À D A C E B T A T Ó CI I T S FÒ M U R GE Ó DE LA I I M M A R G I LA AL L A I N A C E U Q I S R E IV D Myer Siemiatycki Ryerson University Toronto
Delighted to be here. How I spend my Thursday mornings it relates 60 Students: Mostly From Asia & Middle East Mostly Studying Engineering & Business 60% of Students are foreign-born 40% arrived in the last 10 Years When I was born in Montreal, Canada would not allow immigrants from Asia & Mid-East in. Canadian universities had quotas for Jewish students Lesson: A society can dramatically change its attitude to the integration of immigrants & foreigners
1. The Canadian Models : Changing Approaches to Managing Immigration & Diversity in Canada NOT a static picture. Public Attitudes and Government Policies can change in fundamental ways 2. Key Influences on Immigrant Integration in Canada Today 3. Successes of Immigrant Integration in Canada 4. Failings of Immigrant Integration in Canada
A. 1867-1967: Building a White, British, Christian Canada B. 1967-2000: Building a Multicultural Canada with Global Human Capital C. 2000 -??: Creating the World s Most Flexible Workforce in a Secure State Immigration Policy has always been an Instrument of Nation-Building. But definition of the Nation and its interests change
Canada regarded as open, tolerant, pluralistic NOT for most of our History In fact, for most of its history, Canada s immigration practices have been racist and exclusionary (Kelley & Trebilcock) Country of Origin & Race as Basis of Immigrant Exclusion: Asians, Blacks & Jews This view held for 100 years across all political parties & ideologies > STRONG CONSENSUS John A. Macdonald, Mackenzie King, Henri Bourassa & J.S. Woodsworth Non-British Immigrants admitted only in national/economic interest of Canada Immigrants expected to assimilate to British norm
Sir John A.: The Chinese immigrant to Canada has no British instincts or British feelings or aspirations, and therefore ought not to have a vote (1885) Henri Bourassa: Canada should not be a land of refuge for the scum of all nations (1904) J.S. Woodsworth: Non-assimilable elements are clearly detrimental to our highest national development, and hence should be vigorously excluded (1909) Mackenzie King: The people of Canada do not wish, as a result of mass immigration, to make a fundamental alteration in the character of our population Any considerable Oriental immigration would be certain to give rise to social and economic problems (1947)
New Terms of Immigrant Selection & Integration 1960s: Race & Nationality Dropped as Immigrant Selection Criteria Point System of 1967 establishes Human Capital formula for immigrant selection The Point System as Social Eugenics : Exclusionary Still? Canadian Immigrant Admissions: About 250,000 per year Approximately 60% Economic Class; 30 % Family Class; 10% Refugees 1971 PM Trudeau Multiculturalism Policy Statement 1988 Canadian Multiculturalism Act Passed
New Regime of Immigrant Selection/Integration? Canada Turns to Guest Workers Large Increase in Temporary Foreign Workers 165,198 admitted in 2007, compared with 131,248 Economic Class admissions LARGE implications for immigrant citizenship & integration 2008 Amendments to Immigration Act give Minister authority to set admission priorities: class/occupation/nationality? Renewed Commitment to securitization, and concerns over values/integration of some immigrants
A. Settlement Patterns and Programs in Canada B. Citizenship Policy in Canada C. Multiculturalism D. Inclusive Public Institutions E. Measuring Integration?
Immigrants are 19.8% Canada s population Immigrants decide where they will settle VERY uneven provincial distribution: 54.9% Ontario; 18.1% B.C.; 13.8% Quebec; 8.5% Alberta; 2.4% Manitoba; <1% in 5 Provinces MOST immigrants live in big cities 94.9% of immigrants live in a metropolitan area: 38% in Toronto; 13% in Vancouver, 12% Montreal 49.9% City of Toronto population foreign born MANY immigrant neighbourhoods in our cities Newcomers Eligible for government funded immigration programs: Language Classes; Adaptation Services; Networking
Immigrants admitted as Permanent Residents may become Canadian citizens after 3 years Immigrants are not foreigners or aliens, they are soon-to-be citizens Immigration as nation-building: A Nation of Immigrants Canada permits dual citizenship Temporary foreign workers are generally not eligible for citizenship. New Canadian Experience Class makes a small fraction eligible
Canada 1 st Country to officially adopt Multiculturalism: 1971 & 1988 Several Motivations: Recognize ethno-cultural diversity of Canada Win Political support from ethnic communities Minimize/Counter Quebecois nationalism A country with Aboriginal Population, National Minority and Many Immigrants Change terms of integration: from assimilation to diversity civic nationalism A New Approach to Canadian nation-building Multiculturalism in a Bilingual Framework Does NOT promote cultural ghettoes & retention of ALL homeland cultural traditions Has Critics & Supporters in Canada
Government of Canada 2008: Canadian multiculturalism is fundamental to our belief that all citizens are equal. Multiculturalism ensures that all citizens can keep their identities, can take pride in their ancestry and have a sense of belonging. Support diverse heritage cultural preservation Assist all cultural groups to overcome barriers to full participation in Canadian society Promote cross-cultural interchange Promote immigrant acquisition of English or French
Promote shared citizenship/belonging by recognizing cultural differences. Integration through cultural pluralism, not cultural assimilation. Recognition that Canadians come in all races, ethnicities, religions, languages and ancestries
Multicultural Rights/Claims in Canada are not Absolute. There are Limits. 1. Cannot violate other laws eg. Polygamy, Child Beating 2. Balanced Against Other Rights -- Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms Charter Promotes Basic Human Rights > Freedom of Speech, Religion, Association Promotes Equal Protection & Benefit of the Law 3. Canadian Values: Tolerance, Gender Equality, Human Rights Case Studies: Sharia Law, Black-Focussed Schools
Promotes Ethnic Identities over Canadian Promotes un-canadian values Prevents immigrant integration Prevents Canadian identity & loyalty Avoids addressing Canadian racism & colonialism Promotes neo-liberal value of multiculturalism as economic competitive advantage Multiculturalism: cult of ethnicity (Bissoondath); encourages apartheid (Gwyn); a masochistic celebration of Canadian nothingness (Horowitz); undermines attempts to forge an overarching Canadian identity (Gregg)
Promotes respect for differences Promotes integration of all Not a Blank Check -- Recognizes limits to cultural claims. Multiculturalism: makes room for others ; makes Canadianism possible (Bloemraad) promotes fair integration (Kymlicka) has always been geared toward helping minority groups participate more fully in Canadian society (Adams) the government will promote creative encounters among all Canadian cultural groups in the interest of national unity (Trudeau)
Limited Cost + Programming: Represents 1/50 th of 1% of Government Spending Widespread Public Support 2003 survey, 85% Canadians say MC is important to Canadian identity 2006, MC ranks 2 nd in survey asking what makes them most proud of Canada 79% of survey respondents agree: Other cultures have a lot to teach us. Contact with them is enriching us It [MC] shows that everybody can get along We all feel that in some way we are important to each other, that this person is not better than a Portuguese person, not better than the next person. To me, it s very important (Portuguese immigrant in Canada, cited in Bloemraad)
Immigrant Integration is advanced by inclusive public institutions MC can segregate rather than unite people The antidote in Canada has been common institutions (Bloemraad) Schools & Universities Librairies: eg. Toronto Public Library Web Guide in 17 Languages Multi-lingual Collections ESL Classes Canadian Citizenship Test Classes Parent Tip Sheets Medicare: Hospitals & Health Care Civic Nationalism: Shared Citizenship
Immigrant Integration can be difficult to measure While it is universally recognized that it is beneficial to include immigrants in the host society, there is much less consensus over what this means Lynch & Simon (They conclude in their book Immigration the World Over, that Canada performs best) Citizenship Naturalization Rates Socio-Cultural Integration Immigrant Educational Achievement Political Participation Racism & Discrimination Labour Market
A. Citizenship Naturalization B. Socio-Cultural Integration C. Immigrant Educational Achievement D. Immigrant Political Participation?
Canada has a high rate of immigrant naturalization Immigrants want to be Canadian In 2006, 85.1% of all immigrants eligible to become Canadian citizens were naturalized Almost twice as high a rate of immigrant naturalization as in the United States In survey, 90% of Canadian Muslims say they are proud to be Canadian In survey, 93% of all Canadians say they are proud to be Canadian
High Rate of Official Language Acquisition Less than 4% of immigrants lack conversational ability in English or French. U.S. = 23%; U.K. = 39% High Rate of Inter-Marriage 1996, 18% of marriages in Canada involve a Canadian-born and foreign born partner. U.S. = 5% From 1991-2001,bi-racial marriages increased 35% High Culture: Who is Canadian Literature? Ondaatje, Vassanji, Mistry, Selvadurai, Mootoo, Lam, Choy, Kagawa, Hage, Skvorecky, Ricci, Bezmogis, Clarke, Cooper, Brand Pop Culture: Who are Canada s Hockey Heroes? 4/6 Canadian teams captained by a Foreign-Born Player; 1/6 by a Canadian-Born Visible Minority
In Canada, immigrants are better educated than the native-born population In 2007, 37% all immigrants aged 25-54 held a University degree, compared with 22% Canadian-born population same age Over 50% of immigrants admitted from 2002-2007 held a University degree Children of immigrants are better educated than children of Canadian-born Over 65% of second generation Chinese & Indian Canadians, had university degree by age 34 Compared to 28% rate for children of Canadian born parents Almost 33% for second generation Caribbeans & Portuguese
Who Graduates from High School? High School Drop Out Rates in Toronto by Student Mother Tongue, 2000: English: 22.9% Korean: 20% Russian: 19.6% Urdu: 19.5% Greek: 17.7% Tamil: 16.9% Bengali: 16.7% Gujarati: 14.3% Chinese: 12% Romanian: 10.8%