Coming and going: the impacts of precarious work and non-citizenship on immigrant in- and out-migration in New Brunswick

Abstract

Based on the qualitative analysis of data collected from 52 immigrant women who lived in the province of New Brunswick, Canada, this article describes how their experiences of precarious employment and precarious non-citizenship intersect with factors unique to the provincial context. The women's experiences of precarity in this context help to explain immigrant out-migration. Although engaged in low skill occupations, women who arrive in New Brunswick with temporary work permits are more satisfied with the particular conditions of precarity than those with higher education levels or with high skill professional experience. This is largely due to a segmented labour market and a lack of social citizenship in the province. All immigrant women report anxiety and stress concerning the precarious pathway to full legal citizenship. Immigrant women are attracted to the province by the government's population growth strategy yet the particular intersections of precarious work and precarious non-citizenship push them elsewhere in Canada in search of greater economic and social security.