Discounting Immigrant Families: Neoliberalism and the Framing of Canadian Immigration Policy Change: A Literature Review

Abstract This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework to assist in understanding how the immigrant family is impacted by recent changes to immigration policy in Canada. We contend that neoliberalism, broadly defined, is a helpful lens through which to comprehend some of the specific policies as well as discursive outcomes which have real effects on immigrant families. Based on our findings from an in-depth literature review, our goal is to identify and summarize the recent changes to the Canadian policy environment and to develop a critical conceptual framework through which to understand policy change in relation to families and immigrants. Key Words: families, neoliberalism, policy change, social policy, multiculturalism, gender, race, neoconservatism Acknowledgements The research for this paper was supported by a Partnership Development Grant titled “Integration Trajectories of Immigrant Families” by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.