There is an absence of a uniform foreign-born health advantage across different life-course stages and health outcomes in Canada. Nonetheless, it remains the case that the HIE characterizes the majority of contemporary migrants since Canada's foreign-born population consists mostly of core working age adults.

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Rates of prematurity (PTB) and small-for-gestational age (SGA) were compared between US-born and foreign-born non-Hispanic black women. Comparisons were also made between Sub-Saharan African-born and Caribbean-born black women and by maternal country of birth within the two regions. Comparisons were adjusted for sociodemographic, health behavioral and medical risk factors available on the birth record. Birth record data (2008) from all states (n = 27) where mother’s country of birth was recorded were used. These data comprised 58 % of all singleton births to non-Hispanic black women in that year. Pearson Chi square and logistic regression were used to investigate variation in the rates of PTB and SGA by maternal nativity. Foreign-born non-Hispanic black women had significantly lower rates of PTB (OR 0.727; CI 0. 726, 0.727) and SGA (OR 0.742; CI 0.739–0.745) compared to US-born non-Hispanic black women in a fully adjusted model. Sub-Saharan African-born black women compared to Caribbean-born black women had significantly lower rates of PTB and SGA. Within each region, the rates of PTB and SGA varied by mother’s country of birth. These differences could not be explained by adjustment for known risk factors obtained from vital records. Considerable heterogeneity in rates of PTB and SGA among non-Hispanic black women in the US by maternal nativity was documented and remained unexplained after adjustment for known risk factors.

Purpose Canada’s visible minority population is increasing rapidly, yet despite the demographic significance of this population, there is a surprising dearth of nationally representative health data on visible minorities. This is a major challenge to undertaking research on the health of this group, particularly in the context of investigating racial/ethnic disparities and health disadvantages that are rooted in racialization. The purpose of this paper is to summarize: mortality and morbidity patterns for visible minorities; determinants of visible minority health; health status and determinants of the health of visible minority older adults (VMOA); and promising data sources that may be used to examine visible minority health in future research. Design/methodology/approach A scoping review of 99 studies or publications published between 1978 and 2014 (abstracts of 72 and full articles of 27) was conducted to summarize data and research findings on visible minority health to answer four specific questions: what is known about the morbidity and mortality patterns of visible minorities relative to white Canadians? What is known about the determinants of visible minority health? What is known about the health status of VMOA, a growing segment of Canada’s aging population, and how does this compare with white older adults? And finally, what data sources have been used to study visible minority health? Findings There is indeed a major gap in health data and research on visible minorities in Canada. Further, many studies failed to distinguish between immigrants and Canadian-born visible minorities, thus conflating effects of racial status with those of immigrant status on health. The VMOA population is even more invisible in health data and research. The most promising data set appears to be the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). Originality/value This paper makes an important contribution by providing a comprehensive overview of the nature, extent, and range of data and research available on the health of visible minorities in Canada. The authors make two key recommendations: first, over-sampling visible minorities in standard health surveys such as the CCHS, or conducting targeted health surveys of visible minorities. Surveys should collect information on key socio-demographic characteristics such as nativity, ethnic origin, socioeconomic status, and age-at-arrival for immigrants. Second, researchers should consider an intersectionality approach that takes into account the multiple factors that may affect a visible minority person’s health, including the role of discrimination based on racial status, immigrant characteristics for foreign-born visible minorities, age and the role of ageism for older adults, socioeconomic status, gender (for visible minority women), and geographic place or residence in their analyses.

Using a large national representative survey, this study examines the effect of perceived religious discrimination, religiosity, and their interaction on life satisfaction. The results show that the negative effect of religious discrimination on life satisfaction is large and equivalent to the effects of some major life events such as widowhood and unemployment. Higher religiosity is associated with higher levels of life satisfaction and tends to mitigate the negative effect of experiencing religious discrimination. Furthermore, although the prevalence of perceived religious discrimination varies across major religious faiths, its negative effect on life satisfaction is generally consistent. The implications of the findings for future research and theoretical development on religious discrimination and its associations with subjective well-being are discussed.

We examined perceptions of everyday discrimination among immigrants in Canada and in comparison to native-born Canadians using data from the 2013 Canadian Community Health Survey. We find that recent immigrants report less discrimination than native-born Canadians, ceteris paribus. Recent immigrants also report less discrimination than their fellow immigrants who had been residing in Canada for much longer durations. There were trivial differences in perceptions of everyday discrimination between native-born Canadians and midway and established immigrants, all else being equal. Additional analysis suggests that differences in age at arrival and associated early socialization experiences might explain variations in immigrants’ perceived discrimination.

We examined the association between neighborhood minority diversity and infant birthweight among non-Hispanic US-born black women and foreign-born black women from Sub-Saharan Africa and the non-Spanish speaking Caribbean using 2002–2006 vital statistics birth record data from the state of New Jersey (n=73,907). We used a standardized entropy score to measure the degree of minority diversity (i.e., non-white multiethnic racial heterogeneity) for each census tract where women lived. We distinguished between four levels of minority diversity, with the highest level representing majority-minority neighborhoods. We estimated mean birthweight for singleton births over this 5-year period using linear regression with robust standard errors to correct for clustering of mothers within census tracts. We found significant differences in mean birthweight by mother’s country of origin such that infants of US-born black mothers weighed significantly less than the infants of African and Caribbean immigrants (3130 g vs. 3299 g and 3212 g; p<0.001). Adjustments for neighborhood deprivation, residential instability, individual-level sociodemographics, maternal health behaviors and conditions, and gestational age did not reduce these origin differences. Minority diversity had a protective effect on black infant health. Women living in low and moderately diverse tracts as well as those in majority-minority neighborhoods had heavier babies (β=26.5, 29.8 and 61.2, respectively, p<0.001) on average than women in the least diverse tracts. The results for majority-minority neighborhoods were robust when we controlled for neighborhood- and individual-level covariates.

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