Survey of Electors Following the40th General Election

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XII. Ethno-Cultural Focus

Canada has one of the highest per capita rates of immigration in the world and is home to a wide variety of immigrant groups, including an increasingly large number of visible minorities. Ensuring that immigrants take part in the political process is obviously an important role of Elections Canada. Overall, as noted throughout this report, the immigrant and visible minorities population surveyed have much in common in attitude and voting behaviour with the population overall. However, there are some key differences. Chief among these are that there are differences in voting behaviour separating those whose first language is English or French (the official languages) from those whose first language is not English or French (a heritage language) and in terms of visible minority status and the length of time living in Canada.

In terms of language first spoken, those who report English or French as their mother tongue are more likely to report voting in the 2008 election than are those for whom a heritage language is the first language spoken. This appears, though, to some extent, to be an effect of length of time in Canada. Those whose mother tongue is English or French are likely to have lived in Canada for longer periods of time and the longer a person lives in Canada the more likely they are to report voting in 2008. There is certainly evidence that more recent immigrants are less likely to vote. Presumably, more recent immigrants are busy establishing themselves and may not yet be fully engaged with Canadian institutions and processes. Suggestions made for encouraging immigrants and visible minorities to vote include having Elections Canada focus more on reaching into these communities and on promoting the civic responsibility to vote within immigrant communities.

A. First Language

While, as expected, English and French are the dominant first languages reported by Canadians, 13 percent of Canadians report another first language. Among the immigrant/visible minorities sample, not surprisingly, over half (52%) report a non-Charter first language.

First language
	Immigrant/ Visible minorities 2008	All Canadians 2008
n =	500	2,500
	%	%
English	44	64
French	4	23
Slavic/Romanian/Ukrainian/Eastern European	7	2
German	5	1
Tamil/Urdu/Gujarati/East Asian/South Asian	4	1
Mandarin	4	1
Cantonese	4	1
Italian	2	1
Portuguese	2	1
Arabic	2	1
Polish	3	1
Spanish	3	1
Other European	4	1
Other Middle Eastern languages	2	1
Others	10	3
DK/NA/Ref	<1	-

However, when voting behaviour is explored among the immigrant/visible minorities' population by language spoken first, then it is clear that, at least in terms of self-reported voting, those whose first language is one of the official languages are far more likely to report voting than those with another first language (79% versus 65%). There are likely a number of factors at work here. More recent immigrants are more likely to not speak English or French, to still be establishing themselves and be less integrated and therefore less interested in voting. Some would also have come from countries with different voting traditions that may also represent a barrier. On this first point, when a control for length of time in Canada is added, then little difference exists between mother tongue and voting in 2008, for those in Canada 35 years or more. A difference in voting behaviour however persists by language for those in the country less than 35 years. However, on this latter point the sample sizes are too small for any definitive conclusions.

Language first spoken and reported voting behaviour – Immigrant/visible minorities sample
	General population	Immigrant/ Visible minorities	Language – English/ French	Language – Other
n =	2,500	500	210	281
	%	%	%	%
Yes	73	73	79	65
No	27	29	21	35

B. Length of Time in Canada

In addition to first language being a factor associated with voting behaviour, number of years spent in Canada is also a significant determinant of voting. Among those in Canada for 14 years or less, only 54 percent report voting in 2008, compared with 65 percent among those in Canada for 15 years to just under 30 years and 81 percent among those in Canada for 30 years or more. There are likely a variety of explanations for this relationship. Most obvious is that it likely takes time for immigrants to become established in Canada and to become engaged in the political process. At the same time, it is likely that years in Canada is mixed with other factors, such as age. Those in Canada for a few years are likely to be younger and younger persons are also less likely to vote. Those who have been in Canada for a large number of years are also likely to be older and, as noted earlier in this report, older Canadians are more likely to believe it is a civic duty to vote.

Voting behaviour and number of years in Canada - Immigrant/visible minorities
		Numbers of years in Canada
	Total 2008	14 years or less	15‑29 years	30 years or more
n =	443	90	111	234
	%	%	%	%
Voted	71	54	65	81
Did not vote	29	46	35	19

C. Visible Minority Status

A further factor potentially associated with voting in the 2008 election is visible minority status. In all, 64% of those who are visible minorities (that is, the ethnic or cultural background they gave identified them as being part of a visible minority group) report voting, compared with 79% among those with a non-visible minority background. Once again, however, it appears that length of time in Canada may play a factor in this relationship, but it is not the whole answer. Among those visible minorities living in Canada 15 years or more relative to non-visible minorities, 67% report voting in 2008 compared with 82% of non-visible minorities. However, among both visible and non-visible minorities in Canada for a shorter period of time, both groups are less likely to report voting relative to those with more time in Canada. One further confounding factor is age. Those in Canada for longer periods of time may also be older and older people are also more likely to vote. However, a larger sample size will be required to explore this issue in more detail.

D. Best Ways to Encourage Immigrant/Visible Minorities to Vote

To further capture the perspective of the immigrant/visible minorities' communities, the survey asked this group what should be done to encourage people from their community to vote.

Consistent with other sub-groups surveyed, a significant number of immigrants and visible minorities mention changes to the electoral as well as the political process. In terms of electoral process change, a focus on advertising that has a cultural focus or is in different languages is cited, as well as discussing minority issues, engaging with them and promoting civic duty and the importance of voting. In addition, and as other groups note, engaging students at school is also thought to be important in encouraging immigrant communities to vote.

Encouraging ethno-cultural community to vote
	Immigrant/ Visible minorities 2008
n =	241
	%
Awareness/promotions/cultural-based ads/different language media	16
Equality/discuss minority issues/engage with them/visit them/talk to them	12
Civic duty/importance of voting	10
Facilitation/encouragement/incentives	8
Translators/language barriers	7
Education public/schools/forums/community centres	6
Campaigns/cultural issues/parties stand for/explain ideas	6
Candidates must live up to promises/lack of accountability	3
Candidates and representatives from minority groups	4
Accessibility/locations (e.g., vote from home, Internet, mail, phone)	2
Nothing to be done/everything okay	6
DK/NA/Ref	33

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