GRSJ224/discriminationandimmigration

Discrimination and Immigration in the Canadian Context

Overview

(Summary of Wikipost)

Historical Origins

(Colonialism, Irish immigrants)

Irish Immigration to Vancouver in the 21st Century

(Immigrants seen as less than, "dirty", etc. due to societal norms built into Canada's colonialist history)

IEC

IEC visa is a 2 year visa for working Irish professionals. The visa allows Irish into Canada and Canadians into Ireland...Irish Immigrants moved to Canada in the aftermath of the 2008 recession looking for jobs and a new place to call home... Irish people settling down in Vancouver, building a name and good reputation for themselves.

J1ers

Recent Irish immigrants, mainly students, that have come to Vancouver after higher restrictions on the American J1 visa due to Trumps election. The J1 visa is a summer visa which allows Irish students to visit the United States and work for the summer. After Trump's elections higher restrictions were placed around the J1 visa such as a higher entry fee and the need to secure a job before entering the country. As a result, these students, aptly nicknamed "J1ers" turned their eyes to the IEC visa. While the IEC visa was originally used by working professionals it is now often used by students looking for a replacement for the J1 visa.

Social Impacts

These Irish students are often seen as rowdy and overcrowding the city. The Irish stereotypes of the 20th century of Irish people coming in packs similar to rats and over drinking has resurfaced in Vancouver. With an influx of Irish students coming to Vancouver each summer to party, older Irish settlers and working professionals are worried about their reputation in Vancouver. In the summers , it has become harder for Irish people to find housing as people are worried that they will overcrowd and ruin their houses as rumours of Irish students not paying their bills and causing property damage cause tensions between landlords and Irish students. As well, scenes of partying, overcrowding and arrests of Irish youth in the past few summers have caused the Irish reputation to decline in Vancouver. Housing discrimination against the Irish...

Economic Impacts

While Irish immigrants are often looked down upon socially, they are seen as hard workers. In the summers Irish students make up a large part of Vancouver's workforce, namely the construction and service industries...

(Immigrants often given jobs that are not wanted by others, seen as lower by others)

References

Lynn Momprevil