Integration Discourses and the Generational Trajectories of Civic Engagement in Multi-Nation States: A Comparison of the Canadian Provinces of Quebec and Ontario

Abstract

Prior research into the relationship between integration discourses and immigrant political incorporation adopts a narrow nation-state focus which fails to take into account the fact that integration is increasingly defined and carried out at the sub-national level in multi-nation states. Such research also neglects to consider the effects of these discourses on generational trajectories in participation, a key focus of both integration theory and mainstream civic incorporation research. Using Canada as a case study, this article bridges the literatures on integration discourses, immigrant civic engagement and minority nationalism to determine whether generational trends in civic membership and volunteering differ in Quebec—the only Canadian province to adopt an intercultural integration discourse—and in Ontario, where multiculturalism shapes integration policy. The results show significant overlap between integration discourses and the propensity for co-ethnic membership among immigrants and their offspring. In Quebec, where the interculturalism contract requires newcomers to participate in a common public culture centred on the French language, immigrants and their offspring are less likely than established cohorts to pursue membership in co-ethnic associations. In Ontario, where a multicultural discourse attributes equal value to majority and minority cultures, first- and second-generation immigrants are more likely to participate in predominantly co-ethnic associations than established native-born groups.