To conclude, future research about the mobility of Aboriginal people clearly needs to focus on the turbulence in urban communities caused by high rates of residential instability, as well as the turnover between reserves and urban areas. A constant turnover of population between two areas is with little doubt socially disruptive, depending on the length of time people spend away. In the case of the urban Aboriginal population, this pattern can affect service delivery, and have negative implications for the development of strong urban Aboriginal community institutions. For reserve communities, high population turnover may also affect community institutions and social cohesion. Looking ahead, for reserves, the shortage of functional housing and job opportunities in First Nation communities could potentially increase pressures to migrate from reserves, especially against a background of projected rapid growth in the working-age population. On the other hand, these same projections point to an aging Aboriginal population. This process may increase residential stability because people have less inclination to relocate at older ages. As for the present, it is the frequency of population movement between reserves and cities, and within cities, not an exodus from the former, that has the greatest implications for the well-being of Aboriginal people and communities.
Results from the recent 2001 Census release would also suggest a continuation of similar mobility and migration patterns with the following highlights being reported by Statistics Canada: “More people move to Indian reserves than leave”; and in reference to the again observed high mobility: “This high turnover of population…creates challenges on the health care, housing and social services, and the local school systems.” A preliminary analysis of 2001 Census data for Registered Indians suggests a continuation of their previous migration patterns, with small net inflows to reserves (of some 10,000 migrants) while major urban areas continue to post relatively small net losses over the 1996-2001 period, but small net inflows over the one-year period (2000-01). Patterns of five-year net migration among the Métis are somewhat similar to those observed in the 1996 Census. Rural areas gained migrants in the exchange with urban areas, large cities posted a net inflow (relatively small) instead of a net outflow as in 1996, and smaller cities continued to experience net out-flows. The migration patterns of Non-Status Indians during the 1996-2001 period differed the most from previous patterns. The overall level of net migration for rural areas was practically nil during the period, Aboriginal Mobility and Migration Within Urban Canada: Outcomes, Factors and Implications
in comparison to large net inflows to rural areas of the previous five-year period. In fact, the net effect of 1996-2001 migration for Non-Status Indians was practically nil with respect to the redistribution of population, as was also the case for Inuit, although for the latter this was also the situation in 1996.
With respect to migration to and from cities, analysis of five-year data thus far clearly indicates higher rates of in, out, and gross migration for Aboriginal populations, at least twice those of non-Aboriginals. As well, for most of the cities studied, rates of Registered Indian migration continued to be larger than those of other Aboriginal groups, although not to the same extent as in the previous five-year period.
In the case of ethnic mobility, 2001 Census results would support the continuation of this phenomenon particularly in the case of the Métis, which according to the Census had the largest population gain of the three Aboriginal groups (North American Indian, Métis, and Inuit) with a 43 percent increase from five years earlier, and a largely urbanized population, with more than two thirds living in urban areas. As noted in the release itself and as supported by 2001 migration data, not all the growth can be attributed to demographic factors.9Clearly, migration is not a major component of growth.10
These findings from the 2001 Census again indicate that migration is still currently not a major factor to the positive growth of the Aboriginal population in any of the areas under study, particularly with respect to reserves and major urban centres. Furthermore, they continue to reinforce the case that for now the most important considerations of Aboriginal mobility are not redistribution of the population, but the high rate of movement or churn both to and from, and within cities, which has the greatest implications for the well-being of Aboriginal people and communities.
Notes
1 The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). The authors would like to acknowledge with thanks technical support provided by Lucette Dell’Oso of the Research and Analysis Directorate, INAC and Gerry Ouellette of Statistics Canada. 2 Defining Aboriginal populations is a multi-dimensional phenomenon involving
overlapping concepts of ethnic affiliation and legal status. Accordingly, the separate counts shown here include multiples. For example, some Métis have legal Indian status. 3 In 1985, amendments to the Indian Actrestored Registered Indian status to those who
Aboriginal Mobility and Migration Within Urban Canada: Outcomes, Factors and Implications
4 External migrants, those persons who were living outside Canada five or one year earlier) are not considered to be a significant factor in Aboriginal migration. Furthermore, the census cannot measure external out-migration because Canadians whose usual place of residence is outside Canada do not participate in the census. 5 We estimate that it is more likely closer to 60 percent based on adjusted 1991 APS data
and the Indian Register.
6 There was minor activity involving reserves and settlements which resulted in a small net in-migration.
7 Caution should be used when interpreting the patterns given the small numbers involved.
8 Caution should be used when interpreting rates given the small numbers involved. 9 Increased awareness of Métis issues coming from court cases related to Métis rights, and
constitutional discussions, as well as better enumeration of Métis communities have contributed to the increase in the population identifying as Métis (Census release, January 2003).
10 It is also worth noting that from an international perspective both the patterns of Aboriginal migration and the phenomenon of ethnic mobility are not unique to Canada’s censuses, having also been observed in the censuses of other countries such as Australia.
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Introduction
There is a long tradition of research, in North American sociology, on residential settlement patterns. Much of the impetus for this research comes from the Chicago School that focused on the ecological patterns of urban settlement of immigrants in America’s large cities in the early 20th century. That research broadened, especially after World War II, when the United States experienced high rates of internal migration. Canadian sociologists conducted similar research, but to a lesser extent. In both the United States and Canada, however, almost none of that research has focused on the indigenous population. The settlement dynamic of First Nations peoples in urban areas is of particular interest in the Canadian context as we have seen both a revitalization of reserves (First Nations communities) and an apparent increase in movement to urban centres. Recent research suggests that, while the First Nations populations on reserves have been growing at rates faster than the general Canadian population, the number of people declaring themselves as Aboriginal has been increasing in the urban areas at even faster rates. In 1951 only seven percent of the Aboriginal population lived in an urban area (more than 1,000 persons) while the 1991 Census shows that 42 percent of those defined as single origin North American Indians are in such communities (Statistics Canada, 1994: Table 1; Drost et al., 1995: 13). Despite this geographic shift, little analysis has been done on the living patterns of Aboriginal people in urban centres.