enclave development • Toronto and Vancouver: “culture gap” is large but socio-economic gap is less significant • Less “penalty” for residents of these areas • Interesting point: in general residents of single-group-dominant areas (Type V) are better off than those in multiple-group enclaves

27. What about members of VM groups inside vs. outside enclaves? • Are there systematic differences? • Yes, but in several important aspects they are not large

29. Results • Question 3: How ethno-culturally diverse are enclaves? • Expectation: much less diverse than “mixed” areas • Method… count number of groups across areas

32. Results… • Question 4: What is the relationship between enclaves and poverty? • Logic of a 2x2 table • Enclave (Types IV and V) vs. areas of double avg. LICO • If enclave = poverty, then everyone should be in the cells on the major diagonal

37. Areas of deepest poverty • Vancouver: Downtown Eastside: not an immigrant area • Montreal: most of the neighbourhoods in deep poverty are not immigrant / minority areas • Toronto: deep poverty tends to be associated with immigrants and / or minorities (but it is also the CMA with the highest ratio of immigrants)

38. Results… • Question 5: Who lives in economically marginalized enclaves? • MTV: age is not a significant variable • In M and T, residents of these areas are likely to be less educated than those outside them… but the relationship is reversed in Vancouver • Montreal: South Asians • Toronto: Blacks and South Asians • Vancouver: Chinese

39. Reflections (1) • Growing number of newcomers / members of VM groups • And this is, generally, an economically disadvantaged population • But also a highly variegated one • And with a high desire to purchase equity in the housing market • This population generally gravitates to areas of cheaper housing, either rental (especially social housing) or for purchase • Residential landscapes: areas of social housing, condominiums, and single-detached suburban houses • As this happens, Visible Minorities move away from White-dominated neighbourhoods

40. Reflections (2) • But generally NOT to areas of economic deprivation • The trajectory is toward classic enclaves, not “ghettoes” • Non-rigorous evidence also suggests that they are NOT areas with anti-mainstream attitudes (in contrast to the banlieu areas of Paris) … this needs further study • Also see high education levels of enclaves • And there is actually an interesting mix of ethnic dominance / diversity in these areas

41. Reflections (3) • But there are some areas that we should classify as both enclaves and marginalized • 3.8% of VM population in Montreal, 5.4% in Toronto, and 2.6% in Vancouver • These areas tend to be associated with negative stereotypes • This is an important social policy issue • That is, enclaves IN GENERAL are not a policy issue, but marginalized enclaves are • Should the “fix” be geographical?

42. Reflections (4) • There are important differences across MTV • In the scale of enclave development • In the growth of enclave areas • In the groups living in enclaves • In the socio-economic nature of enclaves • No single-policy solution…