Canadian Perspectives On Immigration In Small Cities

This book examines immigration to small cities throughout Canada. It explores the distinct challenges brought about by the influx of people to urban communities which typically have less than 100,000 residents. The essays are organized into four main sections: partnerships, resources, and capacities; identities, belonging, and social networks; health, politics, and diversity, and Francophone minority communities. Taken together, they provide a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary perspective on the contemporary realities of immigration to small urban locations. Readers will discover how different groups of migrants, immigrants, and Francophone minorities confront systemic discrimination; how settlement agencies and organizations develop unique strategies for negotiating limited resources and embracing opportunities brought about by changing demographics; and how small cities work hard to develop inclusive communities and respond to social exclusions. In addition, each essay includes a case study that highlights the topic under discussion in a particular city or region, from Brandon, Manitoba to the Thompson-Nicola Region in British Columbia, from Peterborough, Ontario to the Niagara Region. As a complement to metropolitan-based works on immigration in Canada, this collection offers an important dimension in migration studies that will be of interest to academics, researchers, as well as policymakers and practitioners working on immigrant integration and settlement.

This captivating examination of immigration in rural Canadian towns analyzes the essential components that smaller municipalities and counties must consider to attract and sustain meaningful settlement of newcomers. With the research compiled and presented in three parts - setting the context, promising principles and practices, and case studies - the book offers important information that will be helpful to all participants in the rural immigration process.The analysis presented by the authors systematically makes one point clear - populations are continuously declining across many rural communities due to a variety of reasons, including urban migration and declining birth rates. Promoting immigration for these rural centres offers "optimism that strategies can be embraced that will help to avoid population decline through a thoughtful approach to attracting and retaining newcomers."

Small Canadian cities confront serious social issues as a result of the neoliberal economic restructuring practiced by both federal and provincial governments since the 1980s. Drastic spending reductions and ongoing restraint in social assistance, income supports, and the provision of affordable housing, combined with the offloading of social responsibilities onto municipalities, has contributed to the generalization of social issues once chiefly associated with Canada’s largest urban centres. As the investigations in this volume illustrate, while some communities responded to these issues with inclusionary and progressive actions others were more exclusionary and reactive—revealing forms of discrimination, exclusion, and “othering” in the implementation of practices and policies. Importantly, however their investigations reveal a broad range of responses to the social issues they face. No matter the process and results of the proposed solutions, what the contributors uncovered were distinctive attributes of the small city as it struggles to confront increasingly complex social issues. If local governments accept a social agenda as part of its responsibilities, the contributors to Small Cities, Big Issues believe that small cities can succeed in reconceiving community based on the ideals of acceptance, accommodation, and inclusion.

Canada has one of the most successful immigration programmes in the world, a function of the policies, programmes, and services that assist newcomers. Immigrant settlement is a crucial policy field that involves governments, communities, and a range of social forces. Immigration matters are an area of shared jurisdiction, but the federal government has long been the dominant player. Provinces and municipalities, however, are now pushing for an expanded policy role, increased resources, and governance arrangements that recognize the important part they play in immigrant settlement. Drawing on in-depth interviews with government officials and front-line workers, contributors provide a comparative assessment of approaches to immigrant settlement in nineteen Canadian municipalities. This is complemented by a discussion of the federal government's role in this policy field, and by a comprehensive introduction and conclusion, which ground the book historically and thematically, synthesize its key findings, and provide recommendations for addressing the challenges related to intergovernmental cooperation, settlement service delivery, and overall immigrant outcomes. Chapters examine the mechanics of public policy-making but also tell a story about diverse and innovative approaches to immigrant settlement in Canada's towns and cities, about gaps and problems in the system, and about the ways in which governments and communities are working together to facilitate integration.

Immigration and Settlement: Challenges, Experiences, and Opportunities draws on a selection of papers that were presented at the international Migration and the Global City conference at Ryerson University, Toronto, in October of 2010. Through the use of international and Canadian perspectives, this book examines the contemporary challenges, experiences, and opportunities of immigration and settlement in global, Canadian, and Torontonian contexts. In seventeen comprehensive chapters, this text approaches immigration and settlement from various thematic angles, including: rights, state, and citizenship; immigrants as labour; communities and identities; housing and residential contexts; and emerging opportunities. Immigration and Settlement will be of interest to academics, researchers and students, policy-makers, NGOs and settlement practitioners, and activists and community organizers.

Immigration and Canada provides readers with a vital introduction to the field of international migration studies. This original book presents an integrated critical perspective on Canadian immigration policies, main trends, and social, economic, and cultural impacts. It offers up-to-date information on migration patterns and examines Canada in an evolving, global-transnational system that gives rise to imagined futures and contrasting real outcomes. Key issues and debates include: nation building and the historical roots of Canadian immigration contemporary global migration the changing national and ethnic origins of immigrants immigrants, jobs, wages, and the economy "designer" immigrants and the brain gain the business of migration demographic impacts of immigration racism and prejudice facing excluded and marginalized populations transnational citizens, diasporas, emerging identities, and struggles to belong refugees, temporary workers, and foreign visa workers undocumented migration and migrant trafficking the baby bust and the future of international migration