‘It’s a reward for good performance’: exploring the role of employer–employee relationships in Canada’s two-step economic immigration system

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article is based on personal narrative-style interviews with various stakeholders connected to Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Programme and delves into the significant role employers play in the two-step immigration system and to the rise of Canada’s Provincial Nominee Programme. The research draws from interviews with employers, settlement workers, union representatives, and government officials, shedding light on the transition from a human capital approach to immigration to an employment-driven system. At present, Canada’s Provincial Nominee Programme serves as the primary pathway for economic-class immigrants to obtain Canadian permanent residence. It is projected that by 2025, one-fifth of all new permanent residents will have been admitted through this programme, highlighting a shifting landscape where immigrant selection is increasingly being delegated from the federal government to other actors, such as provincial governments and employers. The article focuses on how stakeholders employ discretion within Canada’s two-step immigration system and explores the affective dynamics that this discretion produces. The findings illuminate how the delegation of immigrant selection to employers amplifies the importance of intricate human, economic, and administrative relationships. These relationships form complex webs of entanglement and mutual reliance, exerting a significant influence on the outcomes of Canada’s economic immigration process.