Metropolitan Characteristics and Entrepreneurship among Immigrants and Ethnic Groups in Canada

Abstract

This study assesses the influence of metropolitan characteristics on self-employment among immigrant groups and ethnic minorities in Canada. It compares self-employment among 65 immigrant and ethnic groups in Canada's 25 metropolitan areas and is based on a special tabulation from the 1991 Census of Canada. Results show that locational variations in self-employment among groups that are clearly distinguished from Canada's mainstream population, and among the more entrepreneurial groups, differ markedly from locational variations among the rest of the population. These groups gravitate to self-employment, particularly in peripheral metropolitan areas where entrepreneurial opportunities are few. Neither does a large local community of co-ethnics positively influence the propensity to become self-employed. However, immigrants and minorities in peripheral metropolitan areas cluster in relatively narrow entrepreneurial niches. While benefiting from less competition by co-ethnics, the immigrants are probably constrained there to self-employment due to the lack of alternative opportunities.