Chitvi Mahajan
Project: Unintentional injuries among young newcomer immigrants in Alberta
“One thing that has truly surprised me is the amount of data that analyzes immigrants as one group, even though many different experiences exist within the group. Refugees, economic immigrants and family immigrants face unique challenges before, during and after their journey to Canada. Recognizing these challenges is important to ensure that the research accurately reflects their distinct experiences.”
Summary: Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death and disability among young people. One of the main ways to prevent them is by teaching people about common dangers and prevention strategies. However, we do not know much about how to prevent injuries in young people who are new to Canada. Their unique experiences, such as language barriers and having to learn a new culture, might play a role in their risk of unintentional injury. Young people made up more than a fifth of newcomers to Alberta from 2016 to 2023, but little work is being done to understand their experiences with unintentional injuries.
This project aims to find out if young immigrants to Alberta in the past five years are at a higher risk of emergency department visits for unintentional injuries and what factors may help explain that risk. We will also explore if different types of immigrant youth, such as refugees, face different risks and why.
We have two main goals. The first is to review data from countries similar to Canada, such as Australia and the United Kingdom, to understand what is already known about the topic. The second is to examine data from the Canadian census and emergency departments across Alberta, to see what relationships exist between newcomer youth and unintentional injury risk.
The information we obtain through this research will help inform policies and injury prevention education strategies that are specific to young newcomers. It will also be used to teach different community members, such as those working in emergency departments and public organizations focused on immigrant safety and well-being. We will write easy-to-understand reports so newcomer parents have research-supported resources to learn how to protect their children from unintentional injuries.
Chitvi Mahajan was supervised by Dr. Claire Benny in the University of Alberta School of Public Health. Her WCHRI summer studentship was funded by the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation. She is enrolled in the bachelor of science program with a biochemistry major and biology minor.
Read more about WCHRI’s training awards for students at all levels and generous grants for researchers. See the rest of the 2026 summer studentship recipients here.
