Immigration Canada

Evolving Realities and Emerging Challenges in a Postnational World

By Augie Fleras

UBC Press

Beyond the romanticized image of newcomers arriving as a “huddled mass” at Halifax’s Pier 21, understanding the reality and complexity of immigration today requires an expert guide. In the hands of scholar Augie Fleras, this intricate and ever-changing subject gets the attention it deserves with analysis of all aspects, including admission policies, the refugee processing system, the temporary foreign worker program, and the emergence of transnational identities. Given the unprecedented number of federal policy reforms of the past decade, such a roadmap is essential.

Immigration Canada describes, analyzes, and reassesses immigration in a Canada that is rapidly changing, increasingly diverse, more uncertain, and globally connected. Drawing on the best Canadian and international scholarship, he considers topics of major importance, including:

theories of international migration
the redesign of Canada’s immigration program along neoliberal lines
the global refugee crisis and Canada’s response by means of the refugee status determination program
a comparison of the Canada immigration model to that of the US and Australia
the role of an official multiculturalism
the contributions of both mainstream and alternative media in influencing the “warmth of the welcome”
the gendered nature of immigration and immigrant experiences
the centrality of transmigration/transnationalism in rethinking the immigration paradigm
the customization of an inclusive Canadian citizenship to reflect the realities of multiversal and transmigrant diversities within a postnational Canada.

By thoroughly capturing the politics, patterns, and paradoxes of contemporary migration, this book rethinks the thorny issues and reframes the key debates.

RELATED TOPICS: Canadian Politics, Critical Race Studies, Immigration & Emigration, Political Science, Social Policy, Sociology, Transnationalism & Migration

With careful attention to the disparate and often contradictory arguments about the usefulness of immigration – and by extension immigrants – to the nation, Immigration Canada rethinks and reframes notions of citizenship and settlement in an increasingly transnational age. Rachel Wong, York University, British Journal of Canadian Studies

Although there is broad consensus that immigration is generally good for Canada, there are dissenting voices. Without dismissing critics out of hand, Augie Fleras provides a judicious case for rethinking notions of citizenship in a transnational age, a spirited defence of multiculturalism policy, and a balanced assessment of the country’s immigration program. Immigration Canada is the most thorough, current discussion of these issues available today. Vic Satzewich, author of Racism in Canada

Immigration Canada is highly readable and should inform a wide audience. In addition to its emphasis on multicultural settlement outcomes, this book offers new and valuable perspectives on recent developments in refugee admission, on the relationship of gender to immigration and settlement outcomes, and on recent developments in policy and policy debates in Canada. It also makes useful comparisons to the US system. Alan Simmons, author of Immigration and Canada: Global and Transnational Perspectives

Augie Fleras is an adjunct professor of sociology at the University of Waterloo. He has authored twenty-five books, including The Media Gaze: Representations of Diversities in Canada (UBC Press, 2011).

Preface

Part 1: Reappraising Migration

1 Twenty-First-Century Migration: Canada in the New Global Reality

2 Global Migration, International Migrants: Patterns, Perspectives, Paradoxes

Part 2: Immigration Canada

3 Who Got In? Who Gets In? Continuity and Change in Canada’s Immigration Program

4 Recalibrating Canada’s Immigration Program: Customizing Immigrants, Commodifying Migrant Labour

5 Canada’s Refugee Status Determination Process: Controversies, Challenges, Changes

6 American Exceptionalism: Contesting Immigration, Confounding Immigrants

Part 3: Experiencing Immigration, Immigrant Experiences

7 Assessing Immigration: Costs and Benefits, Impacts and Effects, Perceptions and Realities

8 Immigrant Experiences: The Good, the Bad, and the Hopeful