Immigration policy implications for the Francophone minority communities in Metro Vancouver.


Astou Thiam, University of British Columbia

Canada has observed a declining birth rate in recent decades coupled with an aging population. This decline is more pronounced among Francophones living outside Quebec compared to Anglophones. Relying on the immigration of French-speakers has thus become a key policy priority of the federal government. Earlier Francophone immigrants were mainly from Europe, but the profiles of recent immigrants are more diverse and not thoroughly examined in the literature. In Canada, many stakeholders are involved in migration governance. Provinces, territories, and the private sector play an important role in the selection process, while government partnerships and civil society are primarily involved in integration services. Canada has thus, moved from a minimally interventionist integration policy to a society-wide policy, with the majority of the country’s immigration, refugee and citizenship budget allocated to settlement and integration services. Yet, we currently know little about how this immigration strategy is reshaping these communities and influencing cohesion among community members. To examine how the context of Metro Vancouver’s Francophone minority community shapes immigrants’ experiences of integration in the region. Our work aims to answer the following research question: How do local policies and practices (e.g., programs, events) influence the meaning of daily occupations and in peoples lives? We seek to understand what factors facilitate or hinder immigrants’ participation in Francophone community spaces. This paper presents key findings from an ethnographic study exploring perceptions of community cohesion among Francophone immigrants living in Metro Vancouver. Informed by intersectionality theory and the politics of belonging, our work attends to social power relations with Canadian Francophone minority communities. Findings are drawn from 9 key informant interviews as well as in-depth interviews with 12 immigrants conducted between May 2022 and June 2023. Purposeful sampling using maximum variation was used to recruit participants. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed with open (line-by-line) and theoretical coding approaches using NVivo software. Our preliminary results will be presented in line with two key themes. First, we will address forms of socio-spatial separation within the community that contribute to a lack of representation in leadership and decision-making positions of organizations within the region’s Francophone minority community. Second, our results address the impact of policies upon French-language service provision. For instance, our study identified a lack of integrated French-language services with limited provincial and community involvement in the Metro Vancouver. Ultimately, our results demonstrate that French-speaking immigrants must continuously negotiate their intersectional identities while engaging in daily occupations within physical and virtual community spaces (e.g., community centres, social media networks). Our study responds to an urgent need to understand the implications of the increasing arrival, settlement, and integration of racialized French-speaking immigrants for community cohesion in Francophone minority communities. Our findings highlighted the specificities that have influenced the integration of immigrants in Metro Vancouver. The potential keys of a successful system of integration for French-speaking immigrants in the region appear to be supporting Francophone populations of various ethnic and gender backgrounds working at different levels in community organizations as immigrant advocates. Another recommendation stemming from our work is to offer more integrated services in French with increased provincial and municipal participation.

Non-presenting authors: Anne-Cécile Delaisse, University of British Columbia; Suzanne Huot, University of British Columbia

This paper will be presented at the following session: