It is well documented that immigrant and racialized groups often experience greater access barriers to health and social services in Canada, due to multiple factors including language, transportation, information, service fees, and discrimination. Given the growing numbers of immigrants who make Calgary their home, there is a need to explore the association between characteristics such as immigration status, mother tongue, and ethnocultural identities, and potential disparities in health care access, physical health status, and mental health status for Calgary’s diverse immigrant populations.

This report provides a profile of immigrant health in Calgary, using pooled data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) gathered in the Calgary Zone Community Health Region between January 2013 and December 2016. The CCHS is an annual cross-sectional survey, which collects information on health status, the use of health care services, and some key social determinants of health for the Canadian population. It includes questions about income, employment status, level of education, sense of belonging to the local community, and access to health care. The sample used for this report consists of 5,529 survey respondents who were residents of the Calgary Zone during the collection period.