In/visible Pandemic Disruptions to Immigrant Integration: Social Connections, Impacts, and Service Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Studies and media accounts of the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed not only its gravity but also its unequal impacts along racial, class, and gender lines, and other situated identities. Among those most impacted by the pandemic are racialized immigrant communities. In this paper, we consider immigrants’ experiences––specifically how immigrant integration intersects with pandemic impacts. This study uses survey and interview data collected as part of a 2021 intersectoral collaboration of immigrant-serving crisis response organizations in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Our findings illustrate that underlying the disruption in the means and markers of integration is a parallel disruption of social connections. That is, the pandemic impacted employment, education, and health outcomes insofar as social bonds, bridges, and links were also impacted. Moreover, social links—connections to public services—were especially crucial for immigrants during the pandemic.