Difficulties that Maghrebian Immigrants to Quebec Face in Finding Work: A Matter of Perspective

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Difficulties that Maghrebian Immigrants to Quebec
Face in Finding Work A Matter of Perspective

• Presented by
• Annick Lenoir-Achdjian

Metropolis Brown Bag Session, June 5, 2009
Quebec Metropolis CentreImmigration and
Metropolis
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Research team

• Researchers
• Chief researcher
• Annick Lenoir-Achdjian
• (Social work, U. de Sherbrooke)
• Co-researchers
• Sébastien Arcand
• (Management, HEC)
• Denise Helly
• (INRS-UCS)
• Michèle Vatz Laaroussi
• (Social wok, U. de Sherbrooke)

• Research officers
• Isabelle Drainville
• (Masters in Social work, U. de Sherbrooke)
• Amel Mahfoudh
• (Masters in Sociology, U. de Montréal)

Project funded by the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
20042006
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Background

• In 2001
• 97.6 of Moroccan-born and 98.5 Algerian-born
  immigrants to Quebec could speak French
• 29.9 of Moroccan-born and 42.5 of Algerian-born
  immigrants to Quebec, aged 15 and over, had a
  university degree
• This was the case for 21.8 of the immigrant
  population as a whole and for 14 of Quebecs
  total population.
• During the same period
• 17.5 of Moroccan-born and 27.2 of Algerian-born
  immigrants to Quebec were unemployed.
• Among those who had lived in Quebec for five
  years or less, the unemployment rates were 33.6
  for Moroccans and 35.4 for Algerians.
• The provincial unemployment rate was 8.2.

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• Research question
• Why is it so difficult for these immigrants to
  find work?
• Goals of todays session
• Describe the project and its results (part 1)
• Describe the reactions to the results since 2004
  (part 2)
• Describe the projects outcomes (part 3)

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• Part 1 
• Project and Results

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• Overall purpose of the study To answer the
  research question based on the perceptions of
• Job seekers from the Maghreb (specifically
  Algeria and Morocco)
• Job counsellors who work with this clientele
• Specific objectives
• Identify the differences in perceptions between
  the two stakeholder groups with regard to the
  needs of job seekers from the Maghreb
• Understand one anothers expectations about how
  to meet those needs
• The study does not
• Assess job counselling programs
• Verify the quality of the counselling provided
• Establish whether the needs and expectations
  expressed are justified

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Respondents

• Semi-structured interviews (May 2004January
  2005) with
• 22 job seekers from the Maghreb (16 in Montréal,
  5 in Sherbrooke)
• 15 job counsellors (8 in Montréal, 7 in
  Sherbrooke)
• All interviews were conducted at the Quebec
  department of immigration and cultural
  communities (MICC), a local employment centre or
  another job assistance organization.
• Selection criteria
• Job seekers from the Maghreb who
• arrived in Canada after September 2001 as
  selected immigrants
• were 2540 years of age
• had sound knowledge of French
• had secondary or post-secondary education
• were participating in a labour market integration
  program
• Job counsellors working with clients from the
  Maghreb

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Analysis of the data

• Phase 1 codifying the transcripts of the
  interviews based on references to the job search
  and job counselling themes
• Phase 2 Analysing the codified results in order
  to
• Identify job seekers expectations with respect
  to finding work
• Identify the perceptions that various respondents
  had of the obstacles facing job seekers
• Phase 3 Analysing the transcripts of the
  interviews based on the non-deterministic links
  identified

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Snapshot of respondents

• Job seekers
• 17 men and 5 women
• Recent immigration 10 had been in Quebec from
  the age of 1 to 3, 12 had immigrated less than a
  year before
• Highly skilled 1 doctorate, 10 masters, 5
  licences and 6 technical diplomas
• 15 had completed regulated training
• 15 applications for credential recognition
  received 5 full recognitions, 10 lower
  recognitions
• Job counsellors
• 8 women and 7 men
• 13 native Quebecers, 2 born abroad
• 6 had foreign work experience
• Highly skilled 4 masters, 7 bachelors, 1
  certificate, 3 high school diplomas

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Shared perceptions

• Usual difficulties
• Quebec employers recognition of education and
  work experience acquired abroad
• Joining a professional order or a regulated
  trade
• Difficulties specific to immigrants from the
  Maghreb
• Insufficient knowledge of English
• Very high level of education
• Need for skills upgrading
• Lack of professional networks
• I speak French just like other people in Quebec.
  I came to a place where I can adapt easily."
  (Noor, a Sherbrooker born in Algeria who had been
  in Quebec for 6 months)
• Link between the events of September 11, 2001,
  and the increasing difficulties faced by
  immigrants from the Maghreb when trying to find a
  job
• For instance, in interviews, we often ask them
  What do you think of terrorism? What do you
  think of Bin Laden? What do you think of
  September 11? (Germain, a job counsellor in
  Sherbrooke)

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Conflicting perceptions (1)

• Perceptions of employment support services
• Job seekers from the Maghreb think that they have
  a right to a job because they were selected on
  the basis of their training, education and work
  experience.
• Job counsellors think these job seekers have the
  same rights as job seekers born in Quebec, and
  that, consequently, they cant give them
  priority.
• Job seekers from the Maghreb think that more
  should be done to help them integrate into the
  labour market (easier access to internships, more
  job search assistance)
• Job counsellors think that finding work is
  primarily the job seekers responsibility.
• "Were left to our own devices. Find
  yourself a job, look yourself I was expecting
  them to offer me personal help and assistance to
  help me find a job. They asked me to go door to
  door to find a job, but I cant go door to
  door!" (Karim, a Montrealer born in Algeria who
  had been in Quebec for 9 months).

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Conflicting perceptions (2)

• Intervention strategies
• Job seekers want to get the kind of support that
  would take into account the fact that they are
  new immigrants.
• Job counsellors want to provide their clients
  with skills to find long-term employment and to
  integrate into the labour market. They stress the
  importance of knowing the workings of Quebecs
  labour market.
• What I try to make that person understand is
  that the government is there to offer a little
  push toward an opportunity, but like it or not,
  the brunt of the work is still his. He will have
  to put in a lot more effort than the employer to
  go meet with him. It means that he will have to
  build autonomy, and in some cases, it isnt about
  building autonomy, but discovering what autonomy
  is. Sometimes, I have to tell them I wont do it
  for you. I gave you the tools its up to you to
  do the rest. (Luc, a job counsellor in
  Montréal)

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Conflicting perceptions (3)

• Factors behind the difficulties
• According to the job seekers
• They were cheated right from the time they were
  selected
• They now face discrimination on the part of
  employers
• Quebec society is closed to them
• People dont know why we came here. We arent
  immigrants who fled a war or something. Were
  independent immigrants. There are conditions. We
  have to go through a rigorous process to get in
  here, and then, employers dont want us.
  (Mohamed, a Montrealer from Morocco, who had been
  in Quebec for 3 years)
• According to the job counsellors, these
  immigrants must take responsibility for their
  decision to come to Quebec.
• That perspective ignores the local demographic,
  economic and social reality that these immigrants
  have to adapt to
• Many of them are disappointed about this. They
  tell us, You brought us here! but ultimately,
  it was their choice. They filed the application.
  (Hélène, a job counsellor in Montréal)

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Lenses that impede the job counselling process

• All the job counsellors noted their relative
  powerlessness to change the situation
• They have limited flexibility with respect to the
  conditions under which they do their work or in
  relation to modifying job search structures.
• They have no authority to make employers hire
  their clientele.
• When employers act in a discriminatory manner,
  they have no means to take action because
  discrimination is indirect and implicit.
• In the case of direct discrimination, they find
  themselves in an uncomfortable position report
  the situation and weaken the partnership, or let
  it slip by unnoticed in order to be able to
  continue putting forward candidates for positions
  to be filled.

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• The lenses through which job counsellors
  interpret the situation can be seen as their way
  of coping with their sense of powerlessness in
• Carrying out their mandate (finding jobs for
  people)
• Fulfilling their personal commitment to
  supporting job seekers
• But, these lenses combine indirectly and
  involuntarily with the discrimination that
  immigrants from the Maghreb experience when
  looking for a job.
• The arguments advanced by some of the job
  counsellors seem to show that exclusion and
  discrimination reinforce each other.
• However, because of the small size of our sample,
  we cannot assume that these lenses are present
  among all job counsellors who work with this
  clientele.
• But, the results still indicate that systemic
  discrimination might exist.

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• Part 2 
• Reaction to Results, Since 2004

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Dissemination of results

• Three distinct time periods
• 2004-2005 5 papers and 1 popular article
• 2006-2008 6 papers and 3 articles (including
  2 scholarly articles)
• 2009 2 papers and 1 scholarly article (the final
  report)
• Significant changes in how results have been
  received over time

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Year Dissemination of results Public Reactions
2004 1 paper - Social workers Indifference
2005 1 article (newspaper) 3 papers - General public - Social workers - Researchers - Government policy makers Indifference

• Preliminary results
• Presence of discrimination by employers
• Lack of professional networks for immigrants
  from the Maghreb

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Year Dissemination of results Public Reactions
2006 6 papers - General public - Job counsellors - Researchers - Government policy makers Aggressiveness / Rejection of the results
2007 1 paper - Researchers - Government policy makers Aggressiveness / Rejection of the results
2008 1 article (magazine) - Researchers Aggressiveness / Rejection of the results

• Preliminary result
• Presence of possible discrimination in the
  counselling process itself

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Year Dissemination of results Public Reactions
2009 2 articles (magazine) 1 article (newspaper) 2 papers - General public - Job counsellors - Researchers - Government policy makers Interest

• Final results
• Presence of different perceptions in the
  counselling process that hamper that process
• Presence of systemic discrimination that
• impedes access to the labour market (employers,
  professional orders and regulated trades,
  educational equivalencies, etc.)
• increases during the counselling process

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Factors in the changes in how the results were
received

• Further data analysis From preliminary to final
• Refining of the results presented From
  unsurprising to disturbing
• Target audience From not very concerned by the
  results to extremely concerned and media interest
• Release time Results released after the
  commission on reasonable accommodation

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• Part 3 
• Project Outcomes

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Solution proposed by job counsellors

• Anti-discrimination strategy
• Get employers to
• Think about their negative perceptions of
  Maghrebian clients
• Recognize that this client group is, like any
  group, made up of individuals with diverse
  qualifications and skills
• Re-focus on their primary concern hiring
  competent workers
• In the long run
• Requires a relationship of trust
• Includes the key elements of all intercultural
  communication
• Analyse employers needs and expectations, and
  how they are interpreted
• Respond to the needs expressed without validating
  discriminatory attitudes

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Solutions proposed by research team

• Better target information during the migration
  process
• Provide intercultural training for all job
  counsellors in order to
• Combat their feelings of powerlessness
• Help them counteract discriminatory attitudes and
  behaviours on the part of employers
• Improve communication between job seekers from
  the Maghreb and job counsellors
• Reduce the frustration that immigrants from the
  Maghreb experience in the face of what they
  perceive as a failure by job counsellors to take
  into account their
• Work credentials
• Efforts to integrate
• Concerted effort by various sectors of society
  (intersectoral policies)
• Presence of designated job counsellors at
  Emploi-Québec

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Project outcomes

• The MICC and Emploi-Québec are developing
  training in intercultural communication for all
  job counsellors who work with immigrant clients.
• The MICC is updating information that is provided
  during the migration process.
• Emploi-Québec is exploring the idea of
  designating some job counsellors to provide links
  between individual clients and the various
  agencies and services.

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Conclusion

• For Quebec to reap the benefits of an
  ethnoculturally diverse labour force, a concerted
  effort is required from different sectors of
  society.
• If integrating immigrants is considered a
  collective responsibility, the business community
  must be involved in and committed to this
  process.
• A failure to act could be seen by immigrants as a
  desire to relegate them to being second-class
  citizens who should only have access to
  low-paying jobs.
• That would make it even more difficult for these
  newcomers to integrate into their host society
  and would hamper the development of a sense of
  belonging in Quebec and Canadian society.

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For more information

• The final report can be downloaded free of charge
  from the Web site of the Institute for Research
  on Public Policy, at http//www.irpp.org/fr/index.
  htm.
• Lenoir-Achdjian, A., I. Drainville, D. Helly, M.
  Vatz Laaroussi, S. Arcand and A. Mahfoudh (2008),
  The professional insertion of immigrants born in
  the Maghreb Challenges and impediments for
  intervention, Journal of International
  Migration and Integration (JIMI), Vol. 8, No. 1,
  pp. 391-409.
• Arcand, S., D. Helly, A. Lenoir-Achdjian and M.
  Vatz Laaroussi (forthcoming). Insertion socio
  professionnelle dimmigrants récents et réseaux
  sociaux le cas de Maghrébins à Montréal et
  Sherbrooke, Canadian Journal of Sociology /
  Revue canadienne de sociologie.

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• Thank you!