Imagine that every experience, training, recognition, talents, and skills that you ever gathered for a big part of your professional life, the reason for your selection into a team, evaporates the moment you get on that team. That team is Alberta, and you are a newcomer to team Alberta. This is how newcomers feel on team Alberta.
It is no secret that newcomers to Alberta in particular, and Canada in general, suffered from higher unemployment rates and have to start life with survival jobs as their experiences and credentials are ignored even in a booming economy. Literature review prepared for the Edmonton Local Immigration Partnership (E-LIP) Council by University of Alberta Professor, Sandeep Agrawal and his team found that at least up until 2014, newcomers to Edmonton suffered from higher unemployment rates and were assigned to temporary jobs despite the region’s booming economy.
“Our review further suggests that cultural and psychological barriers, and layered stigma kept them from accessing appropriate help and services. Challenges in the settlement process to do with diversity, discrimination, racism, adequate and affordable housing,” Page 2 of E-LIP Report.
Newcomers to Alberta can take consolation for doing better than newcomers in other parts of Canada as presented by Professor Agrawal research. Page 2 of the report continues, “…Agrawal, 2014 own research however suggested that newcomers to Edmonton do significantly better than those in the rest of the country, except for Calgary…”.
Professor Agrawal research found that success of newcomers depends on some key factors such as; age at the time of landing, occupation, education level, place of birth, year of immigration, racism and discrimination. He also found out that some newcomer communities such as Indian-born have done better economically than others. Unfortunately, experiences of economically successful immigrant groups and the strategies that worked for them to transition out of low-income socioeconomic levels has not been captured.
The Edmonton Local Immigration Partnership (E-LIP) Council Report prepared by Professor Agrawal and team also shared that newcomers chose Edmonton for economic reasons (34%), family and friends (29%), quality of life (24%), and educational opportunities (13%). Edmonton also had a clear advantage over Calgary in the educational opportunities it presented. Immigrant service providers and representatives of school districts and ethnocultural groups suggested that an awareness campaign to make immigrants feel welcome would be useful. They also identified negative factors for attracting newcomers, specifically racism and problems with immigrants’ educational, professional, or skills credentials not being recognized.
The E-LIP Report shared a negative retention rate for immigrants to Edmonton. Compared to five other Western cities, classifying Vancouver and Calgary as superior to Edmonton, and Edmonton as superior to Saskatoon, Regina, and Winnipeg. In Edmonton, the authors identified underemployment and unemployment among immigrant populations were rampant due to the lack of recognition of their education and work experiences. Concomitantly, immigrants and refugees were increasingly homeless and under-housed, exacerbated by lack of affordable housing options.
As Alberta draws towards another election to select law makers and people who influence policy, call them MLAs, it is important to bring these issues of one out of every five Albertan to the campaign trail in 2019 as it is often left out and questions on these issues often ignore by parties vying for positions.
Statistics Canada reported that one in every five Canadian is an immigrant. Drawing from my presentation to the Spruce Grove Chamber of Commerce on January 9, 2018, and those coming up in Edmonton and Calgary, I will go a step further to say that if you live in a major Canadian city, that ratio may be even closer. Statistics Canada projects that one in every three Canadians will be an immigrant by 2036. As Alberta becomes more diverse, for a futuristic political party, what are you doing to position Alberta for this change such that every Albertan is involved and benefits from the economic process? How can you use the fine art of effectively connecting with and not just engaging minority and immigrant communities, but also tackle the issues, and make diversity and inclusion truly work for every Albertan?
Diversity and inclusion is a journey which every political party is on. Unlike other journeys, this one has no end, or better still, it ends only when your party exit this existence. Like every journey, every party is at a different level; some making progress, some procrastinating, and some stagnant.
Diversity Magazine will be engaging with political parties, candidates, and newcomer communities to get these issues on the campaign agenda come 2019 Alberta Election.
~ Frankline Agbor
