Louis Volante, a professor in Brock’s Department of Teacher Education, co-wrote a piece recently published in The Conversation about the success of immigrant students. The piece was co-written by Don Klinger, a professor and Dean of Te Kura Toi Tangata Faculty of Education at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, and Melissa Siegel, Professor of Migration Studies and Head of Migration Studies at the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance and UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, in the Netherlands.

Volante, Klinger and Siegel write:

Canada is consistently one of the top 10 destination countries for international migrants.

More than 7.5 million foreign-born Canadians entered the country through the immigration process, according to 2016 Census data — representing more than one in five Canadians and more than one third of school-aged students.

Canada was also the first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as an official policy. There are provisions within its Charter of Rights and Freedoms that protect the rights of minority groups.

One might wonder — has Canada’s Multiculturalism Act had the desired effect of promoting positive outcomes for immigrants, particularly immigrant student groups?

One study, a large-scale review published in 2015, suggested that out of a group of 38 industrialized nations, Canada ranked first in the world for anti-discrimination policies for migrants.

The same report also suggested Canada has favourable education policies in four key areas: Access, targeted needs, new opportunities and intercultural education for all.

Continue reading the full article here.