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Public interest in the influence of neighbourhoods on immigrant integration in Canadian society has been growing in recent years; yet, there are few studies that explain the effect of neighbourhoods on immigrant experiences of exclusion in Canada. Drawing on in-depth interviews (12 males and 13 females) and a focus group discussion (five females and three males) conducted with Ghanaian immigrant youth between the ages of 18 to 30 from the Ghanaian community in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood of Toronto in May to June, 2011, this paper discusses the experiences of social and spatial exclusion among Ghanaian immigrant youth. Drawing on socio-spatial dialectics, the findings suggest that Ghanaian immigrant youth experiences of socio-spatial exclusion are intertwined in a dialectical process involving the Jane and Finch neighbourhood and the general public. In particular, the youth negotiate access to employment opportunities, shopping malls and counter exclusion through reformulation of resumes, and masking of their actual neighbourhoods. This paper fills an important gap in our knowledge of the lived experiences of African immigrant youth and contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of neighbourhood stigmatization and its impact on residents' integration into the larger society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses one particular feature of Canada's accommodation of diversity -- the existence of French-language communities outside of Quebec and New Brunswick -- to show how there continues to be conceptual difficulties in reconciling Canada's many diversities. More specifically, we are concerned with conceptual ambiguities associated with the place of these minority communities in Canada's constitutive political sociology, and difficulties in promoting a coherent set of policies for their flourishing. Moreover, this paper will not simply rehash arguments about their forma and conceptual status. We are interested in illuminating a recent initiative that seeks to direct immigrants to these communities in the hope of maintaining their overall percentage of the Canadian population. This is a development that has received little attention to date from the perspective of the scholarship of multiculturalism and minority rights, and political theory more generally. We argue that the strategy to target Francophone minority communities as 'sites' of integration represents a false promise for both these communities and immigrants. This article will show that the federal framework of 'multiculturalism within a bilingual framework' obscures the realities confronting Francophone minority communities and thus their capacity to integrate newcomers, on both empirical and normative grounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores current issues in English as a Second Language (ESL[1]) policies and programs for adult immigrants in Canada from a critical multiculturalism perspective. In the context of Canadian policies on immigration, bilingualism, and multiculturalism, the paper first provides an overview of language education in Canada historically. Current trends and issues in language programs for adult immigrants are then explored by examining discourses of integration at the level of both policy and practice, by looking at problems of teaching Canadian values, and by critiquing the emphasis on employability in language programs. Implications for language education for adult immigrants are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over half of all migrants to Canada are under 29 years of age and one quarter arrive as refugees. Studies on occupational achievements and labour market status have been largely ignored in favour of studies on adult migrants rather than on youth. This paper uses data collected from two sources: a national study of newly-arrived newcomer youth living in Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg and Vancouver using qualitative interviews, and a quantitative analysis of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC). The focus of this paper is to use these datasets to better understand the high school trajectory of recently arrived newcomer youth and compare their experiences. We are particularly interested in the influence of education attained in Canada compared to education attained outside of Canada and the differences, if any, in labour market outcomes. The findings reveal distinctly slower trajectories through high school among those arriving as refugees, those lacking English or French language instruction prior to arrival, and issues with grade placement. These are identified as significant barriers to entering post-secondary education and to subsequent labour market success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comparison between the two ways of managing immigration and diversity existing in Canada: multiculturalism (Canada-wide) and interculturalism (Quebec). While some authors (see Juteau, McAndrew and Pietrantonio 1998) argue that the two policies are more similar than different, others, like Gérard Bouchard (2011), argue that interculturalism is a rather unique model of managing diversity in Quebec. In this paper we aim to make a contribution to the debate by providing an analysis of the way both models understand immigrants' participation in their new society. Indeed, both models seem to consider participation as having a central role in the process of integrating newcomers. However, we will show that the reasons put forward by inter-culturalism and by multiculturalism to explain their interest in participation are very different. On the one hand, multiculturalism recognizes the importance of participation as a way of protecting individual identities, in line with the spirit of liberalism. On the other hand, for interculturalism, the issue of participation seems to be more fundamental: not only is participation one of the founding pillars of the policy, but it is also consistent with the political, legal and historical characteristics of the province of Quebec. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Western Canada, away from cities such as Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, and Winnipeg, where fewer immigrants arrive, newcomers often inject vital lifeblood into local economies, bring new ideas for businesses, and further diversify the ethno-cultural profiles of rural communities. Yet, there is far less research on settlement services available in rural communities and smaller urban centres. This paper explores the perceptions of 159 officials from settlement service organizations (SPOs) across 32 rural communities in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's Western region, which consists of the four western provinces and three northern territories. A mixed method approach was used to investigate SPOs' organizational capacity, partnerships and assessment needs in three sub-categories of rural communities: remote, small, and medium-sized. The majority of SPOs reported sufficient capacity to communicate and coordinate with stakeholders and meet reporting requirements. In contrast, a majority of SPOs also reported a lack of capacity for investing in governance and strategic planning. Smaller communities (less than 30,000 population) were the most challenged in providing settlement services. The conclusions call for more support for SPOs and a more robust and integrated settlement services provision system that can meet the needs of all categories of immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problems related to the recognition of skills and education acquired by immigrants abroad and their ability to translate them into similar work and income in Canada are well-known. What is less known is the extent to which skills are devalued in the Canadian labour market. Data from the Western Canadian Settlement Survey1, a random sample of over 3,000 newcomers to western Canada, provides insights into the extent to which job status decline occurs. This paper attempts to quantify, insofar as possible the mismatch between education and skills attained abroad by comparing prearrival and post-arrival job statuses amongst newcomers to Canada who have been in the country for five years or less. Using a dual labour market perspective, our results reveal that there is, in fact, a significant decline in job status for newcomers, which is influenced by province of residence, place of education attainment, and length of time in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]