1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This paper analyses two dimensions of ‘waiting’ in the realm of family reunification [in Canada]. First, we discuss the policy changes introduced in 2011.» (p. 2) Second, «we examine how the new policy and the frequent changes it underwent between 2011 and 2017 have affected the [participant’s] experience of ‘waiting’ to be reunited.» (p. 9)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
First, the family reunification policies in Canada were analysed. «In [the second] part of the paper, we interrogate data collected from immigrants in Canada who have experienced the new parent and grandparent family reunification policy. […] The 19 interviews were collected in the Province of Québec in 2016, with a follow-up of some cases in 2017.» (p. 9)

Instruments :
Guide d’entretien

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

«[T]his analysis sheds light on the intersection of mobility and immobility among transnational families who deploy various strategies to provide care, despite policies making their right to family life a long administrative and emotional battle. […] Sponsorship is now achievable by those who are most privileged and lucky and reinforces previously existing stratification; the super visa is emblematic of the penetration of temporariness and the precarity it fosters in a family class. Unfortunately, negative portrayals of family class immigrants that have accompanied, when compared to the better more desirable economic migrants, obscure the intergenerational care flows at the heart of family reunification.» (p. 16) For example, family «members that are apart and ‘waiting’ to be physically together experience ‘waiting’ with anxiety and uncertainty. Because the reunification of parents generally centres on desires and needs to provide and receive in-person care, ’waiting’ becomes particularly acute. ‘Waiting’ for many years may severely curtail the ability to care, given the fact that parents are at later stage of their life-course and reunification often occurs around the birth of a grandchild. The politics of ‘waiting’ reveal severe threats to the right to family life.» (p. 16)