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The Global Compact on Migration and International Organizations pay increasing focus to fair migrant labor recruitment. By looking at the temporary migration of Guatemalans to Canada, this paper demonstrates that migrants play a crucial role in managing labor migration. Based on interviews with Guatemalan migrants, recruiters, and Canadian employers, I analyze the dual role of migrants, as both producers and subjects of recruitment practices. I build upon the concept of the migration industry to show how this phenomenon creates a grey zone of migration brokerage at the crossroads of business and social networks, problematizing the global discourse on fair recruitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper unpacks 20 Vietnamese-Canadians' sentiments of indifference toward or opposition to Canada's resettlement of Syrian refugees. I argue that participants center their understanding of 'refugee' around their diasporic journeys on boats to memorialize their visceral suffering and to position themselves as deserving of entry into Canada atop a hierarchy of legitimacy. In doing so, participants police 'refugee' as an identity category to reassert themselves as refugees and Syrians as migrants, thus constructing Vietnamese refugees' pathways to citizenship as more legitimate. This article highlights how refugees' self-understandings may be relational and evolve as new arrivals hold the same identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses data from interviews with immigrant youth in Ottawa, Canada, to explore early career-development and employment transition experiences of the youth. Framed by the Community-Interaction Theory of Career Development, the study explores the kind of influences and influencers, which shape career decisions and early on-the-job experiences of young immigrants. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data from face-to-face interviews reveals that some of the key influences on immigrants come from parents, siblings, and members of the ethnic community, in particular from teachers and peers from Sunday language schools, which create a unique climate encouraging students to pursue higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of immigrant health workers in OECD nations, and intensified debates about the current and future supply and distribution of such workers, particularly nurses. This review paper considers internationally educated nurses in the case of Ontario, Canada, and the policy responses developed during the pandemic to address the increased utilization of immigrant health workers. To further consider the evolving place of migrant workers within health, the broader issue of the future of health care work is examined to imagine what a sustainable and resilient health workforce agenda that integrates internationally educated nurses might look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents qualitative research investigating changes of gender roles and family relations across war-initiated migration journeys for Syrian and Iraqi refugees now settled in Canada. The impact of gendered cultural narratives and social norms is evident in gender role changes in spousal and parental relationships. Refugees story their family and relational lives against the social, cultural, and political backdrop of war, migration journey, different social norms related to family roles and gender, and across time. These findings extend understanding of how persons migrating from Arab countries across the globe are reshaping cultural narratives about family, parenting, and marital relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The losses associated with exile often leave refugees with limited resources to face the challenge of adjusting to a new society. To enhance the successful integration of refugees, it is important to assist them in their efforts in rebuilding and extending their support systems. By matching refugees with volunteers, Befriending Programs aim at creating a supportive environment. Based on information provided by twenty-five organizations that offer befriending programs in Australia, Canada, England, and the United States, this paper explores obstacles they face in the recruitment and retention of befrienders as well as their strategies in overcoming challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we compare the community engagement of minorities as measured by group recreational activity in Canada and the Netherlands--two countries with high immigration intake and high levels of ethnocultural diversity. Using logistic regression, we ask questions concerning the determinants of recreational participation, focussing on the degree to which differences are a product of minority status or of more general socioeconomic status. We also compare rates of participation in the two countries to see if there is an underlying difference, which can be explained by socioeconomic and demographic status. We find that sociodemographic characteristics are generally much stronger predictors of participation than characteristics associated with minority status, regardless of country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While scholarly work on Europe's latest "refugee crisis" has blossomed, less attention has focused on the United States and Canada. My research centers on newspaper coverage of refugees entering these two countries, before and after the Paris terrorist attacks of November 13, 2015. I conduct a comparative, cultural sociological analysis of 318 online news articles, reconstructing a system of meaning I call the Politics of Selectivity, in which refugees are portrayed as deserving or undeserving of resettlement. A deep, interpretive reading of the data reveals three dimensions of this political arena in which explicit, implicit, and conditional criteria for accepting refugees are articulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada and the United Kingdom have pedigrees in offering asylum; however, research in both countries has demonstrated widespread poverty amongst asylum seekers and a high risk of homelessness. Focusing on case examples drawn from 60 in-depth interviews with refugees in Toronto and London, this paper shows how national and local structures shape pathways to homelessness, and how refugees interpret their homlessness in the context of their flight from persecution, reception, and settlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction frames the Special Issue by describing the rapid changes around migration and migration governance in the Americas over the last years – including the Venezuelan exodus, COVID pandemic, impacts of U.S. policies, and bilateral labor migration. By “the Americas” we mean the entirety of the continent, from Canada to the Patagonia – a vast region connected by various migration systems and overlapping and segregated governance regimes. The contributions represent various disciplinary perspectives. Each begins by situating their intervention within current debates, methodologies, and theories, and concludes with an effort to offer a degree of generalizability to inform future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study examines how factors associated with normative conceptions of childhood shape Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board adjudicators' interpretations of evidence and justifications for decisions. We examine Canadian case file transcripts to highlight the factors that shape IRB members' decisions to accept or reject children's claims. Through analyzing IRB members' language, discourses, and rationales for their decisions, we show that their operating childhood knowledges play a key role in their decisions. We demonstrate the power of childhood discourses and how they illustrate what we call "governing with childhood." Our analysis highlights the importance of social, cultural, and political knowledges in immigration and refugee hearings; through examining the discretionary power of administrative decision-makers, we argue that normative conceptions of childhood are operationalized to justify the (de)construction of credibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While most immigrant-receiving countries have restricted immigration during the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada has taken a very different approach, increasing its immigration targets over the next three years. With this move, Canada has made it clear that immigrants are expected to play a lead role in the post-pandemic economic recovery. Most of these immigrants will be admitted through Express Entry, a hybrid system introduced in 2015 that combines elements of both supply- and demand-driven selection. In this article, we examine whether Canada's hybrid selection system meets its current and future labor market needs in a post-pandemic world. Using a mixed methods approach, we combine analysis of an administrative dataset with data from qualitative interviews with employers and experts in the immigration sector. We find that while Express Entry is a flexible and responsive tool for selecting immigrants, it narrows the occupational profiles of newcomers. The system also does not fully address the labor shortages and skills gaps described by Canadian employers. We argue that Canada's post-pandemic labor market will require a wider range of skills, and that Express Entry's adaptability should be carefully monitored and adjusted to broaden the skill mix of immigrants and facilitate skills match between immigrants and employers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identified structures and strategies that assisted social integration of privately sponsored and government assisted Syrian refugees in Canada. Data were collected through interviews and focus group discussions. Sustained, personalized commitment of private sponsors to a single refugee family created respectful relationships, opportunities to cross social boundaries, and potential access to greater social capital. Short-term, large group settlement services given to government sponsored refugees did not offer any of these. Both groups subsequently forged social relations with people like themselves but only some refugees could cross linguistic, cultural, and religious boundaries based on commitments made by well-established Canadians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article derives from a qualitative study of the "new" migration from Greece to Canada, resulting from a severe socioeconomic crisis in Greece. Starting from the migration narratives of 20 "new" Greek migrants in Halifax and Toronto, this research focuses on how the "new" migrants make and carry out the decision to leave and immigrate to Canada. A heuristic use and reconceptualized understanding of the classic "push-pull" model, in conjunction with a transnational migration perspective, allows mapping out, through rich qualitative data, the structure—agency articulation in the "out-of-Greece-and-into-Canada" mobility of 21st century "new" Greek migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boundary regimes consist of multiple discursive and material registers in media, politics, law and everyday interaction. We show how "safety" and "danger," as key concepts of symbolic boundaries, produce particular understandings of Muslim masculinities. In Canada, the government discussed (but did not enact) placing single Syrian men at the bottom of the admissible to-be-resettled refugee list in 2015. In Cologne, Germany, refugee men were accused of sexually assaulting a large number of women in 2015. Focusing on "safety" and "danger" discourses, we show that symbolic boundaries had limited material impact in Canada while they informed major legal changes in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sense of mastery or control is an essential life skill for persons to be able to deal with everyday challenges. Comparing the sense of mastery between immigrants and native-born Canadians using the 2008 General Social Survey (GSS-2008) data set, we seek to understand whether being an immigrant, particularly a visible minority immigrant, predicts lower levels of sense of control over life chances. The findings demonstrate that being born outside of Canada lowered the scores on the mastery scale for both Whites and visible minorities; however, the penalty of being a visible minority and an immigrant was much higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hate-crime victimization against racially visible people is of growing concern and it raises questions about social cohesion in a multiracial and ethnic democracy such as Canada, particularly among immigrants across the country. Using income as a mediating factor, this article examines hate-crime victimization against visible minority groups in Canada using the Ethnic Diversity Survey. Using multinomial and binary logistic regression, the study describes the likelihood of experiencing hate crime victimization and fear of hate crime. The results indicate that hate crime and fear of hate crime depends on visible minorities’ ethnic background, above and beyond their socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article emerges from a mixed-method study that explored the relationship between underemployment faced by internationally trained engineers and their satisfaction with life in Canada. A survey was conducted with 309 internationally trained engineers. A significantly greater proportion of survey respondents without a job in an engineering field reported being dissatisfied with life in Canada (36% vs. 22%, p < .01); and reported not having plans to settle permanently in Canada (54% vs. 40%, p < .05) compared to those with jobs in the engineering field. The study highlights the human costs and economic costs of underemployment of internationally trained engineers. Qualitative data from 20 in-depth interviews provide insights into the relationship between underemployment and life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research note discusses the findings of a mixed method study with 309 internationally trained engineers in Canada on their experiences in relation to the credential assessment process. The findings suggest that internationally trained engineers are not likely to be fully aware of the processes related to credential recognition and licensing prior to arrival in the country, and might be approaching multiple institutions or bodies to get their credentials assessed. The study also found that credential assessments from professional bodies are likely to be more important for the purposes of securing a job than those from educational institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stateless and parentless, separated refugee children may become the focus of multiple discourses concerning migration and youth. Relying upon the conceptual framework risk identity, this article explores the experiences, perspectives, and constructions of separated children in Canada. Interviews with separated children and stakeholders reveal two themes of risk. The first centers on separated children as refugees and can be understood in relation to 'anti-refugee' discourse. The second centers on separated children as children, reflecting the occurrence of 'anti-youth' discourse, particularly in relation to visible minority youth. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these discourses on separated children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a case study of Portuguese manual trades workers in Toronto to provide an assessment of how Canada's skill-based immigrant selection policies treat workers with low human capital. While government rhetoric and much academic writing has presented skill-based immigration programs as a progressive move away from the racist and particularistic exclusions present in previous policies, the case study presented in this article provides a less optimistic reading of the situation. While workers with high human capital are granted pathways to permanent entry, those with low human capital are restricted to temporary and more precarious legal statuses. The result is a differential access to key social, economic, and civic rights depending on a migrant's skill category. An image of 'fragmented citizenship,' therefore, appears more realistic than writings proclaiming an expansion of universal rights and the emergence of a postnational mode of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discomfort and discrimination experienced by racial minorities is of growing concern. Perceived racial discrimination and discomfort raise questions about social cohesion in pluralist democracies such as Canada and the United States, particularly in immigrant gateway cities that are increasingly heterogeneous. Little research has examined metropolitan variations in perceived discomfort or discrimination despite their distinct social, economic, and housing characteristics and varied histories of inter-group relations. Using the Ethnic Diversity Survey, a population survey that provides detailed information about individuals' experiences of racial discrimination and discomfort, we describe the frequency of racial discomfort and discrimination reported by Canadian- and foreign-born ethnic and racial minority groups living in major gateway cities. Using logistic regression, we investigate how social and demographic characteristics such as ethnoracial identity and behaviours such as involvement in ethnic organisations influence experiences of discrimination and discomfort in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. The determinants of perceived discrimination and discomfort vary across metropolitan areas. Consequently, we suggest that an appreciation of geographies of discrimination should inform public policy responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, based on a study of a small number of Mexican newcomers to Canada, highlights the intersections of macro policy environment and individual intentions and actions. The findings confirm the observations of previous studies about the challenges faced by newcomers to Canada and how the lack of access to information and support services can hamper settlement process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a new orienting framework for understanding immigrant parenting. The framework was developed and tested through a qualitative research study that involved 50 focus group interviews with immigrant parents who have resided in Canada for less than 3 years. The article begins by reviewing the existing parenting models found in academic literature and noting the limitations of these models. Next it describes the components of our constructed framework for understanding immigrant parenting. The article ends with the presentation of research results based on a large focus group data with 317 newcomer parents to Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]