Jean Renaud and Lucie Gingras, With assistance from: Alain Carpentier, Gérard Pinsonneault and Martine Faille of the Ministry of Relations with Citizens and Immigration, Landed Refugee Claimants’ First Three Years in Quebec

Landed Refugee Claimants’ First Three Years in Quebec. (1998)
Foreword

Une édition électronique réalisée à partir du document de Jean Renaud and Lucie Gingras, With assistance from: Alain Carpentier, Gérard Pinsonneault and Martine Faille of the Ministry of Relations with Citizens and Immigration, Landed Refugee Claimants’ First Three Years in Quebec. Studies, Research and Statistics Collection No. 2. Québec: Ministère des relations avec les citoyens et de l'Immigration, août 1998, 142 pp. [Le 29 janvier 2014, Monsieur Jean Renaud nous autorisait la diffusion de toutes ses publications et travaux en libre accès à tous dans Les Classiques des sciences sociales.]

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Foreword

In 1991, to improve its understanding of the settlement process of asylum seekers, [1] the Ministry of Relations with Citizens and Immigration commissioned Professor Christopher McAll to perform an initial qualitative study of a small group of landed refugee claimants. [2] The results of that study were published in 1996. They showed that the precarious status of asylum seekers has a negative impact on their settlement and that there is a danger of prolonged marginalization.

One of the purposes of this study is to confirm or refute this hypothesis on quantitative grounds.

For methodological reasons and to provide a homogeneous sample, the 407 interview subjects were chosen from among asylum seekers who filed claims in 1994 and were landed by March 31, 1997. The study starts with the filing of the claim for refugee status, which was considered to be the most appropriate point. For some, it meant no longer having to live underground ; for others, it meant the end of official visitor status. For everyone, it was the beginning of the process of seeking permanent residence.

The results confirm a widespread perception based on what is known about this population : a high rate of dependence on social assistance and slow, rare and belated entry into the labour market. Worse still, while this portrait varies slightly according to age, gender and education, the situation is not bright for any subgroup.

We would like to thank the authors, Jean Renaud and Lucie Gingras, for the quality of their work. They have shed light on a specific process of settlement which is intertwined with administrative processes that are far from clear to anyone outside the government apparatus. They have taken this fact into account in their analyses and done a remarkable job of presenting the results clearly. We thank Gerard Pinsonneault and Alain Carpentier, who were responsible for supervising the study for the Ministry and worked productively with all the people involved : the individuals and organizations consulted beforehand, the firm that administered the questionnaire and the authors of this report. We thank Martine Faille for her invaluable assistance throughout this effort.

Lucie Brière

Acting Director
Strategic Planning Directorate

[1] The official term in Canada is "claimant to refugee status." In Europe, the term "asylum seeker" is generally used. The expression "applicant for refugee status" is also used.

[2] Christopher McAll, Louise Tremblay, Les requérants du statut de réfugié au Québec : un nouvel espace de marginalité ? Études et recherches No. 16 (Montréal : Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration, 1996), 142 pp.