Immigrant Survey Report 2023 (2023)
In June 2023, STELIP facilitated a survey to understand the experiences, challenges, and recommendations of immigrants in the St. Thomas-Elgin area. This was the first year STELIP conducted the survey, and to our knowledge, the first time a dedicated survey about immigrant experiences in St. Thomas-Elgin has been undertaken. The survey was open to any immigrant (age 16+) who lived, worked, or studied in St. Thomas or Elgin County at the time of the survey. For the purposes of the survey, “immigrant” was defined broadly as anyone who was born outside of Canada. The St. Thomas-Elgin area, as it is referred to in this report, encompasses all seven municipalities of Elgin County (Bayham, Aylmer, Malahide, Central Elgin, Southwold, Dutton-Dunwich, West Elgin) as well as the City of St. Thomas. Data from the 2021 Canadian census is included throughout this report for comparison purposes. All census data is for the Elgin County Census Division, which likewise includes St. Thomas and all of Elgin County. A total of 99 immigrants participated in the survey. Of this total, 68 completed the full-length survey, and an additional 31 completed a shorter version in English, Spanish, or Ukrainian. Most questions were optional, so not all participants answered every question. The number of respondents for each individual question is listed in the footnotes. While the survey sample size is not large enough to be a statistically significant representation of all immigrants in St. Thomas-Elgin, the results still provide important insight into the perspectives and experiences of those immigrants who participated in the survey. The survey findings can be used to start to build an understanding of immigrant experiences in St. Thomas and Elgin County.