Discrimination in Canadian Education and Training: The Multicultural Imaginary

  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
  • Canada’s reputation on the world stage as an inclusive multicultural nation attracts many new immigrants to the country each year. Immigration is essential to the development of Canada’s economy and over the last decade, immigration has grown substantially with immigrants making considerable contributions to Canada's economic growth. This immigration trend includes international students, many of whom enroll in Canadian post-secondary institutions with the intention of transitioning to permanent residency after graduation. Largely among these immigrants is also those classified as skilled workers, which have amassed significant education and training in their home country and have migrated to Canada with the hope of contributing their expertise to the Canadian workforce. However, notwithstanding Canada’s reputation of inclusivity and fairness which lure many of these immigrants to the country, their experiences upon arrival prove this to be otherwise.
    In this era of internationalization and globalization, neoliberal agendas have now become important aspects of many institutional and national governments’ higher education and immigration policies. This paper uses a critical race approach to examine the relationship between internationalization and neoliberal agendas throughout Canadian higher education and Canada’s skilled worker immigration program. Findings include the perception that some faculty and employers display discriminatory behavior, which unfairly places limitations on racial minority students and employees. Discrimination in Canadian education is found to exist not only within the schools, but within a system that places greater value on Canadian education and training over foreign credentials. I conclude by suggesting that for this trend to be addressed at a systemic level more concentrated deliberations and concerted efforts are required.

  • Date created
    2022-12-07
  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Type of Item
    Research Material
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-fpkb-5z15
  • License
    Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International