| Abstract | The purpose of this research is to explore how Taiwanese migrants select their residential locations when they move overseas using the concepts of collective memory, transnationalism and social capital. The methods employed in this research included a review of the 2001 Canadian Census data, followed by an extensive literature survey on the socio-demographic characteristics of Taiwanese migrants in Vancouver and Toronto before a total of 40 in-depth interviews were carried out in the two cities, investigating how their decisions were made in choosing their residential location. This research finds that most Taiwanese migrants chose to live in Vancouver and Toronto. The mild climate and pleasant environment were the main determinants they cited for deciding to live in Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond were the specific suburbs they congregated in. For those who chose to settle in Toronto, they did so mainly for family and education reasons; and Toronto, Mississauga, Markham and Richmond Hill were the locations in which they preferred to settle. Having spent time living between Canada and Taiwan, these migrants had constructed a transnational space that allows them not only to fuse the cultures between the two places, but also to build social networks and social capital that enable collective memory to develop, further encouraging information on residential suburbs to spread. In turn, these locations acquired an identity as preferred choices for urban living among Taiwanese immigrants.
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