Safety at the Heart of Well-Being of Migrant-Background Children in Canada

Children with a migrant background are at greater risk of socioeconomic and social insecurity, which shows the importance of doing research on their safety. This study documents the lived experiences of Canadian children from a migrant background that influence their sense of safety and contribute to their well-being. Using a metaphorical narrative-based data collection methodology, we conducted sequential focus groups and individual interviews with children between 6 and 12 years of age (n = 43). Based on the ecological model of human development, children’s experiences of safety are analyzed through children’s three immediate environments – family and home, school and peers, and neighborhood and community, as well as their global environment. Participant children expressed their need for care, love, and protection as well as for freedom and agency in order to feel safe. The results show the importance of children’s positive relationships with their family members, significant adults in their immediate environments, and their friends, these relationships contributing to their physical, emotional and social safety. Children also discussed the importance of their neighborhood and community, as well as their perception of the global threats that can compromise their safety. By exploring experiences contributing to and harming children’s feeling of safety, this study highlighted how children conceived safety and agency as both central to their well-being. When working to guarantee children’s well-being, practitioners and policymakers need to focus on the relationships children have with the people in their immediate environments, as well as the macrosocial factors that could either contribute to or harm children’s safety.