Integration of government assisted refugees in British Columbia

Why are some refugees more likely to receive provincial income assistance than others? This study looks at 3,608 Government Assisted Refugees destined to British Columbia from 1998 to 2004. By combining federal immigration data with provincial data on welfare, it finds that one in four refugees received welfare. Using logistical regression, the explanatory strength of the model is low. However, the following categories are :jhown to be significant predictors of receipt of income assistance: refugees with a formal trade, dependants, and women were more likely to be welfare recipients whereas refugees with knowledge of English, refugees from Africahiiddle East and AsiaPacific, rehgees destined to Surrey, and a common law marital status were less likely. Women at risk and urgent protection cases were hypothesized to be significant but were not. With these findings, this study supports the status quo but recommends language training overseas for refugees if additional funds are available.