University of Victoria

Immigrant Integration and Immigration Policy @ the Edge: Immigration and Marginalization

Recently, federal government policies regarding international migration changed in three fundamental areas: a) in provincial allocations of settlement funding with shifts away from Ontario towards Prairie provinces and British Columbia; b) in the immigration policy arena, with enhanced criminal justice measures targeting immigration consultants, fraudulent marriage, and unauthorized migrants including trafficked women and refugees claimants; and c) in the recruitment of workers (temporary and permanent residents) via the ongoing expansion of the Provincial Nominee class and the decentralization of selection, with provinces and employers having greater roles in the selection process. These developments underscore the importance of sociological research on contemporary topics such as immigrant integration, labour recruitment, economic (in)equalities, trafficking, migration for marriage, refugee populations and past, present and emerging migration policies. This session solicits papers on these topics of Canadian migrant integration and/or immigration policy, as well as papers which assess current on-going issues and/or future implications of policy changes.

Session Chair and Discussant: Sylvia Fuller, University of British Columbia

Session Organizer: Monica Boyd, University of Toronto, monica.boyd@utoronto.ca

Undocumented workers in the labour market: An overview

Charity-Ann Hannan, Ryerson University, channan@ryerson.ca

This paper analyzes the international *English language literature on the effects of "undocumented" migrants on the labour market.

A review of the literature has shown that "undocumented" migrants face worse employment outcomes and experiences than documented migrants and/or native borns, although this has not always been the case. Compared to recent studies that found significant employment differences between "undocumented" migrants and documented migrants and/or native-borns, early studies for example, found little, or no employment differences. A variety of factors were found to affect the employment outcomes and experiences of recent "undocumented" migrants.

While demographic, human capital, workplace and variables specific to being "undocumented" explain a small portion of the employment disadvantages, structural-level factors were found to explain a larger portion of the labour market disadvantages. Indicating "undocumented" migrants' employment outcomes and experiences to be largely affected by a "process" of increasing structural-level factors (e.g. controlling, restrictive, policing policies), this literature review indicates that less restrictive policies, rather than more restrictive policies towards "undocumented" migrants, would be more successful in facilitating their full and equal participation in the labour market.

Wednesday June 5, 2013 05:00 PM - 06:30 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-168

Understanding the Canadian Immigration System: Linking together Tracked and Obscured Legal Status Transitions & Trajectories

Patricia Landolt, University of Toronto Scarborough , patricia.landolt@gmail.com , Luin Goldring, York University , goldring@yorku.ca

Canada’s population of authorized and unauthorized immigrants with precarious legal status has grown exponentially, routes to citizenship have narrowed and become more uncertain, and securitization has crept into the immigration policy agenda. Estimates of the unauthorized population do not exist, but in 2011, 704,998 people who previously entered under an authorized temporary category were still present. The presence of a significant population of precarious legal status non-citizens who live, work and raise families in Canada is restructuring urban and rural labour markets; changing neighbourhood and small town economies, and altering the priorities of local institutions such as schools, health clinics, parks and recreation programmes and community centres. In effect, the growing population of non-citizens without a clear path to legal status permanency or security in Canada is generating a social transformation that requires systematic consideration. In this paper we use primary survey research and secondary administrative data to make two contributions toward a systematic mapping of Canada’s new immigration landscape. First, we introduce the chutes and ladders immigration model as a conceptual framework for making sense of the current immigration dynamics and flows. The chutes and ladders model points to a high degree of indeterminacy, variation and multi-directional movement within precarious legal status categories and in the routes to secure legal status and citizenship. Second, we identify some of the methodological pitfalls that currently limit our ability to study immigrant incorporation processes in ways that take into account citizen and non-citizen populations and the legal status transitions that link them together and increasingly determine incorporation outcomes for all immigrants.

Wednesday June 5, 2013 05:00 PM - 06:30 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-168

Anti-Trafficking Discourse and Immigration Policy in Canada: New Modes of Insecurity

Julie Kaye, Ambrose University College, jkaye@ambrose.edu

The arrival of two boats off the coast of British Columbia in 2009 and 2010 sparked heated debates that prominently featured anti-trafficking discourses in discussions of national security, border integrity, and the rights of migrants. Such discussions are not new in Canada, yet the role of anti-trafficking discourses in shaping the debate offers new insight into the redefinition of boundaries of inclusion and exclusion. By examining recent immigration policy amendments alongside anti-trafficking discourses, including representations of human trafficking from the perspective of frontline workers, government officials, law enforcement, and trafficked persons in Western Canada, this paper examines the relationship between human trafficking and migrant smuggling and the role of anti-trafficking discourses in shaping contemporary boundaries of inclusion and exclusion. The paper concludes with an examination of the insecurity trafficked persons experience as a result of measures emphasizing criminalization and deportation as well as the effect of criminalization for temporary migrant workers experiencing exploitation in a context of socio-economic constraint.

Wednesday June 5, 2013 05:00 PM - 06:30 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-168