Recent Immigrants in Metropolitan Areas: Winnipeg—A Comparative Profile Based on the 2001 Census

Part C: Families and Households

Family and household affiliation of individuals

Older recent immigrants more likely to be living with relatives

Very few recent immigrants live alone. Like the Canadian-born population, a large majority of recent immigrants live in households with at least two people, and in most cases, these are people with whom they are related by blood, marriage or adoption. In fact, recent immigrants are more likely than the Canadian-born population to live with relatives. This difference is seen in all age groups, but is most notable among people aged 65 and over. Among Canadian-born seniors in Winnipeg, less than two-thirds live with relatives, while more than one-third live alone. By comparison, nearly nine out of ten very recent immigrants aged 65 and over live with relatives, while only 13% live alone. In part, these figures probably reflect a difference in the average age of recent immigrant seniors and Canadian-born seniors.

Note: For definitions of living arrangements and related concepts, see the Glossary.

Recent immigrants more likely to live in extended families

Recent immigrants are similar to Canadian-born individuals in that most live in nuclear families, with no relatives other than the immediate members of the nuclear family. However, recent immigrants are more likely than the Canadian-born population to live in extended family situations. Of the Canadian-born population living with one or more relatives, only 6% are part of an extended family. The proportion of recent immigrants in that kind of arrangement is nearly three times as large.

Figure C-1: Immigrants by period of immigration and Canadian-born— percentage living with relatives in an extended family, Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area, 2001 (percentage)

Note: For definitions of extended and nuclear families, see the Glossary. Whereas Table C-1 includes all persons, Figure C-1 and Table C-2 include only persons who are living with relatives. A small percentage of individuals living with relatives are in “non-family” households. An example might be two adult brothers living together. The percentage of individuals in these situations is not shown in the table and figure in this section.

Older recent immigrants are most likely to live in an extended family. Four in ten of very recent immigrants aged 65 and over live in extended families, compared to 6% of Canadian-born seniors. Older recent immigrants living in extended families are most often related to someone within a nuclear family and are not members of the nuclear family itself.

Note: For definitions of extended and nuclear families, see the Glossary. Whereas Table C-1 includes all persons, Figure C-1 and Table C-2 include only persons who are living with relatives. A small percentage of individuals living with relatives are in “non-family” households. An example might be two adult brothers living together. The percentage of individuals in these situations is not shown in the table and figure in this section. Consequently, the percentages in Table C-2 do not add to 100%.

Families

One in twelve families in Winnipeg is a recent immigrant family

In Winnipeg in 2001, there were 39,700 recent immigrants who landed in Canada between 1986 and 2001. A large majority of these immigrants—33,700 or 85%—were members of a nuclear family. In other words, they were husbands, wives, common-law partners, lone parents or children. Nearly one in twelve families in Winnipeg is a recent immigrant family—that is, a family in which either or both spouses or the lone parent are recent immigrants. This proportion is lower than for Canada as a whole, where one in nine families is a recent immigrant family.

Most of the recent immigrant families consist of married or common-law couples, while only 12% are lone-parent families. Among Canadian-born families, 19% are lone-parent families, while 81% are married or common-law couples.

Note: For definitions of family and related concepts, see the Glossary. Since the 1996 Census there have been changes to the definition of family.

When families are grouped by the age of the oldest member, families of seniors are seen to have a composition different from the general pattern. Lone-parent families are more common among recent immigrant families of seniors, and less common among the families of Canadian-born seniors. The opposite is true for younger families.

Recent immigrant families more likely to have children in the home

Recent immigrant and Canadian-born families differ in the proportion of families with children at home. More than three in four recent immigrant families have at least one child of any age living at home. By comparison, just over six in ten Canadian-born families have children at home.

This difference occurs mainly among older families, when age of family is defined as the age of the oldest family member. Among young families, four in five have children, whether they are recent immigrants or Canadian-born. However, 41% of recent immigrant families of seniors have children in the home, compared to 21% of Canadian-born families.

Figure C-2: Recent immigrant and Canadian-born families—never-married children living at home, by age of older spouse or lone parent, Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area, 2001 (percentage)

The higher proportion of older recent immigrant families with children living at home could be due to a greater likelihood that older children stay longer in the parental home, as well as possible differences in the timing of childbirth and level of fertility. Some of the children in older immigrant families may be adults living with and possibly supporting one or two aging parents.

Older recent immigrant families have more children living at home

Recent immigrant families with children are somewhat more likely to have more than two children in the home than Canadian-born families with children. As many as 23% of recent immigrant families with children have three or more children, compared to 17% of Canadian-born families.

The share of young families with children that have three or more children is the same for Canadian-born families and recent immigrant families, a little less than one in four. However, 26% of recent immigrant families whose older spouse or lone parent is 45 to 64 years old and that have children in the home have more than two children, compared to 14% of Canadian-born families in the same situation. Among the oldest recent immigrant families with children, 9% have three or more children living at home.

In majority of recent immigrant families, both spouses are recent immigrants

The majority of the 14,570 recent immigrant families are comprised of a recently immigrated husband married to or living common-law with a recently immigrated wife, with or without children. An additional 16% of families have a recently immigrated spouse and a spouse who immigrated before 1986. A total of 18% of recent immigrant families in Winnipeg have a recent immigrant paired with a Canadian-born spouse. Of the families of immigrants who landed before 1986, 41% consist of an immigrant paired with a Canadian-born spouse (not shown in Figure C-3).

Figure C-3: Recent immigrant families—family structure showing immigrant status of spouses, Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area, 2001 (percentage distribution)

When recent immigrants enter into conjugal unions, they are very likely to do so as a legally married couple. Just 3% of recent immigrant couples live common-law, compared to 14% of Canadian-born couples. Even among younger couples, where common-law relationships are the clear preference of the Canadian-born, relatively few recent immigrant couples have chosen this option.

The low incidence of common-law relationships is in part a result of immigration law, which, prior to the introduction of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) in June 2002, did not recognize common-law relationships.

Households

One in 14 households is a recent immigrant household

In 2001, there were 18,040 recent immigrant households—households in which at least one member of 15 years or older was a recent immigrant. These made up 7% of the total number of households in Winnipeg.

One-third of recent immigrant households, or 6,090 households, have at least one member who immigrated after 1995. For a little less than one-half of these households, all members are very recent immigrants. The remaining 3,200 households consist of very recent immigrants living together with other persons. In 65% of these households the other persons are immigrants who landed before 1996, in 26% they are persons born in Canada and in 8% of these households the other persons are both persons born in Canada and immigrants who landed before 1996.

In three out of four households in Winnipeg all members are Canadian-born. Households that include one or more earlier immigrants but no recent immigrants account for 17% of households.

Note: The total “All households” includes households of non-permanent residents not shown in the table. For definitions of household and related concepts, see the Glossary.

Recent immigrant households more likely to be larger than a nuclear family

A recent immigrant household is much more likely than a Canadian-born household to consist of one or more families. The large majority of recent immigrant households, four in five, are family households, compared to three in five Canadian-born households.

Nearly four out of ten Canadian-born households are non-family households, and most of these consist of a person living alone. Among more recent immigrant households, persons living alone are much rarer.

Most households consist of a nuclear family—that is, a couple with or without children or a lone parent with one or more children. Immigrant households, except for households of very recent immigrants with others, are somewhat more likely to consist of just a nuclear family than Canadian-born households.

A significant proportion of recent immigrant households consist of a nuclear family living with other persons. In most of these “expanded-family” households, the non-family person or persons are related to the family. Expanded-family households occur much less frequently among the Canadian-born.

Note: The total “All households” includes households of non-permanent residents not shown in the table. For definitions of household and related concepts, see the Glossary.

Households of recent immigrants are also much more likely than Canadian-born households to consist of two or more families. These families may be related to each other, as for example a married couple living with the family of one of their children. Multiple family households are most common among households combining very recent immigrants with other persons. Many recent immigrants clearly live in households that are different from the standard nuclear family.

Recent immigrant households tend to be large

Recent immigrant households are more likely to be large in size than Canadian-born and earlier immigrant households. A little more than half of recent immigrant households have one to three members, compared to eight out of ten Canadian-born households. The proportion of households with four or more members is more than twice as large among recent immigrant households as among Canadian-born households.

Note: The total “All households” includes households of non-permanent residents not shown in the table. For definitions of household and related concepts, see the Glossary. Average size is estimated assuming an average of 4.5 for households with four or five members and an average of 7 for households with six or more members. For households with one, two or three members, the actual size of household was used in the calculation.

Most of the larger recent immigrant households have four or five members. Households where very recent immigrants live together with other Canadians are most likely of all households to be large, with 17% of these households having six or more members. The share of equally large households among Canadian-born households is only 2%.

More care of children

The proportion of recent immigrants of 15 years of age or over reporting time spent on unpaid care of children is higher than the proportion of Canadian-born persons in the same category. On the other hand, a smaller share of recent immigrants than of the Canadian-born reports spending time on a regular basis to look after elder persons.

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