Procedural precarity: An examination of Canadian immigration policy and practice in relation to immigrant youth

Abstract

All newcomers, regardless of age, face a compounded variety of barriers, risks and challenges that are exacerbated by their immigrant status. However, newcomer youths face some of these same issues with heightened vulnerability, often with a lower level of visibility or opportunity to reap the benefits bestowed by immigration policies or federally-funded programming. The Centre for Newcomers, an immigrant-serving organisation that has for more than 30 years been providing services to Calgarian newcomers, has identified several substantial gaps within these parameters. This article explores some of the most pressing gaps in Canadian immigration policy in relation to the following inter-connected and fundamental issues facing newcomer youth in Canada: protracted and ongoing status issues; educational barriers; and poverty. The article then contextualises these policy gaps with reference to CFN’s Real Me programme, which has recently been recognised as a best practice by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, to provide evidence- and practice-based policy recommendations.