Canadian Politics

A04(e) - Attitudes toward immigration in Canada: The conditions of belonging and deservingness

Date: Jun 3 | Time: 01:45pm to 03:15pm | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Antoine Bilodeau (Concordia)

Even when newcomers settle in Canada, the host population does not necessarily welcome them as “true” nationals or co-citizens. After crossing Canada’s physical borders, the challenge continues, and immigrants and refugees must successfully cross the imagined borders of who belongs to the nation. Building on the on concept of imagined borders of belonging, this panel proposes a discussion on the factors that structure attitudes toward immigration. The papers will examine the criteria required to be considered a full member of the Canadian in-group, the conditions under which immigrants are perceived as being deserving of the citizenship status (including, but not limited to legal citizenship) or be granted political rights. A special attention is also given to the role of stereotyping of various groups or classes of immigrants and how that affects opinions on whether or not immigration intakes should be increased or decreased. This panel is organized by the Immigration Research Initiative funded by the Secrétariat aux affaires canadiennes du Gouvenement du Québec.

Stereotypes of high- and low-skilled immigrants to Canada: Evidence from an online survey: Vincent Hopkins (UBC), Andrea Lawlor (McMaster), Mireille Paquet (Concordia)
Abstract: Voters typically prefer high-skilled over low-skilled immigration. While some argue this “skill premium” flows from sociotropic/economic considerations, others argue it reflects ethnic/racial prejudice. Surprisingly, however, there is little systematic evidence about what comes to mind when voters think about immigrant skill levels. Which stereotypes predominate? Are there demographic differences stereotypical beliefs? And, how do these beliefs shape attitudes toward immigration? In an exploratory, online survey of Canadians (N=2,422), we use open-ended survey items to identify stereotypes of low- and high-skilled immigrants. We also examine stereotypes toward two temporary resident groups: international students and temporary foreign workers. We measure the valence of different stereotypes and use automated text analysis to code them into substantive categories. We explore the demographic profile of people who believe various stereotypes (e.g., sociotropic/economic versus ethnic/racial), and examine whether stereotypical beliefs predict anti-immigrant attitudes and support for immigration.

Identity, Entitlement, and Policy Preferences in Canada: Seyoung Jung (UQAM)
Abstract: While citizenship connotes a legal tie between a self and a state, there is a variation in how closely one aligns the state to one’s self-concept. This study develops a Canadian identity implicit association test (CI-IAT) that measures the state attachment at the subconscious level. This psychological construct reflects the use of a different memory system and circumvents the issue of social desirability. The study explores whether this internalization of the state within the self varies systematically by different facets of citizenship (i.e. birthplace, immigrant background, country of residence, race/ethnicity, and language). Furthermore, the study shows the relationship between the level of Canadian identity and how individuals see themselves and others as deserving the full inventory of citizenship entitlements. The empirical evidence of the study contributes to a deeper understanding of how individuals perceive themselves as part of the political community and the basis of their policy preferences.

Public opinion toward migrant voting rights in Canada: Colin Scott (Concordia)
Abstract: Voting rights for non-citizens have been extended at the local level in several jurisdictions across Western Europe. Recently, there have been discussions about extending the franchise for local elections in certain Canadian municipalities. Despite this nascent interest in extending the right to vote to non-citizens in municipal elections, there is little public opinion research on the issue. This study addresses this gap with new experimental and cross-sectional data from a Canadian national survey (N = 1,196) gauging public opinion toward extending voting rights to non-citizens with different migration histories. Although Canadians are significantly more supportive of extending voting rights to non-citizen migrants with longer periods of residency in the local community, most respondents remain skeptical, if not outright opposed, to granting non-citizens the right to vote in municipal elections. This holds regardless of whether migrants arrived in Canada as immigrants, refugees, or asylum seekers. Moreover, once migrants gain Canadian citizenship and become eligible to vote in elections at any level of government, respondents tend to support higher fines against foreign-born citizens who do not vote in federal elections despite being eligible, highlighting the double standards foreign-born and native-born citizens face when their electoral participation is scrutinized.

The Terms of Belonging in Minority Nations: Markers of National Identity in Quebec and Scotland and Attitudes toward Minority Groups: Antoine Bilodeau (Concordia), Ailsa Henderson (University of Edinburgh)
Abstract: The production and reproduction of community boundaries occupies an important place in minority nations’ politics. If a certain number of studies have examined the ways in which citizens of minority nations define the terms of belonging (McCrone and Bechhofer 2008, 2015; Rosie 2014; Bilodeau and Turgeon 2021), most are limited to case studies. This paper builds on this gap and offers a comparison of the terms of belonging as defined by majority group members in two minority nations, namely Quebec and Scotland. Two objectives are pursued. First, we compare the terms of belonging in Quebec and Scotland, more specifically, comparing the markers of national identity that are most salient in the two minority national contexts. Second, we explore the connection between the predominant markers of national identity in Quebec and Scotland and how they shape views toward minority groups. More specifically, we examine how the terms of belonging shape views in relation to whether immigration intakes should be increased or decreased, and following Berry’s work (1997) we examine to what extent majority group members expect immigrants to learn the host culture and to shed the culture of their country of origin. Moreover, we examine views toward other national minorities residing in Quebec and Scotland, respectively anglophones and English people. The paper relies on two online surveys conducted in Quebec in 2022 (n=2400) and in Scotland in 2023 (n=1200) among majority group members using similar question wordings.