A PRELIMINARY STOCK-TAKING ON IMMIGRATION RESEARCH IN CANADA 

A synthetic overview of state-of-the-art reviews on immigration and immigrant integration in Canada from Six Disciplinary Perspectives

Morton Weinfeld
Professor of Sociology
Chair in Canadian Ethnic Studies
McGill University
Citizenship and Immigration, Canada

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

I. Introduction: The Concept of Immigrant Integration

II. Brief Summary of the Six Disciplinary Reviews

For each of the six disciplines, we shall summarize as applicable the state of knowledge, main items for a research agenda, and any methodological dilemmas. Readers are encouraged to consult the original reviews. In most cases they contain introductions or summaries which outline major findings and recommendations; these have in general not been reproduced here. The emphasis will be to focus on points which seem original, provocative, or policy relevant. The findings for the French language review will be integrated into the second half of this paper, which focuses on the policy "domains."

1. Demography

2. Urban Studies

3. Criminology

4. Economics

5. Sociology

6. Social Psychology

III. Elements of Convergence and Divergence: Attempting to synthesize knowledge for the specific policy domains

In this section we try to pull together the various disciplinary reviews, and the French language review, to discover what is known about the various policy domains from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. In particular, we will try to discover any points of consensus regarding the state of knowledge, or elements of a research agenda with policy implications. But given the nature of social science research, and the fact that some issues have not been covered in the literature reported here, or have been studied by disciplines not included among the set of reviews, it will be difficult to develop a definitive, consensual list. For these reasons this section may reflect the perspectives of the author of this report more than the previous section.

1. Economic Domain

2. Education Domain

3. Social Domain

4. Culture and Citizenship Domain

5. Politics and Public Service Domain

6. Physical Infrastructure Domain

IV. Conclusion: Major Lacunae and Emerging Themes

V. References