Abstract
Canada’s population of immigrant youth between the ages of 15 and 35 is approaching 3 million and growing rapidly. Youth are critical to Canada’s goal of recruiting immigrants to expand the economy, but there is insufficient information about their school and work experiences and inadequate support to ensure their successful integration into the workforce. This literature review investigates the connection between education and work for Canadian immigrant youth. It documents obstacles in the form of underfunded settlement services, lack of diversity in the school curriculum, inadequate English-language instruction at all levels of schooling, racially and ethnically biased streaming of students into the lowest educational track in high school, rejection of foreign school transcripts and work credentials, employers’ prejudice and discrimination, and workplace exploitation. The number and magnitude of these systemic impediments create significant obstacles for immigrant youth. A major cause of these issues is insufficient funding for immigrant services under neoliberal economic policies. The outcomes for immigrant youth include failure to finish secondary and postsecondary education, a long-term cycle of employment in low-skill, low-wage jobs, and socioeconomic hardship such as poverty and homelessness. The authors call for greater attention to this critical population and make nine recommendations that would contribute to solutions in each major issue area impacting the education of Canadian immigrant youth and their entry into the workforce.
Highlights
As Canada’s immigrant population grows as a result of admission of refugees and recruitment of educated, skilled workers needed to support economic growth, so does its population of young immigrants
As of the 2016 census, that number had risen to 759,025 (17.94% of the youth population; Statistics Canada, 2019c), and there were more than two million immigrant youth between 15 and 35 (Statistics Canada, 2018)
The limited data available points to marginalization of newcomer youth as a result of streaming them into education programs that lead to low-skilled, low-wage jobs; long-standing discriminatory practices in the labour market based on prejudices around immigrants, race, language, and culture; rejection of their foreign education and work credentials; and deskilling, or placement in jobs below their education and skills
Summary
As Canada’s immigrant population grows as a result of admission of refugees and recruitment of educated, skilled workers needed to support economic growth, so does its population of young immigrants. The limited data available points to marginalization of newcomer youth as a result of streaming them into education programs that lead to low-skilled, low-wage jobs; long-standing discriminatory practices in the labour market based on prejudices around immigrants, race, language, and culture; rejection of their foreign education and work credentials; and deskilling, or placement in jobs below their education and skills They face hurdles to school and work that go beyond the difficulties of native-born youth and they deal with “double jeopardy: being new and being young” The hostility that newcomer youth face in the Canadian education system on the basis of their immigration status, race, language, culture, and other identity factors continues when they enter the job market (Ontario Federation of Labour [OFL], 2014). The result has been the creation of a new class of devalued, underpaid, or unpaid entry-level positions that impact newcomer youth, who are not streamed toward paid WIL positions that include skills training (Turcotte, Nichols, & Philipps, 2016)
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More From: Canadian Journal of Family and Youth / Le Journal Canadien de Famille et de la Jeunesse
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