LIVE, WORK, AND STAY?: GEOGRAPHIES OF IMMIGRANT RECEPTIVITY IN ATLANTIC CANADA’S ASPIRING GATEWAYS

Global research on new immigrant destinations prioritizes the study of places experiencing rapid demographic change. Immigration is increasingly promoted, however, as a policy tool to encourage stability in peripheral regions, cities, and communities. This paper introduces the concept of the aspiring gateway to describe locations that attract few immigrants but proactively aspire to become welcoming communities. We make this case through an examination of the geographies of immigrant receptivity in Atlantic Canada. Our findings are based on 22 interviews with participants in the immigration sector in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Highlighting the powerful role of non-state actors and public discourses, our analysis considers the ambiguities and mixed messages of the place-based immigration policies of this region. We argue that a more pluralistic understanding of immigrant gateways must include peripheral spaces that are relatively isolated from international migration flows. Aspiring gateways require a rethinking of assumptions formed in and about new immigrant destinations

The Contentious Politics of Resettlement Programs: Evidence from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Labelling resettlement programs as voluntary suggests that they cause little contention and are devoid of coercion. But is this representation accurate? Drawing on unpublished government documents and media reports, we provide a detailed case study of the Community Relocation Policy (CRP) of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) from 2009 to the present. We show that CRP has been fraught with contention due to the nature of the voting process and the slow and uncertain nature of the community-oriented consultative process. This article highlights the way in which coercion has emerged from the very communities considering resettlement, in addition to any coercion that might come from government officials

Navigating the housing crisis: A comparison of international students and other newcomers in a mid-sized Canadian city

This article investigates the housing experiences of international students in comparison to other newcomers in the mid-sized Canadian city of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, with a focus on how they navigate housing crises. Drawing on recent literature on housing justice, a quantitative survey of 188 participants, and 30 qualitative interviews, the findings reveal that international students and other newcomers are at different stages of their housing careers, have different needs and goals, and are experiencing the affordability crisis differently. Housing discrimination is a pressing concern, especially for international students who are subjected to intersectional prejudice, exploitation by landlords, and amplified challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The article argues for inclusive housing and immigration policies that acknowledge international students as part of the Canadian housing market and ensure their rights to housing

Vancouver’s night markets : intercultural encounters in urban and suburban Chinatowns

This study compares two Chinese-themed night markets in Vancouver, Canada. The Chinatown Night Market is held in the City’s downtown historic Chinatown, while the Summer Night Market is held in the suburb of Richmond. Night markets are iconic elements in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and have a specific sensorial design created by tightly packed crowds, loud music, dim sum, and vendors selling pop culture goods. The central question of this research concerns the role of the everyday for intercultural understanding and engagement. As such, it places the night markets at the centre of three inter-related debates in the literature: the role of space in everyday encounters with difference; the interplay of structure and agency in the construction and representation of Chinatown; and the role of marketplaces specifically in fostering meaningful intercultural exchange in plural societies. This thesis compares Vancouverites’ experiences with difference in the two marketplaces, drawing on 88 interviews with consumers and vendors, ten in-depth key informant interviews (with market administrators and city officials), and hours of participant observation over the course of two years. The overarching contribution of this research is to demonstrate that the night markets, as everyday spaces, foster intercultural interaction and engagement. These everyday encounters with difference, however, do not occur in a vacuum. This research makes three inter-related arguments. First, the night market phenomenon in Metro Vancouver is a project in re-writing both the City landscape and the suburban landscape in a way that challenges imposed notions of “Chineseness” by city governments and multicultural planning discourses. As such, these cases reveal the struggle between structure and agency in the representation of Chinatown. Second, the different trajectories of the two marketplaces reveal a shift in the scale of diversity management planning discourses, from mosaic to micro-scale. Third, the night markets both reveal and contribute to the social normalization of ethno-cultural diversity in Metro Vancouver’s public realm.Arts, Faculty ofGeography, Department ofGraduat

Higher education, international student mobility, and regional innovation in non-core regions: International student start-ups on “the rock”

This paper makes a case for post-graduate international students as an increasingly important category of immigrant entrepreneur in Canada. We draw our findings from an analysis of new provincial immigrant entrepreneur programs and interviews with international student entrepreneurs in a mid-sized city in Atlantic Canada. We argue that three forces have become increasingly relevant in shaping immigrant entrepreneurs' opportunity structures: (1) the internationalization of higher education institutions (HEIs), (2) the corporatization of HEIs, and (3) the regionalization of immigration. We show how public policy shifts in immigration and education have expanded the opportunity structure for international student start-ups. These entrepreneurs are navigating multiple dimensions of risk that stem from being both temporary migrants and business owners