The Immigrant Experience in Brandon, Manitoba: The social challenges of integraion in small towns and rural regions of the Canadian Prairies


Shirin Khayambashi, Toronto Metropolitan University

This presentation explores the changing pattern of migration in Canada and how the changing pattern affects the social integration of new immigrants. Within the last few decades, Canada has witnessed a change in the path of international migration, which is diverted from the traditional destination. The new destinations have changed from the larger urban settings into remote and rural regions of Canada. This change in the pattern of migration directly relates to the demand for foreign labour forces in small and rural regions of Canada due to outmigration and the decreased birth rate in these regions (Kelly et al., 2023; Sano et al., 2020; Hanlon et al., 2022). The demand for foreign labour forces encourages the provincial active participation in recruitment through various federally funded programs and initiatives. The changing trend of international migration, thus, creates changes in the regional demographics. These unlikely immigrant destinations are experiencing unprecedented diversity in areas with dominant settler colonial regional narratives. Based on the changing trend of migration, this research explores the integrational challenges for new immigrants settling in the Canadian Prairies by focusing on the immigrant experience in the city of Brandon, Manitoba. Brandon presents a similar pattern of settlement. The influx of diversity and changing demographics challenges the region’s preparedness and welcoming environment to acclimate to the needs of changing demographics. The abrupt introduction of a diverse immigrant population can cause friction between the new population and the existing residents in the region. This presentation explores the following question: How do recent immigrants negotiate their identities as outsiders and establish their sense of belonging in the city of Brandon, Manitoba, as they encounter various forms of intentional and unintentional acts of discrimination? This research applies a mixed-method approach to understand the immigrant experience in Brandon, MB. Through the mixed methodology, this project explores the personal account of the challenges of settlement for the immigrant population residing in Brandon, MB, from macro and micro levels of analysis. By exploring the new immigrants’ experiences with settlement and integration, this project reflects on the contested relationship between the new residents and older settlers in the region. To explore these contested relationships, the research addresses the ongoing problem of racism and discrimination experienced by recent immigrants in the city of Brandon, MB. Using participants’ accounts of settlement in the region, the research investigates the experience of racism from both the individual and institutional levels. In this research, both quantitative and qualitative data indicate a general pattern of discrimination at the social, economic, and political levels. Based on these challenging experiences, many racialized new immigrants rationalize the racially oriented acts of violence by blaming the communal ignorance in the region and the lack of institutional resources to address the integrational challenges. The existing contested relationship is related to the dominant discourse of the white settler narrative, which aims to maintain its social location. In this paper, I also discuss the future research founded on this project. In the upcoming studies, I will explore the regions interethnic relationships between immigrants and indigenous populations in Brandon, MB.

This paper will be presented at the following session: