Family Separation, Isolation, and Migration Policies

By: Denise Spitzer, PhD, Scientist, Centre for Healthy Communities

July 31, 2020

Imagine have left behind your family, your friends, your language, your job, your culture, and your home, in order to seek refuge or a better life in Canada. Foremost among your dreams for the future, you hope one day you will feel less alone—that you will be reunited with family on Canadian soil. Those hopes may take a long time to come to fruition. In reality, many immigrants, migrant workers, and refugees in Alberta experience prolonged separation from their families due to Canadian immigration policies, which have implications for health and wellbeing. The isolation they contend with may have harsh and sometimes prolonged consequences. Elvira,1 a former live-in caregiver from the Philippines, reflected on the years apart from her family: 

When they weren’t here, I woke up at night… I thought that I can’t breathe. But, I cannot do anything… I’m so depressed; I’m just sitting in the corner thinking about them.

The presence of family members and the social support they can provide is integral to health and well-being—particularly amongst immigrants.2 In fact, just believing there are people you can call on in times of need is beneficial, and having family nearby can help reduce isolation and enhance financial stability, further contributing to improved health status.

While permanent residents have the right to be accompanied by immediate family members, it is not always possible. Those who live with their employer, who cannot yet cover costs of migration for all, or who for personal reasons are not able to travel, may be separated from their families for months or years. The longer the wait, the greater the possibility that children may age out of the migration process, as only unmarried children under 22 years of age are eligible to join a parent. Furthermore, refugees may be tormented by the absence of family members whose lives may still be in danger. Meanwhile, migrants who are single must sponsor family under a different program stream, which requires a minimum income disadvantaging racialized women who occupy the lowest echelons of the labour market. Notably, these policies privilege nuclear families and disrupt multi-generational, extended households.

Family reunification, however, may produce a different kind of isolation - created by years apart, by demands for both economic support and the social support required to help incoming family members navigate their new community.  Melodie, a former live-in caregiver who worked multiple jobs to support her family said: 

They didn’t really know me and I don’t know them …I come home, I am so tired, I can’t even sit with them and say, “How was your day?” … My kids told me: “You’re too far away. You’re here, but you are too far.”3

The presence of family has the potential to reduce isolation, to improve health and wellbeing through emotional, informational, and material support, and to aid in their resettlement.  Canadian immigration policy, however, may actually create obstacles to family reunification and confer negative health effects by elevating migrants stress.  As public health researchers and practitioners, we need to support with our evidence the efforts of advocacy organizations to lobby governments to better facilitate family reunification and to improve the livelihoods of migrants so they can better flourish in Canada. 

 

1. All names are pseudonyms. From Transnational Families in Transition: Filipino Families, Canadian Issues, SSHRC Insight Grant awarded to DL Spitzer.

2. Dunn J, Dyck I. 2000). Social determinants of health in Canada's immigrant population: Results from the National Population Health Survey. Social Science & Medicine 51: 1573-1593.

3. Spitzer DL (2013). The land of milk and honey? Transnational workers and Canada’s Live-In Caregiver Program. World of Ideas. http://socialsciences.uottawa.ca/research/ideas