Immigration, Integration and Citizenship

1
Immigration, Integration and Citizenship

• State and diversity a ethnocultural diversity
  management (EDM) model
• Presentation by
• Patricia Rimok, President, Conseil des relations
  interculturelles (Government of Quebec)
• Vancouver Workshop
• March 25, 2006

2
Plan

• I Context
• II EDM model
• III Responsibilities at two levels
• IV Shared responsibilities for implementation of
  EDM
• V Action plan for implementation
• VI Monitoring results and impact of measures
• VII Conclusion

3
I Context

• Globalization
• Economic issues
• Demographic issues
• States, provinces, areas, cities are in
  competition in order to attract and to preserve
  specialized workers, investors or contractors
  (economic issues) or other candidates for
  immigration, as families with young children
  (demographic issues)

4
Context (contnd)

• Immigrant population of Quebec in 2001
• 9,9 of the population (13 of the immigrants
  established in Canada)
• Visible minorities
• 6,9 of the population (12,4 of the visible
  minorities in Canada)
• Areas from where the immigrants come
• Europe 40
• Asia 27
• Americas 21
• Africa 11

5
Context (contnd)

• Period of arrival of immigrants
• Before 1960 14
• 1960 and 1970 32
• 1980 20
• 1991 and 2001 35
• 1996 and 2001 19
• Immigrants admitted in Quebec
• 2000 32 502
• 2001 37 537
• 2002 37 629
• 2003 39 583
• 2004 44 226
• 2005 45 250

6
Context (contnd)

• Concerning the integration of recent immigrants
• Recognition of competences
• The underutilization of competences of the
  immigrants
• Loss of incomes between 2,7 and 4,1 billion in
  Canada
• A country or a province is likely to double its
  loss if immigrants decide to migrate elsewhere
• Economic and demographic
• 48 of businesses people admitted in Quebec
  between 1980 and 1995 live in another province in
  1995
• 79,4 of the immigrants admitted between 1994
  and 2003, were still in Quebec in the beginning
  of 2005
• Toronto and Vancouver are attracting more
  immigrants than Montreal

7
Context (contnd)

• Other difficulties
• Adaptation
• Loneliness
• Racism
• Xenophobia
• Since the terrorist attacks in the United States,
  Spain and Great Britain
• National security and internal borders
• A good immigrant or descendant of immigrant/a bad
  immigrant or descendant of immigrant

8
Context (contnd)

• As immigration will have a cumulative effect on
  diversity, this one will characterize the Quebec
  society and its population
• If Quebec seeks to support social cohesion, it
  can become more problematic if a greater number
  of individuals because of their identification to
  an ethnic minority or to their skin color will
  marginalize
• Where must begin the EDM and where must it
  finish?
• Who must be concerned or implicated by this
  management?

9
II EDM model

• Objective
• Building an interactive model
• Definition
• Interactions that are formed between groups which
  are regarded as being different (majority vs
  minorities, minority vs minority)
• Its "management" constitutes a group of
  principles that correspond to the adjustment of
  social relations based on identity or to the
  desire to regulate them
• The result of which is a question of managing
  relations between groups that, for a reason or
  another, could be regarded as being opposite

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III Responsibilities at two levels

• In Canada
• Multiculturalism
• Federal authorities grant the Canadian
  citizenship or the statute of permanent resident,
  and determine the total number of immigrants to
  admit annually
• The Canada-Quebec Agreement (1991) recognizes the
  distinct character of Quebec for the integration
  of immigrants
• Canada is responsible for the national standards
  and objectives relating to immigration and of the
  admission of the immigrants
• Quebec is responsible for the selection,
  settlement and integration of immigrants in its
  territory

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Responsibilities at two levels (contnd)

• In Quebec
• Recognition of ethnocultural diversity
  (differentiation/lack of differentiation)
• Majority/minorities (immigrants, visible
  minorities and allophones about 15 of the
  population)
• The ministère de lImmigration et des Communautés
  culturelles (MICC) occupy a central position in
  terms of selection, settlement and integration
• If other ministries are concerned with these
  activities, it does not necessarily appear in
  their strategic plans
• More than a 150 community organizations offer
  services to immigrants in partnership with the
  MICC
• Companies can profit from programs or
  governmental measures in order to absorb a
  workforce that diversifies

12
Responsibilities at two levels (contnd)

• Legislative context
• In Canada
• Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• Employment Equity Act
• Achieve equality in the workplace
• Apply to various types of public and private
  organizations working in the sectors of federal
  competences
• in Quebec
• Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms
• Act respecting equal access to employment in
  public bodies
• Equal access to employment in public bodies
  (municipal sector, health and social services,
  crown corporation, Sureté du Québec
• The other ministries are not subjected to this
  law
• But are able to present their recruiting
  objectives in front of the members of Parliament

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IV Shared responsibilities for implementation of
EDM

• The State e.g. when it seeks to foster social
  cohesion, in the name of public interest
• The civil society e.g. when NGOs represent
  interests of ethnocultural communities
• The market e.g. when companies manage diversity
  in their organization

14
Shared responsibilities for implementation of
EDM (contnd)

• However, there is no real coordination between
  various actors the State, the public and the
  market, nor between the actors in each sphere
• Measures that are proposed to integrate
  immigrants both socially, economically and
  culturally seem less effective when immigration
  diversifies in its composition
• The volume of selected immigrants increases with
  the years and the countries from where they come
  from, diversify
• The various actors do not necessarily work in a
  concerted and complementary way, but partitioned,
  sometimes to solve similar problems

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e.g. problems that affect young people from a
minority (immigrants)
NGOs, ministry of Education, Schools, Health
and social services, MICC
Neighbourhood police, NGOs, Ministry of
Justice, Health and social services
Who is working with who?
NGOs, Local employment center, Health and
social services
School dropouts
Criminal activities
Poverty and unemployment
16
Shared responsibilities for implementation of
EDM (contnd)

• If Quebec seeks to support social cohesion, it
  needs to take into account that a greater number
  of individuals who are identified to an ethnic
  minority may end up more marginalized

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V Action plan for implementation

• The State must give the example within its own
  ministries and organizations and develop
  exemplary practices in terms of EDM
• A positive perception
• To reflect that Quebec is an inclusive society
• To benefit from various expertises
• To answer a demand for services that are changing

18
Action plan for implementation(contnd)

• The State will have to develop hiring tools to
  increase its diversity numbers (even in a context
  of compression)
• In 2002, the Government of Quebec projected that
  half of its personnel would leave the civil
  service by 2012
• In 2003-2004, the share of the cultural
  communities, including the visible minorities
  born in Quebec in the public service, represented
  2,5
• In 2011, immigration will count for 100 of the
  growth of the labour force

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Action plan for implementation(contnd)

• To bring the actors of the State, the civil
  society and the market to work together in order
  to identify, solve and prevent the problems
  related to increasing diversity
• The State can be the instigator for it
• For instance, by supporting the setting-up of a
  task force of EDM
• However, the civil society and the market must be
  stakeholders of the initiative
• Need for a coordination of the actions so that
  EDM can be effective
• An inclusive society in the public and the
  private sphere

20
Action plan for implementation (contnd)

• A task force of EDM
• Collective actors who represent the interests of
  the immigrants (associations)
• Organizations which have competences in precise
  sectors that relate to ethnocultural diversity
• Representatives from employers' associations
• Representatives from labour organizations
• Representatives from social and economic
  development initiatives or organizations
• Representatives from territories (cities and
  regions)
• Representatives from the field of research
• Representatives from State (provincial and
  federal government)

21
Civil society
MSSS (and other departments and agencies)
MICC (and other departments and agencies,
including the Conseil exécutif)
EDM Task Force
MAMR (and other departments and agencies
Cities and districts or neighbourhoods
Market
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VI Monitoring results and impact of measures

• Legislation framework
• Representation and numerical distribution of the
  members of racial minority groups in
  organizations
• Employment policy
• Policies, decision-making processes and business
  practices which affect all aspects of the career
  of people within an organization including
  minority groups
• An organizational culture open to diversity
• To abolish discrimination in employment

23
Monitoring results and impact of measures
(contnd)

• Reasons to diversify in the workplace
• Legislation
• An obligation
• Economic
• Competition
• New market
• Shortage of workforce
• Management of risk (reputation, legal
  proceedings)
• Ethic
• Diversity as a basic value of the organization
• Diversity is firmly anchored in all aspects of
  the organization

24
Monitoring results and impact of measures
(contnd)

• Need for a program
• Leadership engagement
• Time devoted to the questions of diversity
• Communication (numbers of mention/discourse)
• Participation of managers
• Strategy and plan of promotion of diversity
• Existence of a strategy (yes or no)
• Quality of the strategy
• Annual action plan
• Education and training
• Investment or costs
• Participation
• Impact

25
Monitoring results and impact of measures
(contnd)

• Results in terms of diversity
• Demographic profile of workforce
• Number of persons from target groups
• Levels of wages of persons from target groups
• Number of persons from target groups who leave
  the organization
• Culture and environment of work
• Internal complaints related to diversity
• number of legal proceedings related to diversity
• Attitude of workforce with respect to the
  questions related to diversity (survey,
  comparisons between groups, comparison with other
  organizations)

26
Monitoring results and impact of measures
(contnd)

• Advantages for the organization
• Reduction of the costs relating to
• Rotation of the workforce
• Absenteeism
• Direct expenses in recruitment
• Access to new markets
• Shares of new given markets (target groups)
• Attitudes of the target groups selected toward
  products and services
• Capacity for global management
• Proportion of the management team having a
  minority origin
• Proportion of the very promising executives
  having a minority origin

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VII Conclusion

• For an effective and inclusive EDM
• The State must itself give the example
• To hire a diversified personnel
• To adopt an Equality Employment Program that
  respect all levels of State activities
• To account for the results in front of elected
  officials
• To integrate in its practices a new manner of
  proceeding as an employer and as a service
  provider
• Need for a coordination between the various
  ministries and government agencies
• Need for delegating responsibilities, for
  instance to the cities or the areas that are
  responsible in the long run for the selection,
  settlement and integration of immigrants
• Need for seed moneys associated to new ways of
  doing
• Cost of doing business and cost of not doing
  business

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Conclusion (countnd)

• State as a leader to create an EDM Task Force
• The private sector can and must also profit from
  the advantages of diversity
• Need for tools in order to measure impact of
  diversity in organizations
• Need for the participation of all the actors