Title: Coming and going: the impacts of precarious work and non-citizenship on immigrant in- and out-migration in New Brunswick

Authors: Catherine Holtman; Luc Thériault

Addresses: Sociology Department, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5A3, Canada ' Sociology Department, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5A3, Canada

Abstract: Based on the qualitative analysis of data collected from 52 immigrant women who lived in the province of New Brunswick, Canada, this article describes how their experiences of precarious employment and precarious non-citizenship intersect with factors unique to the provincial context. The women's experiences of precarity in this context help to explain immigrant out-migration. Although engaged in low skill occupations, women who arrive in New Brunswick with temporary work permits are more satisfied with the particular conditions of precarity than those with higher education levels or with high skill professional experience. This is largely due to a segmented labour market and a lack of social citizenship in the province. All immigrant women report anxiety and stress concerning the precarious pathway to full legal citizenship. Immigrant women are attracted to the province by the government's population growth strategy yet the particular intersections of precarious work and precarious non-citizenship push them elsewhere in Canada in search of greater economic and social security.

Keywords: immigrant women; precarious work; precarious non-citizenship; Canada; New Brunswick; female immigrants; low skill occupations; temporary work permits; education levels; with high skilled professionals; segmented labour market; social citizenship; anxiety; stress; legal citizenship; population growth strategy; economic security; social security; migrants.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMBS.2017.081194

International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 2017 Vol.3 No.1, pp.98 - 112

Received: 18 Sep 2015
Accepted: 24 Jan 2016

Published online: 26 Dec 2016 *

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