ABSTRACT
Immigration is a global phenomenon, with nearly 200 million immigrants and refugees worldwide since the beginning of the millennium (United Nations, 2005). Canada and the US have the second and third highest proportion of foreign-born populations in the world, respectively, after Australia. Recent population trends reveal that between 2001 and 2006, the Canadian immigrant population increased from 17.9 to 19.8%, the highest increase in 75 years. This is four times the growth rate of native Canadians (3.3%) (Statistics Canada, 2006). A similar pattern is found in the US. In the last decade, the foreign born population increased from 7.9 to 11.1% of the total US population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Consequently, the ethnocultural profiles of these countries have become increasingly multiethnic and multicultural.
