Sustainable Development and Diaspora Engagement in Canada

Abstract

This chapter addresses two dimensions of the ‘migration–development nexus’: the role of Canadian immigrant diaspora groups in sustainable development and the value of such activities and efforts to institutionalize these linkages using international agreements and the national policy framework in Canada. Despite recognition of the potential development contribution of diasporas, a clear-cut official strategy involving the large and growing diaspora section of Canada’s population has not emerged. This chapter first describes the general role accorded to diasporas in contemporary debates about the development value of migration and then examines Canadian government responses to the diaspora engagement option. Despite the failure of government to articulate a clear diaspora engagement strategy or to see diasporas as potential partners in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is considerable evidence of diaspora initiative, particularly in the area of philanthropy. The chapter develops this argument with reference to a case study of the South African diaspora in Canada. The chapter maps a distinctive array of programmes with both limited and broader ambitions and outcomes. By contributing to existing efforts or self-fashioned initiatives, these active diaspora individuals/groups function as supplementary actors in development engagement in South Africa, Canada and elsewhere. Some of these initiatives have received government support but not because they are diaspora-driven per se. Indeed, an official Canadian ‘diaspora strategy’ remains elusive. The chapter ends with a call for further research to assess whether the South African diaspora is exceptional or part of a broader movement among Canada’s nearly 8 million foreign born.