The Alta Vista and Bay wards in Ottawa were the biggest magnets for new immigrants between 2006 and 2011, according to an analysis of Statistics Canada data.
The results from the 2011 National Household Survey, which replaced Canada’s long-form census, show that 3010 immigrants settled in Alta Vista, located in Ottawa’s south end, and 3005 in Bay — located west of the city’s downtown core — in that time frame.
The next two most popular wards were Gloucester-Southgate and River — both in Ottawa’s south end — which each absorbed 2725 and 2660 immigrants, respectively, between 2006 and 2011.
Social and subsidized housing has a lot to do with the distribution and concentration of immigrant populations in Ottawa, according to Riley Brockington, who is the councillor for River ward. Brockington, who sits on the city’s planning committee, said the largest number of social housing units available in the city are situated in the Bay and River wards, respectively, which can help explain their large intake of immigrants.
While Ottawa welcomes immigrants from a range of socio-economic backgrounds, Brockington said a large portion of newcomers to Canada arrive with very little. Therefore, Ottawa Community Housing units in his ward — like the towers at 1485 Caldwell Ave. in Carlington — are often their starting point.
“If you are money-strapped… you’ve just basically arrived and you need help being placed, then you’ll go where housing is available,” he said.
A report published by Citizenship and Immigration Canada in April 2005 based on 2001 census data noted that only one in five households consisting of immigrants who settled in Ottawa on or after Jan. 1, 1996 owns its home — compared to three in five Canadian-born households.
Map of where immigrants lived in Ottawa from 2006 to 2011
Brockington said larger subsidized housing complexes also have a “family house” which provides medical and social services to residents, which is an advantage and might explain why immigrant families choose urban over rural wards. One example is the Debra Dynes Family Home, located east of Mooney’s Bay.
“[The family homes] are like one-stop shops,” he said. “The rural wards might have the odd home or half-way house where some people go to, but not in any quantity that you see in the older urban wards.”
Neither Jean Cloutier or Mark Taylor, the councillors for Alta Vista and Bay, responded to interview requests.
The City of Ottawa also designed some communities with low-income immigrants and residents in mind. Don Paice — a retired pharmacist who has lived in the Gloucester-Southgate neighbourhood of Hunt Club since the late 1970s — said Hunt Club was structured to integrate low-cost housing and co-ops, which subsequently brought a lot of immigrants and ethnic minorities into the area.
“It was interesting at that time because it wasn’t the norm in the 1970s and the 1980s and you definitely didn’t find communities as mixed as this community was at that time,” Paice said.
Residents of these four wards — which together also had the four largest immigrant populations in Ottawa in 2001 — are now reaching out to help with the Syrian refugee crisis, citing their appreciation for living in an ethnically diverse community.
Paice and his wife Elaine are spearheading a group sponsorship of a Syrian refugee family.
“I don’t think people don’t take the time to think about how these refugees will contribute to the economy [and] to the community culturally,” he said. “They help the community grow and they help the community develop.”
Kris Nanda, who is the president of the Riverview Park Community Association in Alta Vista, said five community associations, including his own, have been working together to fundraise for United Way Ottawa’s refugee initiative.
“I think overall people are concerned about the plight of the refugees and my sense is there’s a desire to welcome them and help them integrate,” Nanda said.