Professor Alison Taylor
Department of Educational Policy Studies
University of Alberta

Migrant worker policy and social cohesion in Canada

 A migrant worker program was initiated in Canada in 1973, but its scope has grown significantly in recent decades. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in Canada (commonly called the “stock”) climbed from 89,000 to 283,000, while new entries jumped from 116,000 to 182,000 per year. And while the initial focus of the program was on skilled workers, in 2009, over one-third of TFWs were ‘unskilled’. Further, the trend in Canadian immigration policy has been away from permanent residency to temporary migration. This presentation considers the implications of migrant worker policy for discussions about social cohesion through an examination of three literatures: the first looks at the current state of social cohesion in Canada, the second, the history of immigration policy in Canada and development of the migrant worker program, and the third, the history and effects of migrant/guest worker programs in other countries. This analysis will be complemented by Alison’s empirical research on the TFW program for nurses and trades workers in the province of Alberta.