Most of Canada’s population growth is driven by immigration. In 2020, over 80% of Canada’s population growth came from immigration, with more than half of this number being economic immigrants admitted primarily to meet labour-market shortages. Among these, the incoming numbers from India have been the highest. This number is likely to grow in the coming years as the government calibrates immigration policies to meet its economic (labour-market), political (nation-building), and social (demographic) objectives. Moreover, from an individual perspective, it is clear that many are choosing Canada as their choice of immigration destination over other countries.

Given this context, the study looks at individual immigration journeys of women and acts of resilience within them through a human-centered systems focus. Immigration is a journey of change and uncertainty. Immigrant women from India adapt to vast amounts of changes, losses, and unpredictabilities throughout their journeys across both internal and external realms. The research examines how women immigrants from India adapt to these ambivalences and remain resilient.

The report traces an individual journey through stages including planning, moving, arriving, settling, integrating, and thriving and examines the cycles of change and resilience while unpacking the invisible systemic factors that influence each stage. Additionally, the research contests the policy gaze, which adopts a simplistic and prototypical view of the immigration journey by uncovering five immigration patterns or pathways that frame individual journeys. These include linear, serial, circular, onward, and return migration. Individuals who move in these patterns possess unique mental models and behaviours and relate differently to their immigration experience.

This understanding of fragmented and nonlinear journeys presents novel individual and systemic intervention opportunities. The study concludes with sixteen thought-starters for innovation. The purpose is to engage multi-stakeholder dialogue and co-creation to design an ecosystem of support that promotes immigrant communities’ capacities for resilience.