Learning Administrative Burdens: Transnational Working Migrants in Canada’s ‘North’

• In Event: International Migration Section Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 06. Immigration bureaucracies

Abstract

The ‘North’ in Canada has historically, and continues to experience, the influx of settlers from Southern regions of the country. In the past century, there has also been a slow flow of immigrants and international temporary workers from around the world who have taken up residence in the ‘North’. Since 2020, this trend has accelerated substantially resulting in a dramatic shift in the demographic composition of many Northern cities. This paper explores this trend with particular focus on Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. We document the relatively sudden influx of transnational migrant workers to Yellowknife which is the result of the Provincial/Territorial Nomination Program (PNP) which is a part of Canada’s immigration strategy. Our analysis is based on interviews conducted in 2025 with key informants and migrant workers in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories; the latter were employed in precarious service jobs on temporary work visas, all of whom were seeking permanent residence in Canada. We discuss five main types of learning which migrant workers engage in as a result of the burdens posed by the administrative requirements of the PNP immigration program - learning point maximization, learning subservience, documentation learning, learning to stay safe and learning to create alternatives. We conclude with reflections on learning requirements that are noticeably absent from these administrative burdens - specifically learning about the land, history and peoples amongst whom migrant settlers live in the North. While some migrants engage in learning about Indigenous histories, treaties, worldviews and cultures, they do so with little support or direction - a situation which often leads to community tensions. We argue for the need for a shift in administrative burdens from the current requirements towards those which facilitate settler responsibility and community engagement.

Authors

• Kiran Mirchandani, University of Toronto

• Leah F Vosko, York University

• Sara Komarnisky, University of Alberta