Roles and Responsibilities of the Organizations Welcoming Immigrants in Remote Regions of Québec

Abstract

In 1992, Québec’s government adopted a regionalization policy with the intention of enlarging the settlement possibilities for recent immigrants, thus delegating the responsibility of integrating immigrants to the regions’ local community-based organizations. These immigrants arrive in their host society needing information and services concerning their host community. Considering the supporting relationships that community-based organizations in Remote Regions cultivate with immigrants, it is relevant to address the work accomplished by those organizations’ employees. With the aim of better understanding their work, this article examines the community-based organizations responsible for the welcoming and facilitating integration of immigrants. This article proposes an ethnography based on a five blocks model of the regionalization work to take a deeper look at their daily work and gain a better understanding of their specific role in the regionalization of immigration in their community, thereby refining the initial model. It then offers a reflection on the multidimensionality of their work, which goes far beyond employability, and on the specificity of immigration in the context of remote regions.