Regional Immigration and Dispersal: Lessons from Small- and Medium-Sized Urban Centres in British Columbia‪.‬

ABSTRACT/RESUME Government officials and academics have voiced concern over the sustainability of immigrant concentration in Canada's three largest cities. Although research on the effects of such concentrations suggests both negative and positive outcomes, geographic dispersal has been suggested as an alternative to metropolitan concentration. This paper presents findings from research on immigrant settlement in Kelowna, a second-tier city, and Squamish, a small urban, resource-based community, both in British Columbia. I examine the factors that contribute to immigrant settlement and integration in these regions, and evaluate the urban policies and practices employed by municipal governments in each region to attract, retain, and integrate immigrants. Findings suggest that the municipal governments interviewed do not actively attract immigrants, but they are involved in funding services that assist in immigrant settlement. The successful attraction and retention of immigrants is linked to the pre-existing social and economic context, but it is not necessarily determined by the size of the community. Research findings suggest that in order to succeed, any regional immigration policy must involve all levels of government in a commitment to address credential recognition problems and adequately fund settlement and language service provision.