1. Labour Integration Strategies and Family Dynamics
Presentation for the immigration is a family affair workshop
February 14, 2017
Toronto, ON
This research was supported by the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Human Capital Research and Innovation Fund and by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

2. Research Team
Dr. John Shields (Depart of Politics & Public Administration, Ryerson University)
Omar Lujan (PhD Candidate in Policy Studies, Ryerson University)
Dr. Harald Bauder (Department of Geography, Ryerson University)
Maria Gintova (PhD Candidate in Policy Studies, Ryerson University)

3. A Family Approach to Immigrants’ labour Market integration
Perspectives
Circumstances

4. Barriers to Integration in the labour market
Canadian Experience
Language Proficiency
Foreign Credentials
Cultural Barriers

5. Questions
What strategies do immigrant families currently use to overcome barriers and integrate into the labour market?
What are the family dynamics involved in this process?

6. Employment Strategies
Main Strategies
Volunteering
“If you do volunteer work here, you have better chances to getting employment.”
Studying
“But I study, I ignore everything, but I study. I try to improve my condition.”
Other Strategies Include: Attainment of Professional Accreditations/Hire Employment Companies/Head Hunters/ Entrepreneurship

7. Volunteering and studying As Family Affairs
“I continue to do volunteer, yeah. So my husband take care [sic] of my daughter at home, you know only once a week, only three hours a time, so it is okay. After, I find I feel much happier when I did my volunteer because I feel I am useful! I can impact someone else, so I feel good!”
Studying
“First, I just to stay home because my husband studied at college”

8. Volunteering and Studying
Volunteering and Studying as an strategy to get Canadian experience
“So, right now, I am doing volunteer with women for three roles. Yeah, one is my interest, related to my study in the [University], one is the settlement counselor, employment counselor and also the community. I mean language program facilitator. Yeah, I hope I can gain more Canadian experience. To, how do you say? Enhance my resume, to help me find a good job for me [sic] [laughs.”
“He finished ESL in [College]. He got in some courses in [College], like income tax. He right now works as a volunteer at [community organization] doing income tax, one day a week.”
Volunteering as a form of training
I work in [Community help center] like three years as a volunteer, and then, during those years, I went to some workshops, different workshops.

9. Studying and working Working full time and studying
“I work permanently now with [Employer] I work in [immigration]. I am a [job title], as a matter of fact, and— so that has brought some level of comfort.  I am in my final year; I am actually in my final semester of a master’s program.”
“I am studying at [institution name] College, social service. I am part time student.  It is up to how many courses do I get. Before I worked at assistant manager in my store, I had time to take some course. Now I am a manager, I have to work 40 hours a week or 44 hours. I could not take a course in this semester. I took two courses last semester, maybe I do not know what happened after that. [Sigh] I tried.”

10. Trajectory From volunteering to employment:
“I started as a volunteer in a non-profit organization. First I did with [this organization], I did a small short course with [name of organization] and I worked with them for two seasons. And then at the same time I was volunteering with the non-profit organization. After volunteering 6-7 months I got a one year contract with them. And then, when the contract finished, I got another contract for six month, and then another full-time job in the same organization but in a different department.”
“That was my first connection with [name of organization] then I enrolled as a volunteer and I stayed there you know, until now. Let us see.” 

11. Family Dynamics Spending the family savings
“We brought the money, and we bought the house, because business was not to be opened at the time. He started real estate. And he past first two exams, and then it was very struggling for him. The language, the amount of exams, it was very very hard. It was too much for him. So he failed the first time the third exam, and he goes like: You know what, I am not spending any more money. It is not something that I can continue, or finish, or keep up with."
“My husband, he want to go back because there was no job [sic], and only we are spending from our home country money [sic]. But then we decided we will do some hard work [sic] and then we will see.”

12. Family Dynamics
Studying and working affects the socialization of the family
I asked: She was stranded at home then? “Yeah, because if I use to have a day off, then definitely would have been a different story for me. But I was working for seven days and even after one year, I started the college. So it was extended hours. From five o'clock then seven to ten the class. So now, you can imagine what kind of socializing she might be having [laughing]. I was not at home, so we did not go outside. So she was all the time at home.”
Not every family can afford studying or volunteering
“Who was going to give me a paid internship? Nobody knew me. So I saw the situation very risky because I had to support my kids. I have to work. So I sacrificed-- I think what I did was to sacrifice myself at some point to support them.”

13. Family Dynamics
Lack of integration to the labour market affects children
“He (husband) works at [Fast food chain name]. I told you that he has a BA back home in accounting. He works at [Fast food chain name] because he knows the job [sic]. He likes to work as an accountant but he could not find the job [sic]. The only thing is that I am not happy is the my son likes their father to work somewhere else, they want to tell their friends my father works.. . For my husband, he is not worried. He is good. I am okay too but the only thing that— it bothers me—, is my sons, both of them would like their father to work somewhere better than a restaurant.”
“The children when they see their parents they are always struggling. From morning to midnight.”

14. Family Dynamics
Realistic expectations and positive attitude about employment
“I told them, yes, I know that getting job is very difficult [sic], professional level is very difficult. I am prepared for the odd job, whatever that case is. My brother and my sister (back home) are ok with it.”
“I am happy, because still I am working to make money for my family, it may be a little stressful and hard but it is okay. Yes. But the other things, other than that, how do you say [emotional]— I thought about the physical condition, I never went to the family doctors [sic], since 2013.”

15. Conclusions
The family is at the centre of labour market integration of immigrants
The family shares the consequences of the lack of integration to the labour market: financial insecurity and stress.
The family is the main motivation for enduring underemployment
The family works as the main support system for integrating immigrants into the labour market (as, for example, economic migrants relay on family savings to study and on their support in order to volunteer)