Volume 8, Issue 15, July 2020 25 Journal of Sport for Development Original Research Exploring migrant families’ acculturation and livelihoods in Canada and the role of sport participation Sacha Smart1, Kyle Rich2, Allan Lauzon1 1 University of Guelph, Canada 2 Brock University, Canada Corresponding author email:
[email protected] ABSTRACT largest number of migrants compared to other Canadian city centers (Morency et al., 2017). Whereas Montreal and Canada is poised to increase the number of migrants arriving Vancouver receive approximately 3,800 and 2,300 migrants annually. Growing attention is being directed toward how respectively annually, Toronto receives more than 5,700 sport can be managed in a way that is accessible and (Morency et al., 2017). The interaction of culturally diverse inclusive of immigrant populations, as well as how sport can populations contributes to acculturative stresses that are the foster new opportunities for migrants to develop connections results of behavioral changes among migrant populations within their communities. The objectives of this research (Berry, 1992). Acculturative stress has been associated with were to explore broadly the realities of the migrant behavior shifts (Paulhus et al., 2002; Ryder et al., 2013), settlement experience and migrants’ livelihoods in Toronto language difficulties (Boyd & Cao, 2009), emotional and the role sport had on these experiences. Using an disorders (Sam & Berry, 1995), and perceived social exploratory case study methodology, this paper explores the exclusion and discrimination (Banerjee, 2009; Bauder, participants’ strategies of acculturation and the implications 2003b). However, there is a growing body of academic of these strategies for developing social and cultural capital. literature (e.g., Spaaij, 2013; Walseth, 2006, 2008) that Youth sport programming is discussed as having little effect examines how sport can ease challenges of integration and on the financial capacities and livelihoods of migrants.