Variations in Sense of Place Across Immigrant Status and Gender in Hamilton, Ontario; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Abstract

Past research in Hamilton, Ontario has found that age and longevity of residence are positively associated with evaluations of sense of place (SoP); further, evaluations of SoP between immigrants and Canadian-born individuals have shown no clear pattern (Williams et al. 2010; Williams and Kitchen 2012). This paper builds on this work by further examining evaluations of SoP among both immigrants and Canadian-born residents and across gender in Hamilton, while expanding the study to two other small-to-medium sized cities: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. This paper has two objectives: (1) to establish measures of SoP across immigrant status and gender in Hamilton, Saskatoon, and Charlottetown; and, (2) to determine how SoP varies according to immigrant status, length of residence in Canada, age, income, and neighbourhood length of residence across the three city sites. Telephone survey data (n = 1,132) was used to compare evaluations of SoP across various groups and to construct an ordered logistic regression model for SoP. Results suggest that immigrants tended to rate their SoP lower than their Canadian-born counterparts. Hamilton residents were found to rate their SoP lowest, followed by Saskatoon residents and, finally, Charlottetown residents. Younger individuals, those with lower income levels, and those with shorter neighbourhood residency in the cities concerned were more likely to have lower evaluations of SoP. This research suggests that greater attention is needed to nurture immigrants’ connection with their new home.