{ "abstract": "Background: Immigration to Canada has historically concentrated in major metropolitan areas, with over half of newcomers settling in Ontario’s urban centres in 2019. However, recent government initiatives seek to address labour shortages and stimulate regional development by encouraging immigrant settlement in five rural Northern communities. As policies increasingly direct newcomers to these regions, it becomes essential to understand their unique settlement experiences and ensure that local services effectively meet their needs, especially healthcare needs. Yet, the limited research focusing on immigration in rural and northern contexts constrains the development of evidence‑based programs and supports. Objective: To explore the experiences of immigrants in accessing and utilizing healthcare services in rural and northern Ontario in the context of post-government regionalization and dispersal policies. Methods: This qualitative descriptive study was conducted in North Bay, Ontario. Purposive sampling was employed to recruit 20 immigrants who had settled in North Bay through the Rural Community Immigration Pilot, along with four key informants who work with immigrant populations, to participate in virtual interviews. Data were analyzed thematically. Ethical approval was obtained from the Nipissing University Research Ethics Board (File No. 103946) on April 17, 2025. Findings: Findings indicate that healthcare access for immigrants is not a single encounter, but an ongoing, complex care journey shaped by barriers before, during, and after contact with services. Four interrelated themes characterized this journey: Getting In, which reflected challenges initiating care due to information gaps, limited primary care attachment, transportation and distance barriers, language readiness, and fear of discrimination; Getting Through, which captured participants’ struggles to obtain timely, understandable, respectful, and culturally safe care amid language barriers, long waits, fragmented referrals, and rushed encounters; Getting On, which described the post-visit consequences of unclear follow-up, diminished trust, and constrained self-management; and Getting the System Better, which highlighted participants’ recommendations for improving immigrant healthcare access through earlier orientation, peer navigation, transportation and financial supports, targeted immigrants services, reliable language access, multilingual resources, cultural competence training, and stronger follow-up systems. Conclusion: This study underscores the need to move beyond narrow definitions of healthcare access and toward a more holistic, immigrant-responsive model of care. Improving access requires proactive, coordinated, and culturally safe health system supports that build trust, strengthen continuity, and ensure that immigrants are not only able to reach services but are also meaningfully supported throughout their care journey.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, ON, Canada", "School of Nursing, Nipissing University, North Bay, ON, Canada", "College of Nursing Prince Albert Campus, University of Saskatchewan, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada", "College of Nursing Saskatoon Campus, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada", "School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada" ], "article_type": "Research Article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 8, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0, 1 ], "name": "Aimable Nkurunziza", "orcid": "0000-0001-5052-6172" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Morris D. C. Komakech" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Abukari Kwame" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Barbara Twum-Antwi" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Mohammed Iddrisu" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Namentha Srikanthan" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Osman Muna" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Geoffrey Maina" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f2dxjevtd98jm.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0362085", "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13754121/", "id": "f2dxjevtd98jm", "issns": [ "1932-6203" ], "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0362085", "language": "en", "licence": "CC-BY-4.0", "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "heading", "Allied Health Care Professionals" ], [ "heading", "Biology and Life Sciences" ], [ "heading", "Canada" ], [ "heading", "Cognitive Psychology" ], [ "heading", "Cognitive Science" ], [ "heading", "Culture" ], [ "heading", "Economics" ], [ "heading", "Engineering and Technology" ], [ "heading", "Finance" ], [ "heading", "Geographical locations" ], [ "heading", "Health Care" ], [ "heading", "Health Care Policy" ], [ "heading", "Health Care Providers" ], [ "heading", "Language" ], [ "heading", "Medicine and Health Sciences" ], [ "heading", "Neuroscience" ], [ "heading", "North America" ], [ "heading", "Ontario" ], [ "heading", "People and places" ], [ "heading", "Psychology" ], [ "heading", "Research Article" ], [ "heading", "Social Sciences" ], [ "heading", "Sociology" ], [ "heading", "Transportation" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive science/Cognitive psychology/Language" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive science/Cognitive psychology/Language/Multilingualism" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Cognitive psychology/Language" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Cognitive psychology/Language/Multilingualism" ], [ "plos", "/Engineering and technology/Transportation" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Health care/Health care policy" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Health care/Health care providers/Allied health care professionals" ], [ "plos", "/People and places/Geographical locations/North America/Canada/Ontario" ], [ "plos", "/Social sciences/Economics/Finance" ], [ "plos", "/Social sciences/Psychology/Cognitive psychology/Language" ], [ "plos", "/Social sciences/Psychology/Cognitive psychology/Language/Multilingualism" ], [ "plos", "/Social sciences/Sociology/Culture" ] ], "openalex": null, "pdf_url": null, "pmcid": "PMC13754121", "pmid": "43013527", "published": "2026-11-11", "publisher": "Public Library of Science", "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f2dxjevtd98jm.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-11-12T12:20:55Z", "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0362085", "source": "plos", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0362085" }, { "first_seen": "2026-11-15T12:23:06Z", "native_id": "PMC13754121", "source": "pmc", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0362085" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "biology", "origin": "plos:neuroscience", "subfield": "neuroscience" }, { "field": "medicine", "origin": "heading:Medicine and Health Sciences", "subfield": "general" } ], "title": "Navigating healthcare access and utilization in rural and Northern Ontario: Immigrants’ experiences amid regionalization and dispersal policies", "title_text": "Navigating healthcare access and utilization in rural and Northern Ontario: Immigrants’ experiences amid regionalization and dispersal policies", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-11-15T12:23:06Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f2dxjevtd98jm", "venue": "PLOS One", "versions": [] }