Cooperation of migrants with Polish diaspora organizations as a factor of social capital growth in a multicultural society

The article concerns the activity of the Polish community in Canada in the context of social capital. It presents the results of sociological empirical research carried out using an online questionnaire survey among Canadian Polish youth who cooperate with a Polish community organization and the one that does not undertake such cooperation. The respondents participating in the study function in the multicultural society of Canada on a daily basis, which – as it turned out in the course of the analyses – creates an opportunity to acquire and accumulate social capital resources. The article also describes selected theoretical concepts regarding this resource. Their analysis was made by taking into account three components that appear in Robert Putnam’s approach: trust, norms and connections of the respondents. It was presented how respondents define trust itself and what level of trust they have in relation to selected social groups. Their view on the relationship between belonging to social organizations (e.g. The Władysław Reymont Foundation) with norms and morality was also described. The article also presents the frequency of respondents’ contacts with selected groups and their opinions on social organizations. The empirical considerations allowed to verify the research hypothesis that cooperation with The Władysław Reymont Foundation is conducive to the social capital of migrants.