Working Precariously: The impact of race and immigrant status on employment opportunities and outcomes in Canada (original) (raw)
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Precarious Work Experiences of Racialized Immigrant Woman in Toronto: A Community- Based Study
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Despite their high levels of education, racializedimmigrant women inCanada are over-represented in low-paid, low-skilljobs characterized by highrisk and precarity. Our project documents the experiences with precariousemployment of racialized immigrant women in Toronto. We conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with racialized immigrant women. Participants wererecruited through posted flyers, partner agencies,peer researcher networks andsnowball sampling. Interviews were transcribed andanalyzed using NVivosoftware. The project followed a community-based participatory action researchmodel.Participants faced powerful structural barriers todecent employment andadditionally faced barriers associated with household gender relations. Theirlabour market experiences negatively impacted theirphysical and mental healthas well as that of their families. These problems further constrained women’sability to secure decent employment. Our study makes important contributionsin filling the gap on th...
Studies in Social Justice, 2021
In 2015, the predominantly visible minority immigrant community of Herongate, in Ottawa, Ontario, was slated for redevelopment by its landlord, Timbercreek Asset Management. This redevelopment involved mass eviction of the incumbent tenants, demolition of the existing affordable housing and its replacement with luxury rentals, which, by all indications, are beyond the financial reach of the former Herongage tenants. This paper seeks to problematize large-scale residential real estate redevelopment in Canada and examine its impact, using the Herongate situation as a case study. Among other things, it profiles the Herongate community, its history and present redevelopment, and explores the legal framework, and the limits thereof, constraining mass evictions of this type in Ontario. The findings indicate that the selection of Herongate for redevelopment was not fortuitous; generally, racialized and immigrant communities like Herongate are disproportionately likely to be selected for la...
Just labour, 2014
This paper examines the relationship between precarious employment, legal status, and racialization. We conceptualize legal status to include the intersections of immigration and citizenship. Using the PEPSO survey data we operationalize three categories of legal status: Canadian born, foreign-born citizens, and foreign-born non-citizens. First we examine whether the character of precarious work varies depending on legal status, and find that it does: Citizenship by birth or naturalization reduces employment precarity across most dimensions and indicators. Next, we ask how legal status intersects with racialization to shape precarious employment. We find that employment precarity is disproportionately high for racialized non-citizens. Becoming a citizen mitigates employment precarity. Time in Canada also reduces precarity, but not for non-citizens. Foreign birth and citizenship acquisition intersect with racialization unevenly: Canadian born racialized groups exhibit higher employment precarity than racialized foreign-born citizens. Our analysis underscores the importance of including legal status in intersectional analyses of social inequality.
Racism, Discrimination and Migrant Workers in Canada: Evidence from the Literature
2021
Canada is celebrated as a diverse, multicultural and inclusive nation, with many accolades to its name, and remains a destination of choice for many immigrants worldwide. It is described, similar to Australia and New Zealand, as a "settlement country," where settlement is an integral part of nation building and immigration an intrinsic component of the national heritage (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 2015). 1 In short, despite some challenges, Canada is lauded as a successful immigrant nation, and perceived, in terms of its skilled migration system, as a "benchmark for other countries," as supported by its strong integration outcomes (OECD, 2019). While the literature points to "cracks" in the Canadian immigration model, including "skilled" migration, overall it is widely considered as a model to be emulated by other Western industrialized nationsa phenomenon otherwise known as Canadian "exceptionalism" in the context of multiculturalism and immigration policymaking (Triadafilopoulos, 2021). 2 When it comes to examining racism and discrimination within the Canadian immigration system as a whole, authors point to certain areas that need particular attention, one of which centers, as per the focus of this paper, on temporary migration. 3 Indeed, on the subject of migrant workers, the literature is somewhat more tentative as to Canada's successes. Accordingly, authors raise concerns that there are "two Canadas," one of which is constituted by fault lines within temporary migration and defined by "zones of exceptionalism" characterized by substandard labour and social protections as well as restrictions on workers' mobility. 4 For the majority of authors, "race," "class," "gender," or "geography" (that is, country of origin), but also "skill level" and "entry class" combine with wider historical, and current structures of discrimination to shape the experiences of migrant workers and their migration experience today. The primary objective of this review is to identify and analyze potential markers of racism and discrimination in immigration policy that impact migrant workers in Canada, most specifically those in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and the Caregiver Streams that are part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The review also examines the International Mobility Program, albeit from a more limited perspective, due to a still nascent, yet fast-growing, literature on the subject. 5 Overall, studies and reports mostly focus on substandard conditions of labour, lack of access, or restricted access, to social services and permanent residence pathways that are typically available to workers from higher-waged and higher-skilled categories. Indeed, most of the literature, including reports from non-profit organizations, and parliamentary committees refer to issues of "abuse and exploitation" in temporary migration programs, including in specific segments of the International Mobility Program. 1 People born outside of Canada constitute approximately one-fifth of the Canadian population, one of the highest ratios in Western industrialized countries (Cheatham, Council on Foreign Relations, 2020). 2 See, as an example, Cheatham (2020) and Ugland (2018) writing on three Scandinavian countries seeking to "borrow from" Canada's immigration policies. See Reitz (2012) and Triadafilopoulos (2021) who point to flaws when it comes to depicting the Canadian immigration system as a "model." 3 In light of the growing numbers of temporary migrant workers, Hari and Liew describe "temporariness" as a "new norm" of Canadian immigration (Hari and Liew, 2018). 4 The issue of worker's mobility is tied to the employer-specific worker permit (see Section 3). 5 The Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the International Mobility Program constitute the two main arms of the temporary migrant programs in Canada. Advocates, like academics, point to the lack of information pertaining to the program compared to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (Lynch & Aceytuno, 2021). They note, in addition to other issues, that the employerspecific permit represents a source of precariousness in both programs. project. I cannot thank him enough for all the qualities of precision, acuteness and kindness, and his infinite patience, which was instrumental in bringing this research piece to fruition. Mike has gone through various iterations of this paper, edited it, and made so many insightful comments on how to best equip the reader, and the text, with an anti-racism lens as it applies to policies and programs impacting migrant workers' lives, work, and broader experiences in Canada. Mike places research in its multi-dimensionality, and this richness of approach strengthens the anti-racism lens and the subtleties and nuances that describe it. Many hours were spent on reading drafts with exceptional detailed attention and always with so much composure, humility and humour. ACRONYMS CCR: Canadian Council for Refugees CPR: Canadian Pacific Railway The space for this report was, in large part, created as a result of the words above, and the initiative of a few members of the Research and Evaluation Branch. 9 "Race" is used in quotation marks throughout the text to highlight its socially constructed nature (see Section 1).
Ghosts and Shadows: A History of Racism in Canada
A history of racism reinforces discrimination and exploitation of racialized immigrants in general and African-Canadians in particular. My paper contends that historically institutionalized structures are the ideological fulcrum from which ongoing socio-economic inequalities derive and retain their legitimacy. Specifically, I argue that the historically institutionalized system of slavery and ensuing systemic structures of racial discrimination negatively influence the incorporation of racialized immigrants into the Canadian labour market. A historically racially segmented labour market continues to uphold colour coded social and economic hierarchies. Although Canada's point system ensures that immigrants are primarily selected on the basis of their skills and qualifications, many professionally trained and experienced racialized immigrants endure perpetual socio-economic constraints, characterized primarily by low-end, precarious forms of employment. While not intended to serve as an exhaustive chronology, this essay draws on three historical periods of Black migration and experience in Canada: the first spans early sixteenth to the end of the eighteenth-century, the second dates from the nineteenth to mid-twentieth century, and the third extends from mid-twentieth century to the present. The following historical timeline traces the prevalence and enduring nature of systemic structures and substantiates Abigail suggestion that both "racism and a culture of hegemonic whiteness were and remain endemic to the Canadian state" (p. 6).
This paper examines the relationship between precarious employment, legal status, and racialization. We conceptualize legal status to include the intersections of immigration and citizenship. Using the PEPSO survey data we operationalize three categories of legal status: Canadian born, foreign-born citizens, and foreign-born non-citizens. First we examine whether the character of precarious work varies depending on legal status, and find that it does: Citizenship by birth or naturalization reduces employment precarity across most dimensions and indicators. Next, we ask how legal status intersects with racialization to shape precarious employment. We find that employment precarity is disproportionately high for racialized non-citizens. Becoming a citizen mitigates employment precarity. Time in Canada also reduces precarity, but not for non-citizens. Foreign birth and citizenship acquisition intersect with racialization unevenly: Canadian born racialized groups exhibit higher employme...
IMISCOE Research Series
Immigrants and refugees have contributed significant growth in the Canadian economy over the last three decades. Despite clear advantages of a smooth transition into the labour force, many newcomers experience multiple barriers impeding their pathways to sustainable livelihoods. Further, significant increases in refugee resettlement and asylum claims in Canada since 2015 resulted in a growing number of refugee newcomers entering the labour market, often facing additional challenges of precarious legal status while seeking employment. To interrogate the settlement landscape, this chapter examines newcomers’ employment-related needs, experiences, and aspirations through a case study of migrants and refugees in Greater Toronto. Using narrative-biographic interviews, the chapter presents an ethnographic approach to examine how individual migrants navigate labour market policies and settlement dynamics during their initial years. A biographical approach allowed us to focus on the interpl...