New Canadian Voices: The Local Immigration Partnership Podcast

The Canadian immigration system awards “points” to people based on their professional and educational experience. But once they arrive, they find that they are not accepted in their field of choice because of unrecognized educational credentials and a lack of “Canadian experience”—an all-too-common phrase heard by new jobseekers. This disconnect between the criteria for acceptance as a prospective immigrant and the realities of working in your field in Canada creates the appearance of a false promise and is a barrier to integration in Canadian society. In this episode, we’re exploring building identity during major transitions and rebuilding confidence in the face of systemic barriers to employment. 

This podcast is by the National LIP Secretariat, with production support from Cited Media.

Othering is the practice of locating someone outside of a particular identity or group. New immigrants to Canada may face “othering” experiences that foreground certain aspects of their identities in ways that alienate them from their adoptive communities. As they move to shape their new Canadian identity, these experiences put an immense strain on their immigration journeys. 

This season we shed light on the challenges newcomers encounter, and the intricate web of systemic barriers and racism they are required to navigate in their new homeland: Canada. In this episode, we start with a common experience many immigrants seem to share, and that is the feeling of being Othered.

This podcast is by the National LIP Secretariat, with production support from Cited Media.

Canada’s colonial legacy and the deep-rooted systemic discrimination that indigenous people in this country continue to face stand in stark contrast to the idyllic picture of Canada in the mind’s eye of many newcomers. In this episode, we hear from newcomers to Canada and an Indigenous bridge-builder as they describe their journeys towards deeper understanding and stronger connections. We also learn how the Lloydminster LIP played an important role in introducing newcomers to Indigenous history through the Blanket Exercise.

Resilience is almost universally held to be positive quality of individuals, families, communities, and systems. Stories of newcomers overcoming the challenges of relocating and adjusting to life in a new country shape profoundly our conceptions of “success.” This episode asks whether stories of newcomer resilience can be recast as instances wherein the settlement system has fallen short of its stated objectives. Through that lens, we might began to see new opportunities to improve that system such that successful settlement in Canada need not require extraordinary resilience on the part of newcomers.