Wicked problem project on "How might we help immigrants reduce stress and feel welcome in their first year in Canada?" using qualitative and quantitative, divergence and convergence.

1. Improving Mental Health
of immigrants in Canada
By Elena Glebkovskaya
Solving a Wicked Problem

2. Introduction
Immigrants are coming to Canada, searching for better life and hoping to fulfill their dreams. At the same time according to
the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC)** about 29% of immigrants reported having emotional problems and
16% reported high levels of stress. Relocating to a new country and finding a place in a new culture can be very stressful and
undermine mental health of immigrants. According to the Noh and Avison research and Beiser and Edwards research recent
immigrants may face multiple adjustment challenges like integration pressures, role and identity change.**
*https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/170125/dq170125b-eng.htm
**https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/reports-statistics/research/mental-health-well-being-recent-immigrants-canada-evidence-longitudi
nal-survey-immigrants-canada-lsic.html
According to the 2016 Census 21.9% of the Canada population are immigrants
(7,540,830 people). According to Statistics Canada's population projections*, the
proportion of Canada's foreign-born population could reach between 24.5% and 30.0% by
2036.

3. A Wicked Problem
According to the World Health Organization (WHO)
mental health is a “state of well-being in which the
individual realizes his or her own potential, can
cope with the normal stresses of life, can work
productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a
contribution to her or his own community”.*
Immigrants’ stress may lead to depression, regrets
about coming to Canada and even a decision to
leave.
*https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response
**https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/reports-statistics/research/mental-health-well-being-recent-immigrants-canada-evidence-longit
udinal-survey-immigrants-canada-lsic.html
Mental health of immigrants is influenced by lots of variables**:
● socio-demographic (age, sex, immigrant category, region
of origin and visible minority status)
● socio-economic (family income level, employment status,
education level at landing, number of individuals in
immigrating unit, marital status and official language
ability)
● social networking effects (family in the city/no family in
the city, friends in the city/no friends in the city
● health utilization variables (problems accessing health
care services and region of residence)

4. My Design Values
Learning is a start
Every time I start a new project or see
a new problem I feel excited about the
fact that there is so much that I don’t
know yet and try to research as much
as possible.
To approach the Wicked Problem I formulated my Design Values that would guide me through the process:
The World is Multicultural
I am fascinated with exploring various
cultures! It is a true joy for me to find
out common behaviours in different
cultures and the foundational values
behind them.
From Empathy to Compassion
Empathy is a way to look at the world
from lots of different perspectives and
I try to imagine myself in the context of
other people, with their values and
perception.
Engagement without
manipulation
For me, it is important to find new ways
to bring joy and fun into the experience
without harming the quality of people’s
lives.
Solving the core problem
What is in the core of people’s
behaviour, what brings pain, how
they are solving it know — these are
the most intriguing and fascinating
questions for me.
From logic to creativity
Starting with logic of interaction,
having a rationale behind every
design decision and flexibility to
change it if needed.

5. Specifying the scope
There are 3 types of immigrants to Canada that supposedly have different difficulties in
becoming a part of Canadian society:
❏ Skilled workers class - people with high education and work experience
❏ Family class - spouses, children, parents and grandparents of immigrants
❏ Refugee class - people who have been forced to leave their country by severe push factors
There are also people coming to study in Canada on student visas and deciding to stay later.
By talking to representatives of these classes, I discovered that they may
have quite different challenges during the first year. For example, people in
Family class are struggling to find new friends and learn a new languages;
Refugee class are struggling with finding a good first place to rent and
master language to get the first job; students have challenges with a new
structure of educational system and learning process.

6. How might we help adult (25-45 years)
skilled workers immigrants reduce stress
and feel welcome in their first year in
Canada?

7. Quantitative research
27%
of skilled workers immigrants
reported experiencing
emotional problems
19%
of skilled workers recent immigrants
experience high levels of stress
57,834
skilled workers were admitted to
Canada in 2017
36% women and 64% men
skilled workers were admitted to Canada in 2017
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/annual-report-parliament-immigration-2018/r
eport.html

8. Major reasons for stress
○ Finding jobs
■ Jobless rate is 12.5% in 2016 - twice as high as among non-immigrants
■ 22% immigrants reported stress because of work situation
■ 17% immigrants reported stress because of work status
○ Earning money
■ Average male immigrant income is only 41% of the Canadian-born average
■ Average women immigrant with a university degree earns 50% of the Canadian-born average
■ 17% immigrants reported stress because of the financial situation
Quantitative research -
○ Finding job according to education and professionalism
■ 42% of all immigrants to Canada aged 25 to 54 had higher levels of education than their jobs
require

9. Qualitative Research - Experts view
“They have to be highly qualified to come as skilled workers, so when they arrive, they expect to find jobs right
away. But the jobs are not available.”
"When they show up to job interviews, they're told they
don't have Canadian experience and can't be hired."
“Maybe it’s in their culture to remain silent and not make eye contact out of respect.Either communication
skills were falling short, or they downplayed their accomplishments when asked to talk about professional
experience (using too much “we” instead of “I”). Not Canadian work culture - but lack of Canadian soft skills.”
“They are demoralized. Their socioeconomic
status really comes down, and that creates a lot of
distress.”
I’ve analysed different articles to find out what experts are saying about the Skilled immigrants challenges
and reasons for them. Here are some of the highlights:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/immigration-employment-canada-1.3831468
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canada-immigrant-job-experience-1.4818095
https://www.straight.com/article-271917/vancouver/many-depressions-part-life-canada

10. Qualitative Research - Immigrants voices
“I was told I would never find a Logistics
Manager job and my only option is working in
Yummy Market”
“I’ve applied for invest bankers jobs for a year, but without
any Canadian certificate recruiters never called back. All my
savings ended and my family had to apply for social support,
that made me feel a failure”
“This is the first time in my whole life that I feel so useless. I
don’t know if it is me and a flaw in my character, or that I
made a stupid decision to come to Canada.”
“ It is like feeling that your education
does not count. It is a feeling of
rejection.”
“My only option was to go back to college,
but I have over 18 years of experience,
why should I go back and start from zero?”
I’ve also found out what immigrants are saying about their challenges through interviews and public articles:
“Back in my country I was successful and
here in Canada I feel like a failure over
and over again.”

11. Qualitative Research - Reasons for stress
● Expecting to find the same job right away without
thoroughly researching the requirements
● Lack of knowledge about needed soft skills and job
search process
● Feeling ashamed to go back to school and perceiving it
as rejection of their experience and education
● Thinking they have only 2 extreme options - the same
role or survival job, not seeing a position 1-2 level
below as a chance to enter the industry and profession
● Difficulty in finding information about the whole path to
get the desired position and loosing a lot of time collecting
this information (certifications, associations, bridging
programs, professional exams etc.)
● Lack of a support system that will encourage and believe in
you and success stories
● Self-esteem negatively impacted - used to be successful
and feeling a failure
● Money pressures increasing the tension in the family, as
they running out of savings

12. Divergence
Hotels
How they make us feeling welcome:
● Reception is friendly and telling what is where, personal
welcome letter in the room, complimentary fruits
● Signs everywhere to know where to find SPA, pools,
restaurant
● Special signs of belonging - hotel cards, bracelets
● Stuff for comfort is given to you - cosmetics, bathrobes
Computer games
How they turn our stress into excitement:
● Clear goals to achieve and steps/levels to do it
● Clear needed skills that you could practice and get
better in
● Clear rules that would bring to winning
● Instant feedback on players actions
● Challenging but achievable obstacles
To find new ideas for possible solutions I looked at totally different fields and what they are successfully doing to
help people feel welcome and deal with stress.

13. Divergence
Hiking / Camping
How we coupe with stress:
● Good preparation (equipment, clothes, food, water)
● Knowing your route (maps, GPS etc.)
● Having contingency plans in case of emergencies
● Having a support system (people you are together with
and who can help)
Universities
How they reduce students’ stress:
● Student counselling to help organize a schedule, plan
small steps, orient around
● Student groups for interest to find new friends and joy
outside of main studies
● Recreational areas - parks, cafes, libraries

14. A tool to plan the possible career paths in Canada
How it will work?
When still in the home country, immigrant would go to the site, choose the job they want to do in Canada
and answer the questionnaire to gather all the details possible: their education and it’s Canadian
evaluation, certifications, experience. The tool will show the possible path to get this job in Canada as
steps, including needed certifications, additional education, professional associations, licensing
requirements (if any) - related to the chosen province. In addition it will provide the other related
professions that may be easier to get into or start with as a possible alternative to consider.
How will it help?
Immigrants will be able to prepare long before coming to Canada, have realistic expectations and do the
possible preparations if possible (like getting international certificates). That may save a lot of time and
stress when in Canada, as they will have a clear plan and understanding where to look for additional
information.
What is needed?
● To gather the most up-to-date information about professions requirements in Canada by working
with professional Associations, licensing bodies and hiring companies.
● To create professional paths maps for the most popular professions among skilled immigrants
● To create an interactive site tool and keep it updated
Convergence - Solution 1

15. Convergence - Solution 2
Support groups for immigrants with Success stories
How will it work?
Support groups facilitated by Registered Psychotherapists to
help immigrants process their stress and discuss their challenges
in a safe environment. Groups would be open for experienced
immigrants as well to come and share their success stories.
How will it help?
Immigrants will feel more welcome and cared about, they will
hear the stories of success to get confidence and they would
be able to discuss their fears and challenges with people who
would understand and relate to their struggles.
What is needed?
● Government funding / low-cost option for participants in the groups
● Additional course preparing psychotherapists for the immigrants’ challenges
● Organising these groups at least in the most popular immigrant cities

16. Summary
After researching the challenges of skilled immigrants I’ve realized that lots of the challenges they are facing
come from unrealistic expectations and being unprepared for the new cultural soft skills, profession
requirements and lack of support. They start doubting themselves and feeling unwelcome that leads them to
take low qualified jobs or leave Canada.
I hope that if skilled immigrants have enough
informational resources to prepare for
professional paths in the new country and
support from people who are going through the
same challenges and have successfully overcome
them - it would significantly improve their
mental health and reduce stress levels in the first
year in Canada. And that will give them
resources and confidence to find their place in
Canadian society and fulfill their dreams.

17. Thank you!