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Nearly 1 in 4 Canadians was born outside of Canada. Immigration policies shape the composition, socioeconomic characteristics, and health of the immigrant population in Canada. The health of migrants is also influenced by a confluence of social, economic, environmental, and political factors. Immigrants and refugees often face various barriers to accessing health care, due to factors such as lack of familiarity with navigating the health care system, language barriers, systemic racism, and gaps in health insurance. Social determinants of health and access to primary care health services likely influence the burden of cardiovascular risk factors among immigrants. The relatively low burden of many cardiovascular risk factors in the Canadian immigrant population likely contributes to the generally lower incidence rates of acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and stroke in immigrants compared to non-immigrants, although cardiovascular disease incidence rates vary substantially by country of origin. The "healthy immigrant effect" is the hypothesis that immigrants to high-income countries, such as Canada, are healthier than non-immigrants in the host population. However, this effect may not apply universally across all immigrants, including recent refugees, immigrants without formal education, and unmarried immigrants. As unfolding sociopolitical events generate new waves of global migration, policymakers and healthcare providers need to focus on addressing social and structural determinants of health to better manage cardiovascular risk factors and prevent cardiovascular disease, especially among the most marginalized immigrants and refugees.
Vyas et al. (Wed,) studied this question.