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Labour Market Discrimination: the Lived Experiences of English-Speaking Caribbean Immigrants in Toronto

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Abstract

The study examined the lived experiences of immigrants in Toronto from Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, with emphasis on their perceptions and experiences of labour market discrimination. The study employs a qualitative methodology and adopts a critical policy research framework which included a series of in-depth interviews. Based on the central argument that there is a disjuncture between the human capital model used at the policy level and the understanding of immigrant human capital on the ground, the study has found structural and institutional practices inherent in the Canadian labour market that are principal reasons for many immigrants’ poor labour market outcomes. Evidence from the study strongly suggests that there is an issue of racism and sexism at play in the Canadian labour market that negatively affects outcomes for Caribbean immigrants in Toronto.

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Notes

  1. Note that in an effort to preserve the anonymity of interview participants, each participant was assigned a coded name on the basis of country of birth, gender and the order in which the interviews took place. For example, JF3 refers to the third immigrant woman from Jamaica that was interviewed.

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  1. Policy Studies, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada

    Ron Robert Branker

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Branker, R.R. Labour Market Discrimination: the Lived Experiences of English-Speaking Caribbean Immigrants in Toronto. Int. Migration & Integration 18, 203–222 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-016-0469-x

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