#  Canada Seminar 

 



####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **October 21, 2019** 

 12:00PM - 02:00PM EDT 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **Bowie Vernon Room, Room K262, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, CGIS Knafel Building, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge**  



 

 



 

   
***Why Immigration is a Solution, Not a Problem in Atlantic Canada: Beyond Us, Them, and Other***

 **Howard Ramos**, Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Dalhousie University  
and  
**Yoko Yoshida**, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Dalhousie University

 While the rest of the world is shaped by tensions between dominant populations and migrant minorities, seeing immigration as a problem, Canada has largely seen diversity and multiculturalism as its strength and in turn immigration as a solution to its problems. This is what sparked the “us, them, others” model to grapple with how English Canada, Quebecers and immigrants navigate multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusion. The model primarily focuses on trends in central Canadian politics through the lens of those in Ontario and Quebec overlooking the regional differences that shape inter group dynamics in the rest of Canada.

 We explore how the model applies to Atlantic Canada, where its cities are secondary centres compared to major cities like Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver. Unlike secondary cities in other countries, those in Atlantic Canada are largely open to immigration and newcomers have relatively high levels of integration. Using public opinion data and data from Statistics Canada, we compare national and regional views towards immigration and argue that Atlantic Canada’s demographic trends have generated a widespread recognition of the economic “need” for immigration, high rates of integration of newcomers, and pro-immigration policy in the region. Our analysis also shows that recent immigrants to both Canada as a whole and to Atlantic Canada are “super-Canadians.” Yet, despite the openness to immigration, newcomers to the region disproportionately leave it for larger centres often citing solitude and isolation as reasons motivating their departure. We explore these trends and argue for the need to move beyond the “us, them, other” model. We focus on the role of positive narratives concentrated on values of openness and the economic contributions of newcomers as explaining the region’s exceptionalism.

 **Yoko Yoshida** is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Dalhousie University. She is the Vice President of the Canadian Population Society and a former Academic Director of the Atlantic Research Data Centre. Her research interests include immigration and integration of immigrants to Canada, social inequality, and race and ethnic relations. She is currently working on several projects on immigrant retention in Atlantic Canada and integration of refugee families and children, including a project funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, titled “Evaluating the Economic Outcomes and Retention of Immigrants to the Atlantic Canada.”

 **Howard Ramos** is Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Dalhousie University. He researches issues of social justice and social change and has published four books and over 50 articles and chapters on social movements, human rights, Indigenous issues, environmental advocacy, urban change, economic and tourism development, technology, ethnicity, race, immigration, and equity, diversity and inclusion in higher education. His current research looks at perceptions of change in Atlantic Canada. Throughout his career, Dr. Ramos has worked with a wide range of advocacy and community organizations and is committed to knowledge translation and evidence-based policy.



 

 



 

 See also:- [ Canada Seminar ](/events/canada-seminar)
 
 

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