Along with refugee retention rates for the seven host communities, Table 5-1 (above) also documents the mobility patterns of "leavers" (those who left their original destined community). Edmonton and Calgary do not appear to "trade" refugees – only 10 of those destined to Edmonton had moved to Calgary, while only 7 of those sent to Calgary had subsequently moved to Edmonton. But one in four refugees destined to Lethbridge had moved to Calgary, along with 17 of the 110 (15%) who had originally been sent to Red Deer. One-third of the refugees destined to Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray had subsequently moved to Edmonton. Thus, to some extent, "leavers" tend to head for the nearest of the two largest cities in the province.
However, larger cities in other provinces are also attractive. Thirteen percent of all the refugees destined to Alberta between 1992 and 1997 (126 in total) had moved to Ontario (many to Toronto) by the time this study was completed in 1998. Another 5% (43 in total) had moved to British Columbia (most to Vancouver). Provinces and the metropolitan centres with high proportions of immigrants are obviously most attractive to refugees who decide to leave Alberta.
How long do refugees who leave their first city in Alberta typically stay? Table 5-2 demonstrates that 22% had left within the first three months, and 40% had left within six months. A majority of "leavers" (61%) had left their original city of destination within a year, and five out of six (83%) had left within two years. Comparisons across destination cities show that (the small number of ) "leavers" from Calgary tended to move on very quickly (50% had left within three months), in contrast to Edmonton (only 21% left within three months). One third of the Red Deer "leavers" had also moved to another city within three months. Individuals who left Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and Grande Prairie tended to stay a bit longer. Comparisons across region of origin suggest that, if they leave their original host city, African refugees move on quite quickly, compared with refugees from former Yugoslavia and the Middle East.
Adult refugees who were no longer living in the Alberta city to which they were originally sent were asked an open-ended question about why they had left. Some respondents provided a single reason, while others mentioned several. In total, the 135 "leavers" interviewed in this study provided 184 different answers to this question. Table 5-3 displays the distribution of responses, sorted into four general categories, for the total sub-sample of "leavers," along with differences in the pattern of responses by destined city, global region of origin, and gender.
Looking first at responses from the total sub-sample of "leavers," over half (54%) of the explanations they gave for leaving their original destined community focused on insufficient or inadequate employment and/or educational opportunities. In many instances, the "leavers" were speaking of opportunities for themselves, but sometimes they also answered with respect to opportunities for their children. About one in five responses (21%) had a more general "quality of life" component, emphasizing the size of the community (e.g., too small), the reception received from residents (e.g., impersonal and not welcoming), the cost and/or quality of housing, and sometimes the climate (e.g., too cold). Fourteen percent of all answers to the "Why did you leave?" question commented on a desire to be closer to family and friends or to live in a community where others from the same ethnic/racial origin were also living. The remainder of the responses (11% in all) focused on the inadequacy or non-availability of settlement and ESL services for refugees. Table 5-4 contains examples of the types of answers included in each of these four categories, in the original words of the respondents.
Thus, overall, better employment/educational opportunities elsewhere constituted the most common reason for refugees’ leaving their original destined community, followed by more general quality of life issues, the desire to be closer to family and friends, and dissatisfaction with refugee settlement services. If we combine employment/educational opportunities and a desire to be closer to family/friends/compatriots into a "pull factor" category (68% of all responses), it is apparent that the attractions of other communities outweigh dissatisfactions with the present community (a "push" factor – 32% of all responses). With respect to the latter, noteworthy by its absence is a category of explanations emphasizing host city residents’ hostility to refugees or the widespread experience of racism or discrimination by refugees. While a few of the answers included in the "leaving for a better city" category mentioned these issues, such answers were not sufficiently widespread to warrant their own category.
Table 5-3 also displays some interesting differences across cities1. For example, refugees who had left Calgary were much less likely to provide employment/education reasons for leaving (only 34% of their responses), in contrast to 80% of the responses from those who had moved away from Medicine Hat and 65% of those who had left Red Deer. Concerns about the adequacy of settlement services were more widespread among "leavers" from Lethbridge (24% of their responses), while Calgary "leavers" were more likely than others to mention the desire to be near family/friends or in a community with others from a similar ethnic/racial background.
Comparisons of reasons for leaving across region of origin (Table 5-3) reveal few important differences, other than that Middle East refugees who had left their original destined community were somewhat more likely to explain the move with reference to a desire to be near family/friends/compatriots. Finally, female "leavers" were somewhat more likely to emphasize employment/education opportunities, while males tended to put more emphasis on being close to family/friends/compatriots.
All of the "leavers" were asked to think back to when they left their destined city and to indicate whether they now thought "this was the right thing to do." Almost nine out of ten (87%) answered "yes" to this question (Table 5-3). Female "leavers" were significantly more likely to answer "yes," as were those who had originally come from Yugoslavia. The "leavers" were also asked whether others in their family had wanted to stay in the first city. Only 10% of the adult "leavers" indicated that other family members had wanted to stay. Thus, in general, the survey results indicate that a large majority of refugees who had moved on to a second (or third) community in Alberta (or elsewhere in Canada) were satisfied with their decision to leave their first host community.
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