Latin American Communities in Canada: Trends in Diversity and Integration

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the Latin American population in Canada based on data extracted from the 2011 census and from a survey conducted in 2013 with an oversample of Latin American immigrants, as well as from other sources. It deals with the ways in which Latin Americans are categorized and how they self-identify in Canada—with the U.S. reality as a point of reference—and with a focus on Latin Americans’ cultural attitudes and values in a Québec-rest of Canada comparative perspective. Cet article établit un portrait de la population latino-américaine du Canada sur la base de données tirée du recensement de 2011 et d’un sondage réalisé en 2013 avec un échantillon d’immigrants latino-américains, ainsi que d’autres sources. On s’intéresse en particulier à la manière dont les Latino-américains sont catégorisés et à leurs modalités d’auto-identification dans le contexte canadien et nord-américain. On examine également leurs attitudes culturelles et leurs valeurs dans une perspective comparative entre le Québec et le reste du Canada.

Understanding the Integration Process Through the Concept of Trust: a Case Study of Latin American Professionals in Québec

“…These communities are experiencing a burgeoning growth in cultural, artistic, recreational and religious activities, publicized by an also-blossoming set of newspapers, radio shows and websites (Ginieniewicz 2010, 501). Immigration from Central and South America, excluding Haiti (as it is not a Spanish-or Portuguese-speaking country), accounted for 13% of all immigrants to Quebec between 2009 and 2013 (Armony 2014), which is a considerable increase compared with previous years. Finally, while a generic 'immigrant experience' certainly exists, the current body of knowledge demonstrates that individuals and ethnic groups integrate into their host societies according to specific patterns.…”

Links between White Settler Colony in Quebec and the Barriers to the Economic Integration of Skilled Latin American Immigrants

“…Quebec is the only Canadian province where French is the official language, with 79% of the population who are French speaking (Statistics Canada, 2016). Quebec has an unprecedented authority in selecting its own immigrants as per the 1991 Gagnon Tremblay/McDougall Accord, with a point system that has language skills and provincial labour market needs as priorities (Armony, 2014). In effect, applicants to immigration programs, such as Quebec Experience Program and Quebec Self-Employed Program, are directly chosen by the provincial government, and most of them enter the province under the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (Paquet, 2017).…”

“…Lastly, the professional wave of LA migration, which began in the mid-1990s and still continues, includes individuals as independent-class immigrants on the basis of their skills and professional experience (Schugurensky & Ginieniewicz, 2007). Research indicates that Quebec in particular attracts more LA immigrants under the skilled-worker status than the rest of Canada as a whole (Armony, 2014). While language proximity and Catholic background factors may play an important role for this demographic pull, it does not necessarily translate into positive intergroup relations.…”

“…Indeed, such discrepancies are grounded in Quebec's definition of ethno-nationalism that shaped controversial ideas of citizenship that can explain the reasons why government authorities are often inattentive to the structural causes of inequality in Quebec. This article focuses on economic immigrants from the LA group, which, although it is a relatively new and rapidly growing community (Armony, 2014), has received limited scholarly attention in Canada. Specifically, what role does French nationalism play in the misrecognition of the national membership of LA immigrants in Quebec?…”

The Settlement experience of Salvadoran refugees

“…Data from the 2011 census showed that among the Canadian foreign-born population who declared a Latin American origin, Salvadorans constituted the third-largest group (Armony, 2014). The numbers indicate the successive waves in which Latin American migration occurred to Canada, particularly regarding Salvadorans.…”