WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF IMMIGRATION ON THE CHANGES OF SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING FOR NATIVE-BORN CANADIANS?

Abstract

This paper investigates how the immigration ratio affects the subjective well-being of native-born Canadians. I use microdata from the Canadian Community Health Survey during the period 2009 to 2010 and employ ordered probit and OLS models to examine this question. The results show that the geographic concentration of immigrants in Canada has a negative effect on native-born Canadians’ subjective well-being. Specifically, an increase of one standard deviation in the immigrant share in each health region is estimated to decrease life satisfaction by 1.28 standard deviation unit for natives. In addition, the effect of the immigration ratio on the life satisfaction of immigrants is significantly negative as well. Results indicate that the current immigrant selection policy in Canada does not benefit both natives and immigrants in the context of subjective well-being.