Canadian Criminologist Praises Immigration’s Crime Fighting Effect

The drop in the Canadian crime rate since the early 1990s corresponds with an increase in immigration levels, a relationship criminologist Michael Kempa attributes to the strong family bonds of recent immigrants and the value they place on education and civic responsibility

In a special to cbc.ca, one of Canada’s largest online news publications, criminologist Michael Kempa says immigration is helping reduce the crime rate in Canada.

Kempa writes that the drop in the crime rate since the 1990s has corresponded to, and been helped by, a large increase in the rate of immigration.

He quotes Toronto Police chief Bill Blair as saying that “immigration is good for the crime rate”.

The reason? “Recent immigrants have strong bonds to their families, a commitment to the values of education and engagement in community and public institutions,” says Kempa.

The down-side is that as the immigrant groups integrate into Canadian communities and adopt Canadian culture, their crime and delinquency rates approach the Canadian average.

Kempa recommends to Canadians to try to adopt the values of strong family bonds and commitment to education and community/public-institutions that keep recent immigrant groups away from crime.

This is the second story in the past year by major Canadian news media trumpeting the crime-reducing effects of immigration. MacLean’s magazine published a story last summer on findings by University of Toronto researchers that link increased immigration with reduced crime rates.