Hamilton Spectator: 10 myths about immigration

Danielle Wong

A quarter of Hamilton’s current residents are born outside the country and Statistics Canada anticipates that figure will jump 3 per cent by 2031. Here are 10 typical assumptions about newcomers and stories of immigrants who have defied them.

1. Immigrants steal jobs from residents born in Canada

2. Newcomers are a drain on society, are lazy and tend to live off social assistance

3. Newcomers to Canada are unskilled or uneducated

4. There are too many

5. Immigrants do not know how to speak English or do not want to learn to speak it

6. Immigrants increase the crime rates in the neighbourhoods in which they live

7. Immigrants do not want to integrate into “Canadian society”

8. Newcomers are all the same; they all come with similar experiences

9. Newcomers seclude themselves in geographical clusters or ghettos in cities

10. Newcomers receive special treatment (i.e. the social assistance they receive is higher than some Canadians’ wages, they don’t have to pay taxes)

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Reference: Hamilton Spectator

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