Search

Learning the dominant language of the receiving society is arguably key to ensuring immigrant integration. While this is important for immigrants who are not fluent in the receiving countries' official language(s), in this article, we examine the significance of using an official, but minority language (French) in Canada's Anglophone provinces. We focus on the Francophone minority community (FMC) in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, as a 'third space' for French-speaking immigrants' integration. While the government considers FMCs as primary spaces of French-speaking immigrants' integration, we interrogate their actual role in their everyday experiences in the multicultural context of Metro Vancouver. This article presents findings from a critical ethnography about French-speaking immigrants' participation in Francophone community sites. Methods included observations in Francophone community sites as well as interviews with twenty French-speaking immigrants and six representatives of Francophone community sites. Findings suggest that the FMC constitutes a 'third space' that supports immigrants' integration by playing an 'in-between' role in relation to the mainstream Anglophone society and participants' ethnocultural communities. Furthermore, we argue that FMCs – as official, but minority language communities – constitute a unique hybrid mix of dominant and subaltern positions that offer possibilities for refining conceptualizations of 'third space'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada's national narratives gesture to cosmopolitan ideals by celebrating the country as open and inclusive through the working of its immigration policy. Indeed, it has been suggested that Canada may be oriented toward a form of 'rooted cosmopolitanism'. This vision stands at odds with the experiences of skilled migrants who often encounter hurdles in the labour market. In this paper, we probe the 'cosmopolitan paradox' and its implications. Through a qualitative case study of 36 skilled newcomers, we document their experiences as they attempt to enter the labour market encountering barriers that reassert national frames and 'Canadian standards'. We argue that if Canada is to live up to the promise of a cosmopolitan ideal, the stratifications and exclusions that mark the lives of newcomers need to be addressed. It is not enough to attract increasing numbers of immigrants if they cannot become full members of the Canadian national community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the "situatedness" of occupation in the context of migration has been explored using various approaches, there remains a need for a holistic and dynamic understanding of the concept of space and the spatiality of occupation. Adopting Lefebvre's theory of the production of space and taking a transactional approach to occupation, we examined the role of immigrants' occupational engagement in the production of Francophone minority community spaces in Metro Vancouver, Canada. We completed a critical ethnography and focus on findings from participant observations and in-depth and go-along interviews with French-speaking immigrants. Findings shed light on the influence of immigrants' occupational engagement on the production of minority spaces. To study the spatiality of occupation comprehensively, we need to move beyond an examination of the immediate environment to address other components of the production of space as well as the interrelation of spaces through occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media provide essential information that can help migrants settle, build local community, and maintain transnational linkages. In this study, we extend the existing literature by undertaking a unique comparative project examining the role of both diasporic and mainstream media – including print (newspapers) and broadcast (TV and radio) – in meeting the information needs of four ethnocultural and immigrant communities in Ottawa, Canada. Our analysis of survey findings shows significant variations across the four communities in their consumption of print and broadcast diasporic and mainstream media based on immigration category, time spent in Canada, and level of official language (English and French) proficiency. Adopting a uses and gratifications theoretical lens, we argue that participants embrace a more holistic approach to media use, which affords them benefits from both kinds of media resources by creating in-between spaces for participation in host societies and transnational communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]