Medicine and Health Commons^™

The Healthy Immigrant Effect In Canada: A Systematic Review, Zoua Vang, Jennifer Sigouin, Astrid Flenon, Alain Gagnon

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

Canada’s immigration admissions policy calls for individuals with high human capital (Knowles, 2007). Given the strong links between human capital and health (Jasso et al., 2004) and previous research which suggested the presence of a seemingly universal foreign-born health advantage among Canada’s migrant population, we expected to see the healthy immigrant effect across the life-course and for multiple health outcomes. What we found instead was a pattern much more complex than previously envisioned. Our review uncovered a clear survival advantage for immigrants, owing in part to positive self and state selection processes (at least for non-refugee migrants). However, there is …