Aiming at Civic Integration? How Canada’s Naturalization Rules are Sidelining Refugees and Family-Class Immigrants

Abstract

With a naturalization rate above 80%, Canada is a world leader in granting citizenship to immigrants and refugees. However, policy changes over the past decade — which we identify as falling within the “civic integration paradigm” — have led to a steady decline in both citizenship applications and attributions. This paper takes a closer look at the reasons for this decline. In particular, we examine who fails in meeting the mandatory citizenship knowledge and language requirements such as members of the family class and refugees. We also show that Canada’s naturalization rules have become highly econocentric.