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Migrant Workers and the Problem of Social Cohesion in Canada

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Abstract

This paper explores the Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) drawing on the concept of “social cohesion,” a concept that was prominent in federal political discourse in the late 1990s. Social cohesion has value in highlighting the social impacts of shifts in policy at individual, group, and societal levels. Our case studies of temporary foreign workers in nursing and trades in Alberta suggest that the TFWP encourages low trust and sense of belonging among migrant workers and resistance from domestic workers because it promotes inequality and exclusion. The inability of most migrant workers to access settlement services, to bring families, to change employers, or to enroll in further education and training overtly discourages their integration into the local community. The TFWP also impacts the domestic workforce and citizenry by creating a new class of workers and non-citizens without the same rights. The dynamics observed at a workplace level predictably impact local communities and Canadian society overall as patterns of diversity are destabilized, values of fairness and equal opportunity are challenged, and norms of reciprocity are weakened.

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Notes

  1. These speeches were accessed online in November 2011 at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/speeches

  2. Of course, concerns about social cohesion have a much longer history in sociological writings from Comte and Saint-Simon to Durkheim, Spencer, and Tőnnies (Green and Janmaat 2011).

  3. This framing seems consistent with the historical use of nationalism as an “anticipatory strategy adopted by dominant groups threatened with marginalization or exclusion from an emerging nationally-imagined community” (cf. Anderson 2006, p. 101).

  4. The regimes of social cohesion approach is consistent with other comparative international work which examines the link between different national policies and social as well as economic outcomes (e.g., Wilkinson and Pickett 2010).

  5. It is interesting to think about how these regimes of diversity relate to the regimes of social cohesion identified by Green and Janmaat (2011). In particular, countries associated with a liberal regime of social cohesion may adopt different regimes of diversity (e.g., Canada and the USA).

  6. One of the more restrictive reforms was to deem workers who were fired with or without cause ineligible for benefits.

  7. The Canada Job Grant begins July 2014.

  8. Measures of social cohesion include pride in being Canadian, sense of belonging, generalized and strategic trust, values questions (e.g., attitudes toward gay marriage), membership in community and political groups, and voting.

  9. Indicators of social cohesion included strength of individual ties to the group, satisfaction with life, and acquisition of Canadian citizenship.

  10. There are exceptions to the LMO requirement; for example, at the time of our interviews, employers of steamfitter/pipefitters did not need to apply for an LMO. In July 2012, the trades of welder, heavy duty mechanic, ironworker, carpenter, millwright, and industrial mechanic also became exempt.

  11. The AINP is open to foreign workers with a permanent, full-time job offer from an Alberta employer in a skilled occupation (in certain National Occupational Classifications) or employers wanting to retain a skilled foreign worker on a permanent, full-time basis. But the AINP can only accept a small percentage of applicants due to federal quotas.

  12. One evident gender difference was that nurses were more likely to bring families than trades workers. However, this may also be related to the fact that most nurses were working in an urban center, whereas trades workers were working in remote work camps. Thus, men were more reliant on spouses in their home countries to care for their children. Other situations and experiences were quite similar for both groups (e.g., most were married with children, were sending remittances to families in countries of origin, and experienced licensure challenges, workplace discrimination, and challenges in attaining permanent residence).

  13. The Building Trades Unions are organized by trade and are considered the “traditional” unions representing workers in construction. Relations with employers vary, but tend to be more adversarial than employee associations and newer collaborative unions, such as CLAC.

  14. See Alberta Federation of Labour website: http://www.afl.org/index.php/Press-Release/alberta-workers-protest-jason-kenneys-paycheque-rip-off.html.

  15. Mandatory trades are those for which trades certification is required to work. In general, Red Seal certification is perceived to be slightly higher in status than provincial certification.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G5, Canada

    Alison Taylor

  2. Industrial Relations, Athabasca University, Athabasca, Alberta, T9S 3A3, Canada

    Jason Foster

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  1. Alison Taylor
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Correspondence to Alison Taylor.

Additional information

Alison Taylor is a Professor of Educational Policy Studies. She is the principal investigator on this study on Temporary Foreign Workers in nursing and trades in Alberta, funded by the Prairie Metropolis Centre. She has also written a number of articles about youth apprenticeship and school-to-work transitions.

Jason Foster is an Academic Coordinator, Industrial Relations. His research interests include migrant workers, trade union renewal, and occupational health and safety. He is also currently a Ph.D. student in Management at Saint Mary’s University. His dissertation examines union models for organizing vulnerable, traditionally non-unionized workers.

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Taylor, A., Foster, J. Migrant Workers and the Problem of Social Cohesion in Canada. Int. Migration & Integration 16, 153–172 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-014-0323-y

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