The experiences of immigrant entrepreneurs in a medium-sized Canadian city: The case of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Abstract

There is growing interest in the dynamics of immigrant entrepreneurship in non-traditional immigrant gateway cities in Canada. Encouraging immigrant businesses is a particularly pressing imperative for Atlantic Canada's small and medium-sized cities, which struggle with aging labour markets, youth out-migration, and difficulty attracting and retaining newcomers. Recent research on immigrant entrepreneurship highlights the geography of entrepreneurial benefits and challenges across Canadian cities. Our study contributes to this field by examining the experiences of immigrant entrepreneurs on the “edge”—working in Canada's easternmost city, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Our findings are based on 28 interviews conducted with immigrant entrepreneurs and key informants in St. John's. As a remote, peripheral city within Canada with a small immigrant population and an economy intimately tied to booms and busts in global oil markets, we found that St. John's presents a distinct set of challenges for immigrant entrepreneurs. Yet, a recent rush to encourage a start-up ecosystem—through a university-based incubator program and new provincial nominee streams—is also creating new opportunities for self-employment and shifting the terrain of support towards white-collar businesses. Ultimately, this study highlights the variegated experiences of a diverse set of immigrant entrepreneurs in St. John's.