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St. James Town study a multilingual portrait
By JOE FRIESEN
Thursday, August 18, 2005 Page A14
The diverse immigrant population of St. James Town, the first port of call
for thousands of new Canadians, will speak out on issues affecting the
health of its community as part of a 20-language study launched yesterday.
The study will examine the social determinants of health, factors other
than medical care that have an impact on the physical well-being of a
community.
The research is being directed by Low Income Families Together, a local
advocacy group, and Professor Anthony Hutchinson of the Ryerson school of
social work.
It will also attempt to foster awareness of human rights and democratic
citizenship among participants, many of whom came to Canada from countries
where those concepts were not encouraged.
"We have more to learn from the lived realities of people from the
grassroots and what's important to them, and that's what this project is
about," Prof. Hutchinson said.
"It's basically a model that's facilitating community involvement and input
into processes that will change the actual legislation and service
delivery."
The initial phase of the study, which involved training 25 community
members to act as focus-group facilitators, is now complete. Those
facilitatorswill lead groups speaking some of the major languages
represented in St. James Town and provide the initial findings of the study
in a few months.
Those findings will then be used to produce a survey that will be
distributed in as many languages as possible throughout the neighbourhood
to gather broader data on the community's priorities.
Once those have been identified, that information will be used to lobby
different levels of government for improved social policies.
"We want people to be aware that it's not about getting sick and just
running off to a doctor," Prof. Hutchinson said.
"It's about what are the broader things that keep us healthy.
"We want to create that awareness for the people of this community.
"We can't address all the social determinants of health, but I've heard
some of the residents saying job opportunities are very important to us,
[as are] education and health care. So they will be prioritizing what some
of the most important social determinants of health are."
Defence Minister Bill Graham and Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman,
who represent the area at the federal and provincial level, both attended
yesterday's launch.
Mr. Graham said one of the challenges in designing policy for St. James
Town's population is that it is in constant flux , adding that every five
years there is a 67-per-cent turnover in the area.
Mr. Smitherman said he anticipates the study will raise concerns about
access to employment, education and affordable housing.
Neighbourhood close-up: St James Town
The St. James Town neighbourhood is dominated by high-rise buildings that
house many recent immigrants. The 2001 census found that more than half of
all residents had come to Canada in the previous decade.
Year of immigration
TORONTO OVERALL
1996-2001, 24%
1991-1995, 19%
1981-1990, 20%
1971-1980, 15%
1961-1970, 11%
Pre 1961, 11%
Year of immigration
ST.JAMES TOWN
1996-2001, 40%
1991-1995, 27%
1981-1990, 20%
1971-1980, 8%
1961-1970, 3%
Pre 1961, 2%
Households by tenure
TORONTO OVERALL
Rented, 49%
Owned, 51%
Households by tenure
ST.JAMES TOWN
Rented, 98%
Owned, 2%
Visible minority population
TORONTO OVERALL: 41.2%
Chinese, 10.6%
South Asian, 10,3%
Black, 8.3%
Filipino, 3.5%
Arab, 2.4%
Latin American, 2.2%
Southeast Asian, 1.4%
Korean, 1.2%
Japanese, 0.8%
Multiple, 0.5%
Visible minority population
ST.JAMES TOWN: 71.5%
Chinese, 6.3%
South Asian, 21.9%
Black, 11.2%
Filipino, 20%
Arab, 2.6%
Latin American, 1.3%
Southwest Asian, 1.9%
Korean, 4.7%
Japanese, 1.3%
Multiple, 0.3%
Family income
TORONTO OVERALL:
Less than $40,000, 40.5%
More than $100,000, 20.1%.
ST.JAMES TOWN
Less than $40,000, 70.1%
More than $100,000, 2.0%
SOURCE: TORONTO PUBIC HEALTH, STATISTICS CANADA
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