Economic outcomes of government-assisted refugees in designated destinations: The effect of city size

This study asks whether there were significant differences in the economic outcomes of government‑assisted refugees (GARs), based on the size of the city to which they were designated. The analysis was conducted for both those remaining in the designated cities (stayers) and those moving to other locations (movers). As supported by previous literature, the study found that the likelihood of moving was much higher among GARs who were assigned to smaller communities, compared with those assigned to large cities. Nonetheless, among GAR stayers, those assigned to Toronto had the lowest employment incidence and annual earnings, while stayers in medium-sized and small cities reported better economic outcomes. Similar patterns were observed among GAR movers, where those who chose to move to gateway cities (Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver) had the lowest employment incidence and annual earnings, while those who moved to a smaller city tended to report stronger labour market outcomes. The regression analysis found that the majority (89%) of these differences across city size could be explained by the city’s employment rate, as well as the source region of GARs. These explanatory variables also accounted for about half of the differences in annual earnings by city size.