Sense of Community Belonging Among Immigrants: Perspective of Immigrant Service Providers

Objectives: This study examined the barriers and facilitators to community belonging for immigrants in Alberta, Canada.

Study Design: The study used a qualitative descriptive research design.

Methods: A total of 53 immigrant service providers in the province of Alberta participated in interviews and focus groups. The sample was purposively recruited through immigrant service organizations in the province. Interviews lasted approximately 45 min, whereas focus groups lasted approximately 1.5 h. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed with the aid of NVivo qualitative software.

Results: Participants discuss two forms of community belonging in this study: (a) belonging to an ethnocultural group; and (b) belonging within mainstream Canadian society. Barriers to mainstream community belonging for immigrants include employment barriers, language barriers, and discrimination. Recent immigrants often experience a sense of belonging to their ethnic group within the host country before feeling connected to others in their local geographic community. A major factor contributing to this trend is the lack of ethnocultural diversity in local community organizations in the areas where immigrants live. Immigrant service agencies and religious institutions compensate for this deficiency through creating avenues for social connection within and across ethnocultural groups and to mainstream Canadian society.

Conclusions: Local community organizations should address issues of ethnocultural diversity and discrimination to improve the mental health of immigrants by fostering community belonging. Supporting programs in immigrant service agencies and religious institutions to increase social participation and engagement would, also, help strengthen community belonging and improve immigrant mental health.