MA Research Paper

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

Sociology

Supervisor

Dr. Anna Zajacova

Abstract

In Canada, immigrants compose roughly one quarter of the population. The health of immigrants and their descendants is key to understanding the future health profile of all Canadians. Current literature on the health of immigrants often uses self-rated health and has produced mixed results regarding the healthy immigrant effect (HIE). Using data from the 2022 NEST survey, my study tests the HIE using chronic pain as a measure of population health to investigate the differences in pain experience among immigrants compared to the Canadian-born population. My results support the HIE: immigrants are 28% less likely to experience pain than Canadian-born individuals. When accounting for immigrants’ recency of arrival, recent immigrants are slightly less likely to experience pain than established immigrants compared with Canadian-born individuals, aligning with the health deterioration effect. These findings support the HIE using pain as a different measure of health in a Canadian context.

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