Saad Iqbal sleeps about five hours per night.
Iqbal, who moved to Ed‐ monton in 2021 from Pak‐ istan to study at the Universi‐ ty of Alberta, is one of several recent immigrants who say sleep disorders are wide‐ spread in Alberta’s interna‐ tional student bodies and in some diaspora communities.
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“It was affecting my atten‐ tion in the classroom,” said Iqbal. “You’re very sleepy, you’re yawning, so you’re not attentive to the conversa‐ tions that are taking place.”
Iqbal, vice president of the U of A’s International Stu‐ dents’ Association, says time zone differences, part-time jobs, and adjusting to a new environment all contribute to the difficulty some students face getting rest.
“The [students] that I have talked to … go through anxi‐ ety and stress,” he said. “There’s always these differ‐ ent stressors that keep you worried.”
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The University of Alberta supports international stu‐ dents dealing with various personal challenges, and new‐ comers believe sleeping is‐ sues span different communi‐ ties and institutions.
One Swiss study found im‐ migrants were more likely to face sleep disturbances than non-immigrants because they faced higher levels of emo‐ tional distress. A 2020 analysis of previously published stud‐ ies found migrants and refugees faced a greater risk of snoring, metabolic dis‐ eases, and insomnia.
Research published in 2019 found that immigrants living in Canada were less like‐ ly to report troubled sleep, but authors suggested differ‐ ent cultural interpretations of sleep could be a factor.
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University of Calgary pro‐ fessor and sleep physician Dr. Sachin Pendharkar says new‐ comers to Canada face chal‐ lenges in accessing health care in general and may not recognize the importance of healthy sleep habits.
He described Alberta’s cur‐ rent care model for sleep dis‐ orders as “fragmented,” with a mix of public and private providers offering different testing through different types of facilities.
“Patients have a difficult time figuring out where to go for what problem,” said Pend‐ harkar. “When you add on to that, there are potentially other barriers related to work or home responsibilities … they just compound the problem for many [immi‐ grants],” he said.
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Poor sleep is associated with an increased risk of de‐ pression, obesity, diabetes, and all-cause mortality, ac‐ cording to Health Canada.
The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology recom‐ mends between seven and nine hours of sleep per night for adults between 18 and 64.
Edmonton resident Eric Awuah says he talks to loved ones in his birth country, Ghana, every day over the phone, and those conversa‐ tions can last from 10 to 12 p.m.
“In trying to keep up with family, my mother… some‐ times I have to like forfeit sleep just so I can call when they are up,” said Awuah, a PhD student at U of A.
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Ghana observes Green‐ wich Mean Time, six hours ahead of Mountain Standard Time. Stress levels also drive his sleeping issues, Awuah says. “There is a huge cultural responsibility, moral responsi‐ bility… on you as somebody who has immigrated for greener pastures to also be able to support your family back home,” he said.
Awuah wants more Ed‐ monton residents from Africa to appreciate why getting proper sleep and managing stress levels is important, and to use the free resources that are available.
Edmonton’s Africa Centre provides free counselling through a partnership with the Alberta Black Therapists Network.
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Psychologist and director of the network Noreen Siban‐ da said sleep habits are a good indicator of mental health and other challenges newcomers may be facing.
“Having to come to a new place where you don’t feel connected… Finding yourself living in two worlds where your heart is home but you’re physically here, and when you do that, sleep is probably im‐ pacted,” she said.
Pendharkar said sleep health needs to be a larger fo‐ cus for medical schools and in Canadian culture as a whole.
“I think there’s a real po‐ tential for under-recognition and under-diagnosis.”
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