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The largest number of respondents in our study came from former Yugoslavia. They comprise 61% of all our respondents.

Practically all of the refugees from former Yugoslavia, or 96%, report a Slavic language as their mother tongue and 95% report using this language at home. The ethnicity of these respondents is mixed, with 37% reporting Yugoslav/Bosnian background, 27% Serbian ethnicity and 15% reporting Croatian as their background. Respondents from this region are the most recent arrivals in Alberta; over 90% report that they arrived after 1993. They are more likely than other groups to be married or in a common-law relationship (82%). Twenty-six percent of the respondents indicate they had spent time in a refugee camp, with an average of 17 months.

Respondents from former Yugoslavia are generally highly educated. Only 10% did not have a high school diploma upon arrival. Over 50% said they had completed post-secondary education, the highest percentage of any group in our sample. Almost 90% held a paying job in Yugoslavia and 77% indicated they had some formal job training. Half of the respondents were managers or professionals in their home country, 22% were blue-collar workers and 13% reported no occupation prior to their arrival.

Table 3-4
Former Yugoslavia
(Sample Size: 329 Adults and 46 Youth)

Language and Ethnicity

96% of respondents from former Yugoslavia report a Slavic mother tongue. Other mother tongues include Ukrainian, German, Italian and Danish.
6% of respondents cannot speak any English.
The majority of respondents use a Slavic language at home (95%). English is used at home by 3% of respondents while the remaining few use other European languages in the home.
37% of respondents indicate Yugoslav/Bosnian as their ethnicity, 27% indicate they are Serbian and 15% are Croatian. Other ethnic origins include Muslim (8%), Ukrainian (6%), Hungarian, Slovakian, Albanian, Slovenian, Turk and Balkan.
Countries of origin include: Croatia, Yugoslavia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ukraine.

Time of Arrival

Most of the former Yugoslavians are recent arrivals to Alberta. 6% arrived in 1992-93, 57% arrived in 1994/95 and 37% arrived in 1996/97.

Refugee Camp Experience

26% of former Yugoslavians report having spent time in a refugee camp.
The mean number of months spent in a refugee camp is 17.

Demographic Characteristics and Family Status

53% of the sample is female, 47% is male.
The mean age of adults is 37.5 years, the mean for youth is 17.0 years.
12% of the sample is aged 15-21; 20% of the sample is aged 22-30; 42% of the sample is 31-40; 18% are aged 41-50; and 7% are over age 51.
82% of the adult refugees are married or living in a common-law relationship, 6% are widowed or divorced and 11% are single.
The average household size for former Yugoslavians is 3.4.
90% indicate they had left some family members behind.
Upon their arrival to Canada, 18% say they had family members already in Canada.
30% of the former Yugoslavians are currently living in Calgary, 22% are living in Edmonton, 7% are living in Red Deer, 12% are living in Lethbridge, 11% are in Medicine Hat, 3% are living in Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray while 16% are living elsewhere in Canada.

Education and Occupation Prior to Arrival (Adult Refugees only)

10% report having completed less than high school; 28% have completed high school; 9% have completed some post-secondary education; and 52% have completed post-secondary education.
The mean number of years of completed formal education in their home country is 13.4.
77% report having had some formal job training in former Yugoslavia.
89% indicate having a paying job in former Yugoslavia.
13% report no occupation prior to arrival; 48% were managers or professionals; 17% reported clerical or service occupations; and 22% reported blue-collar jobs.