Rina Tsuchiya

Canada is a multicultural country shaped by immigrants and the issue of immigration is one of the most fundamental issues affecting the country. As immigrant settlement concentrates in urban regions, Toronto being the largest urban centre in the country, has been receiving the largest portion of the immigrant inflow to the country. The cities have been experiencing the benefits of vast increases in human capital from abroad and at the same time facing the responsibilities to assist the immigrants, especially new immigrants. This research aims to analyze the spatial relationship between the supply of ESL services and the corresponding demand for ESL services among the recent Chinese immigrant population in the Toronto CMA.

In the analysis of the potential demand for the ESL services existing among the recent Chinese immigrants, this study employs multiple analysis steps. In the aim of modeling the demand, the initial analysis investigates the landed immigrant data followed by the investigation of spatially referenced custom census cross-tabulation data with spatial autocorrelation. This is followed by a more in-depth analysis using the segmentation system to identify the demand into 4 comprehensive classes created by cluster analysis on the multi-variable custom cross-tabulation census data. On the other hand, the analysis on the existing ESL service provision takes place by delimiting the service areas of existing ESL service locations defined by the qualitative measurements. Finally, combining these findings relating to supply and demand, the effectiveness of the existing ESL services in the Toronto CMA is investigated and assessed in this study.