Metropolis 2016 – Areas of Focus

With the draft program for Metropolis out (here), I took some time to analyze the areas of focus for the academics, settlement organizations and other NGOs, and government officials who have organized plenaries, workshops and roundtables.

The conference themes are: selection, governance, settlement and access to services, and identities and migration history.

With the exception of the plenaries – determined largely by the Association of Canadian Studies which organizes the conference – the focus reflects the response to these themes from participants, and thus gives a sense of what individuals and organizations involved in immigration-related issues are working on.

The chart above is my admittedly somewhat subjective take (not always clear, and in some cases, sessions cover more than one area).

Not surprisingly, integration and settlement are the most active areas, followed by multiculturalism, immigration and refugees.

Citizenship is largely absent (and was not mentioned specifically in the sub-theme of identities and migration history)), surprising given the magnitude of the 2014 and earlier changes to citizenship under the Conservative government, and the effect these are having on the immigrant-to-citizen model.

Federal government organized sessions involve two departments (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, StatsCan), and are largely integration, refugee and research focussed.

This is another illustration of IRC’s relative neglect of citizenship and longer-term integration issues, given that these are outside its ‘centre of gravity’ and focus.

Given the transition of multiculturalism back to Canadian Heritage, there are no government-organized sessions on multiculturalism (but academics and others are heavily engaged given the identities theme).

Only Saskatchewan, PEI and Ontario are organizers or panelists in  some sessions, although settlement organizations in most provinces are heavily involved.

I have organized two sessions: From the ‘Big Shift’ to the ‘Big Return’? Election 2015 Mainstreaming of Ethnic Votes and Citizenship: Finding the Balance to address some of the gaps.

While a ‘market-driven’ approach to conference themes responds to those active in the field, it can also result in neglecting significant policy areas, as the lack of attention to citizenship attests.

That being said, Metropolis provides one of the few opportunities for academics and practitioners to exchange findings and knowledge.