Aging & Social Change: Ninth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

Immigration program design/policy not only can bring foreign nationals to Canada but also may affect their settlement process and well-being after they immigrate to Canada. The policy change of Parents/Grandparents Sponsorship (PGP) immigration program has extended adult immigrant sponsors’ undertaking for their parents/grandparents such as food, clothing, shelter, fuel, household supplies and other personal needs from 10 years to 20 years, which means the sponsored parents/grandparents are not entitled for the social support or other welfare such as Old Age Security (OAS) pension, Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) benefit, and other welfare such as subsidized housing that other older immigrants may enjoy. Some problems from this forced dependency of parents/grandparents on their children/grandchildren such as neglect, domestic abuse, and violence may be serious and need urgent attention. However, no research and even no literature connects the immigration policy with older immigrants’ health and wellbeing. My paper examines the reasons and ideologies underpins the PGP policy design and its changes, discussed the possible issues/problems resulting from the policy changes through lens of social determinants on health, and analyzed the impact of immigration policy and its changes on the settlement and wellbeing of older immigrants especially those visible minority older immigrants.