Canada is a country that was built by immigration. Every year, thousands of hopeful immigrants come to Canada in order to have a better life. And for some, a better life can be achieved. However, for many others, this is simply not the case. In recent years, the number of visible minority immigrants has increased. And while this country’s ethnic diversity has benefitted from this influx, the economic landscape has shifted in a way to disfavor them. This economic disparity can be found through the income inequality that many immigrants face due to their educational background, low social and cultural capital, and occupational choices. It is these factors that have led to an overqualified work force, higher unemployment rates, and a widening …show more content…
When speaking about cultural capital and immigrants, one symbolic element may be language. Canada has two official languages in which employers conduct their business in. If an immigrant has limited knowledge of French or English, finding a job may be next to impossible. However, even for the immigrants who do speak French or English, the path to finding a job may not be any easier. As immigrants come from another country, they may have brought with them their own cultural capital in the form of an accent. “Job applicants with noticeable racial markers in their speech were often eliminated” (Banerjee, 2009, p. 471). Even when speaking Canada’s official languages fluently, some immigrants were not offered a job based on their individual accents. However, there are some accents which employers deem “acceptable”, many of which are European. But for those who have less desirable accents, such as those hailing from East and South Asia, their accents can hinder their job application. In some cases, completely disqualify them from the job. And as Canada’s immigrant population largely comes from “less desirable” areas, this may continue to negatively affect the growing unemployment rate. Even when immigrants are able to find a job, they face an uphill battle to earn the same wage as their native-born
Multiculturalism policy was first adopted in Canada in 1971, which reaffirms the dignity and value of all its citizens regardless of ethnic origins, race, religious affiliations, or language. Part of this policy, Canada confirms the rights of all the aboriginals along with the recognition of two official languages. Indeed, multiculturalism has great importance since its main purpose is to give equal treatment to all the citizens (Daniel, 2010). It ensures that all individual citizens could still maintain their identities, and have pride with their ancestry. Through this initiative, the Canadian government was able to give their citizens a feeling of self-confidence, making them more open to their diverse cultures. The multiculturalism policy
Over five years after the 2008 economic crisis, the Canadian economy is still in rough waters. Annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has been lagging below 2% and falling short of economists’ predictions (Hodgson, 2014), with no small part due to the stunted American and European recoveries. Tied into this is the country’s unemployment rate, which has hovered around 7% for over a year, while the rate for those aged 15-24 is nearly double, at 13.6% (Statistics Canada, 2014). Clearly, there is a need for more jobs in the country. At the same time, however, Canadian companies have been bringing in Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) to fill what they call a “jobs gap”: that there are places in the country where the labour supply is nonexistent, and outside help is needed to fill certain roles. This has set off a firestorm of controversy, both in the commercial and political realms, with accusations of corporate greed and government apathy abounding, as unemployed Canadians are seemingly passed-over for available jobs. This paper will explore how TFWs are filling a necessary role in the economy, and are not “taking jobs” from Canadians, and will then analyze what governments and businesses can do to change the program, how immigration reform can play a role in filling jobs and lowering unemployment, and what risks a focus on a “skills gap” instead of a “jobs gap” can have on the economy.
Right now Canada is facing immigration numbers that we have not seen in years and how we welcome and process these immigrants into our society will decide if they pass or fail. The article written by Sana Malik Arriving in a Place Where Almost No One Looks Like You and the study Immigrants’ perceptions of quality of life in three second- or third-tier Canadian cities done by a collaboration of Canadian scholars from across the country. They take a look at immigrant life, what it is like for them after moving, and some of the challenges that they face. Sana Malik’s article talks about her journey as an immigrant coming to Canada in 1993, and settling in Cape Breton. Her Pakistani family came over together and were welcomed by a small group of
Systemic discrimination has been a part of Canada’s past. Women, racial and ethnic minorities as well as First Nations people have all faced discrimination in Canada. Policies such as, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provincial and federal Human Rights Codes, as well has various employment equity programs have been placed in Canada’s constitution to fight and address discrimination issues. Despite these key documents placed for universal rights and freedoms Aboriginal and other minority populations in Canada continue to be discriminated against. Many believe there is no discrimination in Canada, and suggest any lack of success of these groups is a result of personal decisions and not systemic discrimination. While others feel that the legislation and equality policies have yet resulted in an equal society for all minorities. Racism is immersed in Canadian society; this is clearly shown by stories of racial profiling in law enforcement.
Immigration is of great economic and social benefit to Canada. It’s an important role in developing our economy, and it shapes the nation into a multicultural nation. Immigration is a significant role in building our economy, providing growth in the labor force, making a strong economy, and becoming a multicultural nation.
Our history of 20th century of Canada on the treatment on immigrants was indeed bias and still occurs to some extent today. Numerous amounts of immigrants were into lose if not all, but very many of their belongings, valuables and family behindhand, to posses a Canadian citizenship. People travelled extensive distances to seek better lives; Canadians faced many with racism because of their differences, in fact it influenced ruined many lives. Immigrants in the past were shamefully discriminated against and exploited by the Canadian changing role of government, producing a dark side to Canada’s history. The three events that accurately validate that immigrants had tough lives were, “The Boat of People,” Chinese due to Chinese Exclusion Act, and the most improved, Merit Point System. These have effected Canada’s society significantly in a negative manner and have helped us learn, improve and equalize our society for everyone.
Canada has continuously served as a home to immigrants and refugees from decade to decade harbouring people from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The first set of immigrants to settle in the country came from Britain, the United States and from other nationalities mostly including immigrants from Europe who were either desperate to escape from religious or political turmoil or were simply attracted to Canada’s economic promise. Soon after the Canadian confederation in 1867, immigrants from Irish and Chinese backgrounds who occupied most of the country were used as workers and the demand for labourers to develop the country increased rapidly as more Chinese descents were imported to build the Canadian Pacific Railway. Although, Canada opened its doors to immigrants, but the country also intended to gain human resources for work in the farms, in the forests, factories and mines but not everyone was equally welcomed in Canada.
Every year, over 250,000 people make Canada their new home. Attracted by its education system, economy and universal healthcare system, there are few other places in the world like it. All Canadians are guaranteed equality before the law and equality of opportunity, regardless of where they are from. However, some might argue that Canadian policy has not been put into practice as well as it should be. Is the concept of true equality a far-fetched idea? It seems that Canada has taken great measures to promote the integration of immigrants socially, but can the same be said for their integration economically? Politically? To judge whether or not Canada has been successful at promoting the integration of immigrants in these realms, a deeper understanding of Canadian policy must be considered.
Racial discrimination in the workplace has been a persistent theme in Canada’s history as well as present-day times. The occurrence of actions and attitudes that impose a sense of one being less equal than another on the basis of one’s race in Canada’s workplace inhibits both our nation’s ability to move forward as well as strengthen unification within our country. The belief in a more egalitarian society, where one’s race and ethnic background have little to no impact on employees (or potential employees) standings within the job market, would seemingly be reinforced by the majority of Canadians, who consistently show support for Canada’s multicultural identity. Couple that with the noticeable strides Canada has made in the past several decades through legislation, in order to eliminate discriminatory practices and actions within the workplace, and one would likely assume that racial discrimination within the workplace is largely a concern of the past. However, current research supports the argument that the level of which racial discrimination occurs today is increasing, and as such it persists to be a key problem in the current workplace of the nation. In the workplace, racial discrimination is often seen with regard to uneven access to jobs, unfair selection and promotion criteria (as well as access to the means in order to meet this criteria), and workplace harassment. This paper compares similar findings of two articles; the first, Racial inequality in employment in Canada, as was published in the Canadian Public Administration (CPA), and the second, What Are Immigrants’ Experiences of Discrimination in the Workplace?, published by the Toronto Immigrant Employment Data Initiative (TIEDI).
Nowadays, when concepts of integrity, complexity, and globalization play a huge role in shaping our society, a concept of multiculturalism is common and widely accepted by most countries in the world, including Canada. According to Statistics Canada, as of January 2014, an estimate of Canadian population exceeded 35 million people and 20.6% of the total population are immigrants from other countries (Statistics Canada, 2014). These figures mean that on average every fifth person living in Canada was born in another country. This is especially relevant for Province of British Columbia, where, according to BC Stats, the population estimate equals to 4.6 million people as of July 2013 and BC was named one of the three Canadian provinces that accept most immigrants from all over the world (BC Stats, 2014). Unfortunately, the most recent demographics research on British Columbia population available was made in 2006. However, those numbers can still help to evaluate proportions of different ethnicities living in BC right now. As of Canada 2006 Cencus, minority population equaled to 24.8% and 10% of those immigrants were Chinese. Chinese people represent the biggest immigration minority in British Columbia, followed by South Asian (6.4%) and Filipino (2.2%) (Chui, 2006). While being the biggest diaspora in BC, Chinese population keeps growing as new working and studying opportunities provided by federal and provincial governments. The main aim of this research is to 4study historical reasons that led to given nowadays demographics. This paper is going to try to support an argument that historical events happened in Canada in the past and involved Chinese immigrants, especially the building of Canadian Pacific Railway, had a positive eff...
Stoffman, Daniel. Who gets in: What's wrong with Canada's immigration program, and how to fix it. Toronto: Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 2002.
Banting noted that some Canadians fear multiculturalism will bring, “…challenges to historic cultures, anxieties about Islam, and fears about insecurity,” (797). As people migrate from one cultural or religious backgrounds, maintaining the identity of the host country becomes difficult. Young children born interact with the immigrants and they could easily emulate foreign cultures thereby putting the historic cultural identity of Canadians at risk of erosion. Winter Elke warned that multiculturalism is changing to give too much preference to the immigrants thereby risking it to become a minority affair (638). Therefore, the relationship between national the majority of Canadians and immigrants need rethinking. Erosion of other cultures as immigrants introduce new ways or adapt to the cultures of the host county (Canada). Furthermore, education of the immigrants could face challenges if they experience difficulty settling in Canada. Given that immigrants later work in Canada, the human resource sector faces a new challenge of managing a diversified workforce, which can create headache for Canadian employers. Banting indicated that there is, “a strong sense that multiculturalism policies have “failed” a reaction that is strongest perhaps in the Netherlands, but is felt in many other countries as well,” (797). Such assertions only fuel resentment towards
Canada is a land of immigrants, being a multicultural country it welcomes people from around the world. As a result there is an increasing trend of the elderly population’s movement from globe to Canada. According to the Statistics Canada, (2015), 28% of seniors of 65 years and above were immigrant in the year 2001. Asia was Canada 's largest source of immigrants between 2006 and 2011, roughly 661,600 or 56.9% came from Asia. Furthermore, the seniors’ population is expected to continue to grow and Statistics Canada projects the percentage of seniors to be 23% of all Canadians by 2041. With the rapid increase in senior population immigrating to Canada, it is a growing concern about their healthy aging. There is a need to discover if immigrant
They are closely related to a Canadian citizen. Example, with a government program, citizens and/or permanent residents already in Canada can sponsor family members of another country to immigrate to Canada (family class),
As we go about our daily lives in the beautiful country of Canada which we have been blessed to live in, it has become normal to see a woman who wears the hijab walking down the street, or a Black family driving on the highway, or an Indian man wearing a suit and tie heading into the office. Canada’s cultural diversity is something which makes the country so special to live in, and instances where we see people of different cultures is increasing everyday. Many of the newcomers who arrive from overseas into Canada are families, with children and youth ready to begin their new life filled with opportunity here in Canada. However, youth who settle in Canada with their families aren’t exempted from the trials and tribulations youth face. In fact,