Session: Cracking the Newcomer Code

Canada's demographic landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation, with the population exceeding 40 million, largely fueled by a substantial influx of immigrants. This pivotal shift has catapulted the understanding of this crucial demographic to unprecedented importance. Findings from other Leger research as well as reports out of other news outlets show that Canada is not adequately prepared to support the arrival of immigrants and ensure their integration in Canada. Leveraging Leger's extensive LEO panel of 400,000 Canadians, we conducted a comprehensive quantitative study focusing on recent immigrants. The research aims to better understand their motivations for immigration, their experiences of integration and isolation, ease in maintaining cultural and religious practices, their financial health and their experience with the services and brands landscape in Canada. Our session will not only outline recent immigration trends in Canada and future projections, but also shed light on the challenges faced by newcomers and their dreams for the future. In addition to sharing the results from our research including key demographic variations and life stage differences, we will also showcase best practices when researching this important demographic using knowledge garnered from Leger’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion working group. Finally, the discussion will explore how these findings may impact organizations and marketers who wish to effectively connect with this subgroup and find their place within their settlement journey.

Lisa Covens

Senior Vice President, Leger

With over 20 years of marketing research experience, Lisa started at Leger in 2003 and is a highly respected professional. As an SVP, Lisa manages the Communications and Public Affairs practice in Central Canada. Her clients include government, top PR agencies in Canada, and communications practitioners at several corporations, associations and pharmaceutical companies. Lisa is an active member of the CPRS as a national board director. Lisa is also a spokesperson for Leger and is happy to speak on a variety of topics. Working with her co-presenter Shanze Khan, Lisa’s team has spearheaded the research Leger conducts with newcomers.

Shanze Khan

Senior Research Director, Leger

Shanze is a Senior Research Director at Leger specializing in large-scale research projects in public affairs and communications. She co-leads Leger's annual Reputation Study, benchmarking corporate reputation metrics for nearly 40,000 Canadians and providing insights on 285 companies across Canada. She also serves on Leger’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, where she spearheads the initiative to standardize demographic questions to better represent diverse populations. Shanze holds a Master of Science in Marketing from Concordia University and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Lahore University of Management Sciences.

Wafaa Muzaffar

Insights & Analytics, Rogers

TBD