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This paper explores key informants' revelations on immigrants' sense of place and mental wellness in Hamilton, Ontario, directed toward processes and programs that challenge belongingness and integration. Grounded in key informant interviews, our analysis underscores the importance of understanding immigrants' sense of community, belonging embedded in socioeconomic conditions, and implications on mental wellness. It is proposed that settlement service providers and other stakeholders adopt a broad and multifaceted approach that recognizes the importance of addressing immigrants' conditions in a holistic manner. This could be achieved by focusing on policies that affect all determinants of health (including mental health) through the integration of public policies into a comprehensive package of health improvement and promotion strategies, and should be incorporated into policies of health and health-related institutions for implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

That immigration leads to the emergence of ethnic neighborhoods in North American cities is not a new phenomenon in urban geography. New arrivals often participate in the development of local economies by creating small businesses to serve the needs of their compatriots. They also participate in the transformation of centrally located neighborhoods in large cities. The emergence of the Polish neighborhood on Roncesvalles Street in Toronto and the Jewish neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges in Montreal exemplify this pattern. However, the importance of ethnic economies in such neighborhoods has gone largely unexplored. This paper examines the relationship between geographic location, immigrant entrepreneurs and the role of small ethnic businesses in two Canadian urban areas: Côte-des-Neiges in Montréal and Parkdale in Toronto. Data from interviews with local businesspeople in these two areas are used to examine the pertinence of the concepts of ethnic/open and ethnic/closed markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]