Linguistically Inclusive Integration of Skilled Immigrants: A Case Study Exploring the Disconnect Between Immigrant Policy Discourse and Settlement Experiences of South-Asian Immigrants in Alberta, Canada

Tuesday 25th Jan

Kashif Raza, University of Calgary

The socio-economic integration of immigrants, especially skilled workers coming under the economic class, is one of the top priorities of Canada (GC, 2020). However, a disconnect may be observed between the top-down policies informing the current integration model that mandates the use of one of Canada’s official languages (English or French) for settlement and the social multilingualism where multiple languages are spoken by the Indigenous peoples and immigrants (Haque, 2012; Lopez, 2007; Raza, 2021). Chiras and Galante (2021) argued that such settlement practices are informed by monolingual ideologies that consider the use of a “common” language necessary for socio-economic integration and, thus, run the risk of marginalizing those who do not possess acceptable proficiency in that “common” language or speak it as a second/additional language. Similarly, by not recognizing and supporting “other” languages important for successful integration, this model discriminates between dominant languages (English and/or French) and less-dominant languages (Indigenous and immigrants’ languages) (Cummins, 2014; Galiev; 2013). Finally, restricting socio-economic integration to English and/or French is a missed opportunity to benefit fully from the linguistic diversity of Canadian societies that can contribute to economic development, stronger relations among different language groups, and making Canadian immigration system a role-model for other countries to follow (Grin; 2003; Heller; 2003; Raza & Chua, forthcoming). My study aims to explore how a linguistically inclusive integration model can be designed and implemented that gives equal representation to official, Indigenous and immigrant languages, and promotes linguistic equity, social justice and diversity.