Canadian immigrant guidelines on how to become productive members of society

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically look at how immigrants to Canada are informed and educated about how to become productive members of society. The authors adopted a postcolonial framework to unveil the underlying assumptions embedded in the messages that are conveyed to “teach” and “prepare” immigrants for the Canadian workplace. In particular, the authors focus on non-white immigrants because they form the majority of immigrants to Canada and at the same time data show that they experience particular socio-economic obstacles in their settlement process that European immigrants did not. Design/methodology/approach The authors apply postcolonialism as the theoretical framework. This approach allows the authors to analyze the relationship between the local subject and the encounter with the non-local other, in this case the immigrant who is from a non-European background. The authors conduct a Foucauldian critical discourse analysis on selected texts that serve as information sources for immigrants. These texts include government documents, immigrant information brochures, and workplace information books and booklets. Findings The analysis shows ideological positions that reveal discursive messages representing the non-white immigrant in binary terms. Such immigrants are represented in opposing (and inferior) terms to the local (largely white) Canadian citizen. By adopting a postcolonial lens, the analysis shows that the messages to acculturate immigrants reveal assimilationist features. Research limitations/implications The authors acknowledge that the authors’ own personal socio-political, intellectual, and ideological locations influence the approach, logic, research process, and the interpretation of the findings. For future research, other textual sources should be analyzed with regard to the messages they convey to immigrants as a form of education to see what kind of acculturation is conveyed. Practical implications This paper sheds light on the necessity to develop policies that not only aim to acculturate immigrants using integration strategies but also to carefully communicate and educate newcomers through messages that that do not stem from colonial assumptions. Originality/value This research points out the taken-for granted and oftentimes invisible forms of discriminatory practices in the workplace that appear non-discriminatory on the surface but are rooted in colonial thinking. Consequently, the authors challenge “mainstream” management theories concerning diversity in the workplace by questioning the underlying messages portrayed to immigrants.

Labour market integration of newcomers to Canada: The perspectives of newcomers in a smaller urban centre

“…Our study's participants, of which half had certificates, trades and/or post‐secondary education from their home countries, faced similar challenges in finding employment due to their lack of Canadian work experience. This requirement has been identified by Krysa et al (2017) as mainly involving soft skills, such as communication, problem‐solving and teamwork, rather than technical skills, which are presumed to be lacking in immigrants and require teaching. Such Canadian work experience expectations create barriers for immigrants, as there is no standard for evaluating these soft skills, and according to the Ontario Human Rights Commission (2013), it represents covert racism embedded in job prerequisites.…”

Work experiences of qualified immigrants: a review of theoretical progress

“…The host country's collectivistic culture, collective workplace culture and organisational interventions to strengthen relationships among colleagues all increase the likelihood of adopting integration and decrease the likelihood of adopting marginalisation (Dheer and Lenartowicz, 2018;Lu et al, 2016). Krysa et al (2017) use post-colonial analysis to investigate "the underlying assumptions embedded in the messages that are conveyed to teach and prepare immigrants for the Canadian workplace" (p. 483); they discover that neoliberalism, as the dominant paradigm, facilitates the assimilation of QIs, turning them into conforming members of a capitalist system. Dheer and Lenartowicz (2018) assert that the type of acculturation strategy plays an important role in shaping a QI's career decisions.…”

Performing to secure cultural hegemony: mediators' impact on the integration process

“…So far there are but a few studies that have explored the immigration policy and immigrants' position of the labor market from a postcolonial perspective (e.g. Krysa et al ., 2017; Moulettes, 2015).…”