Middle class nation building through a tenacious discourse on skills: immigration and Canada

Abstract

This article considers the discursive emphasis in post-1960s Canadian immigration policy on ‘skills’ in the context of adopting a formally race-neutral immigration policy, and embracing what has been called middle class nation building. Using policy documents and statistical information, it is argued that a clear preference for newcomers with ‘skills,’ has been sustained despite shifts in policy over time, because ‘skills’ serve as a floating signifier. The preference and morphing nature of ‘skills’ is exemplified in three distinct policy initiatives advanced by the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau since assuming power in 2015: (1) the 2016–2017 Global Skills Strategy for temporary ‘skilled’ workers; (2) the Economic Mobility Pathways Project Canada undertook in partnership with UNHCR in 2018–2019 to facilitate the entry of ‘skilled’ refugees; and (3) COVID-19 pandemic developments which drew attention to ‘essential skills’ in services and care and facilitated a novel, albeit circumscribed, pathway to citizenship for some temporary workers and refugee claimants. Given Canada’s decades-long preference and global leadership in pursuing ‘skilled labour migration’ it is important to recognize the ways in which the legitimating of ‘skills’ amounts to a middle-class nation building that hides, and even reinforces, inequities in the Canadian and global contexts.