Immigrants at higher risk of death from COVID-19 due to work, overcrowded housing: StatCan – CBC
June 9, 2021
TORONTO — A new study from Statistics Canada reports that immigrants were more likely to die of COVID-19 than Canadian-born individuals during the first wave of the pandemic.
The report, released by StatCan on Wednesday, suggests that immigrants faced a higher mortality risk because they predominantly work in essential industries and live in overcrowded dwellings or multi-generational housing, which increases transmission risk.
While COVID-19 deaths in Canada were overwhelmingly among seniors, the study found that “the share of COVID-19-related deaths among immigrants was greater than their share of the total Canadian population.”
According to the study, immigrants accounted for 25 per cent of Canada’s COVID-19 deaths between March 2020 – when the country’s first virus-related death was reported — and July 4, 2020, despite the group only accounting for 22 per cent of the total population, as per the 2016 Census.
