Comparing the settlement patterns of two cohorts of international movers (2001–2006 and 2010–2011) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, highlights the relationships between the settlement choices and actions of immigrant residents, and the economic, social, and built environmental conditions in place. Data from the Canadian census are analyzed through a spatial lag negative binomial regression model with results interpreted through a relational incorporation framework. Findings raise doubts about the connection between spatial concentration and social isolation, and complicate the idea of migrant resident housing trajectories as progressive and linear. In addition to the influence of formal state and nongovernmental supports, the interactions between the formal and informal also play an important role in settlement patterns in Winnipeg. Concentrated settlement is found to be persistent for both cohorts, alongside a persistent positive relationship between percent visible minority resident and settlement. The spatial patterns in the case suggest that settling near co‐ethnic and co‐national residents could be an important informal strategy to reduce the costs of migration and settlement. Additionally, the results suggest that multifamily households are an informal strategy to address failures in the more formalized employment and housing markets. The continued importance of multifamily households for the earlier 2001–2006 cohort additionally suggests the need to pay attention to the possibility of a type of second settlement that begins after initial formal housing supports expire. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.