The spatial relocation of labour across international boundaries has been a fundamental aspect of capitalist development since the Industrial Revolution.

Migration flows are structured by the relationship between economic, political, and ideological relations with capitalism as the driving force.

People migrate mainly because of economic reasons.

The process of capital accumulation contributes to the formation of relative surplus populations.

Capital accumulation also propels or forces certain groups of people to join the relative surplus population and to migrate because of its associated economic dislocations.

Migration is an aspect of nation-state formation. Assessments of potential migrants are based not

only on their expected capacity to extend labour power, but also on whether they can become part of the nation’s imagined community.

Migration to Canada has been broadly linked to the business cycle.

Historically, immigration policies in Canada have been characterized by racist and discriminatory assumptions.

In the mid-19th century, the Chinese were encouraged to immigrate to Canada for the construction of the railway. Historica Minute: http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?

id=10196

When the construction was completed, the Chinese Immigration Act (1885) was introduced.

Head Tax Receipt

From the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, the immigration policy was highly selective and intended to maintain a ‘white country.’

During the World Wars and the Great Depression, immigration restrictions were stringent.

In 1947, Mackenzie King suggested that the immigration program should be structured by the interests of the ‘national economy’ and select only those who would be desirable ‘future citizens.’ In 1952, the Immigration Act concretized these criteria. This resulted in a highly skewed flow of people to the country.

‘Non-white’ people defined as unsuitable and thus restricted from entering the country.

Since 1962, the deracialization of immigration policies because existing controls were embarrassing for government officials, and a shift in labour-force requirements.

Points system introduced in 1967. Presently, there are number of options when

applying for permanent residence status . Business Class Immigration Provincial Nomination Family Class Immigration Skilled Worker Class Immigration

The Self-Assessment tool will indicate if you qualify to immigrate to Canada as a Skilled Worker. Your score on this test will show you how your skills and experience could be assessed on your application.

The current pass mark is 67.

Each of the 4 groups has a different scenario/perspectives. Complete the test from your given scenario/perspective.

Is the points system effective and beneficial to Canada? Is the distribution of points reasonable?

You are an unmarried 35 year old male medical doctor from Sri Lanka. You attended medical school in the United Kingdom at a prestigious university in London. You have been offered a well-paying position at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. After 5 years, you intend on sponsoring your mother and father.

You are an unmarried 20 year old female with an ECE diploma from an Australian college. You intend on joining your 25 year brother who has been in Montreal, Quebec for 2 years.

You are a 55 year old male living in Rwanda. You have been able to learn some English and French from you employer for whom you work for as an agricultural labourer alongside your wife. You would like to join your brother and his family who have become well-established in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Please complete the Self-Assessment collectively from your own perspective.

2 demographic processes that are expected to have implications for future immigration levels: Canada’s declining fertility rate. The aging of Canada’s population.

Possible solution – expand Canada’s immigration program, especially in the recruitment of young workers.

What are advantages and disadvantages of this solution?

The Canadian government continues to allow the entry of workers on a seasonal, contractual basis, as migrant labour.

Employment authorizations provide non-residents of Canada the right to employment in Canada, usually in a specific job for a specific period of time.

The advantage of admitting temporary workers to fill specific kinds of jobs is that when those jobs end, the workers must leave the country.

Migrant farm workers are presented as part of the government’s package of development aid in the Caribbean – flimsy justification. Much of the money they earn is used to

sustain their capacity to work while in Canada. Funds earned have had little impact on

development in the Caribbean. In reality, the importation of Caribbean

workers under contract allows Canadian employers the opportunity to exploit the labour power of Caribbean workers without threatening the imagined community of the Canadian nation.

1. What is the definition of relative surplus population?

People who are economically displaced by the process of capital accumulation and who are

therefore unemployed or irregularly employed.

2. __________ is both a cause and consequence of the process of capital accumulation.

Migration

3. Who does Marx refer to as the floating surplus population?

Workers who are displaced from the production process.

4. When were capitalist relations of production established in Canada?

The mid 19th century.

5. Whitaker says that the political selection of immigrants was premised on the perceived existence

of an external enemy. Who was this ‘enemy’?

Communists.

6. When was the points system introduced?

1967.

7. People defined as ‘non-white’ (Asian, African, Caribbean) were thought to be suitable permanent residents and thus encouraged

to enter the country.

True or False?

False.

8. The process in which explicitly racist terms and concepts are replaced with apparently non-racist ones, but with the meanings remaining intact.

a. Net migration

b. Deracialization

c. Neo-racism

d. State formation

9. What are 2 demographic processes that have implications for future immigration levels?

Canada’s declining fertility rate and the aging of Canada’s population.

10. Why are the funds earned through employment in Canada not benefiting

development in the Caribbean?

They are used by workers to sustain their capacity to work while in Canada (food, shelter, clothing).