Examining the Role of Non-profit Organizations for Immigrant Settlement in a Neoliberal Age

Project Title

_{Examining the Role of Non-profit Organizations for Immigrant Settlement in a Neoliberal Age}

Researchers

_{Principle Investigators: Dr. John Shields, Professor Emeritus, Department of Politics and Public Administration, Toronto Metropolitan University & Ted Richmond, Community-based Researcher and Policy Analyst}

_{Collaborators: Various other collaborators over an extended time-period (see associated publications in reference list)}

Funder

_{The profiled publication for this Research Brief is The Canadian Non-profit Sector: Neoliberalism and the Assault on Community (external link, opens in new window)  (Richmond & Shields, 2024). As this work is in essence a product that has its roots in a long period of research related to this topic, a number of earlier projects were funded by bodies such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). However, this book was not an externally funded project.}

Research Question

_{The broad research focus of The Canadian Non-profit Sector is concerned with the central role that non-profit organizations/sector play in the support of vulnerable populations like migrant newcomers. This work offers a comprehensive and critical exploration of nonprofits in serving the community under the corrosive impact of neoliberalism.} 

Methodology

_{This work is based on a long-term examination of the complex and changing role played by non-profit organizations in the support of immigrant settlement in Canada. The origin of this highlighted work stretches back to the early 2000s resulting in numerous research initiatives and publications led by John Shields but often in full collaboration with community-based researcher Ted Richmond. The culmination of this work has been the 2024 publication of the coauthored volume The Canadian Non-profit Sector: Neoliberalism and the Assault on Community. While the book examines broadly the non-profit sector, many of the examples are drawn from immigrant centred nonprofits. There is a need to critically understand immigrant serving non-profit organizations within this larger context.}

_{In The Canadian Non-profit Sector, Richmond and Shields adopt a critical political economy framework and draw on an extensive body of academic research, non-profit sector grey literature, and government documents. The work is the product of a community-university collaboration and draws on the ‘lived experience’ and deep knowledge of the Canadian non-profit sector and immigrant settlement.}

Background

_{The 2024 release of the book The Canadian Non-profit Sector: Neoliberalism and the Assault on Community brings into focus years of research by the authors on the issue of nonprofits serving community in a neoliberal age. This volume speaks directly to the challenges facing the immigrant serving non-profit sector. Neoliberal restructuring has left individuals and families scrambling for survival and increasingly reliant on the under-funded and over-regulated non-profit sector to patch over the steadily growing fissures in our society. This book examines the creativity and resilience of nonprofits in maintaining and expanding their services under difficult circumstances. It also delves into the vital role of nonprofits in advocating for human rights, anti-racism, Indigenous claims, migrant rights, and improved health and social services.}

_{The decades-long turn towards marketized solutions to social needs has created the conditions under which privatized modes of service delivery have become the norm. An over-stretched and under-resourced non-profit sector has been left to address ever expanding need in a society of growing inequality. The volume places a critical lens on these developments in the analysis of the place of the non-profit sector organizations, like settlement agencies, in neoliberal times in Canada. The volume identifies the many challenges facing the sector but also highlights its promotion of social justice moving forward.}

Findings

_{Examining the dichotomy between non-profit resilience alongside non-profit precarity reveals the challenges that immigrant settlement agencies and other non-profit migrant oriented organizations confront in their efforts to support migrant communities in a period of austerity and neoliberalism. Non-profit organizations and their workers are precariously positioned due to top-down relationships with government and serious underfunding. Nonprofits are compelled to "resiliently endure” doing ever "more with less,"’ in their efforts to serve migrant populations that are highly vulnerable in an increasingly polarized society. The findings confirm that there is an urgent need to build equitable and supportive partnerships with government funders that will empower non-profit organizations to more fully address the needs of immigrants and amplify the voices of migrant populations.}

Keywords

_{Non-profit organizations; Immigrant settlement agencies; Neoliberalism; Resilience & precarity}

Book Launch & Seminar

_{Watch the recording of the seminar and book launch for The Canadian Non-profit Sector: Neoliberalism and the Assault on Community featuring co-authors John Shields and Ted Richmond and prominent non-profit figures Axelle Janczur, (external link, opens in new window)  Executive Director of Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services (external link, opens in new window)  and foreword author of The Canadian Non-profit Sector; Mwarigha (external link) , Vice President of Housing, Homelessness, Asset Sustainability & New Development at WoodGreen Community Services (external link) ; and Maureen Fair (external link) , Executive Director of West Neighbourhood House (Formerly St. Christopher House) (external link) .}

References

_{Bushell, R., & Shields, J. (2018). Immigrant settlement agencies in Canada: A critical review of the literature through the lens of resilience [Building Migrant Resilience in Cities project]. York University.  (PDF file) https://www.yorku.ca/research/bmrc-irmu/wp-content/uploads/sites/869/2018/10/ISAs-A-Critical-Review-2018-JSRB-edits-Oct-9-2018.pdf (external link)} 

_{Elson, P. R. (2024, October 21). Book Review of ‘The Canadian Non-profit Sector: Neoliberalism and the Assault on Community’. The Philanthropist Journal. https://thephilanthropist.ca/2024/10/neoliberalism-and-the-assault-on-community/ (external link)} 

_{Evans, B., Richmond, T., & Shields, J. (2005). Structuring neoliberal governance: The nonprofit sector,. emerging new modes of control and the marketization of service delivery. Policy and Society, 24(1), 73-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1449-4035(05)70050-3 (external link)} 

_{Joy, M., & Shields, J. (2020). The political economy of the non-profit sector, in H. Whiteside (Ed.), Canadian Political Economy (pp. 215-233). University of Toronto Press. https://doi.org/10.3138/9781487530907-013 (external link)} 

_{Lowe, S., Richmond, T., & Shields, J. (2017). Settling on austerity: ISAs, immigrant communities and neoliberal restructuring. Alternate Routes: A Journal of Critical Social Research, 28, 14-46. https://alternateroutes.ca/index.php/ar/article/view/22417 (external link)} 

_{Praznik, J., & Shields, J. (2018). An anatomy of settlement services in Canada: A guide  [Building Migrant Resilience in Cities project]. York University.  (PDF file) http://bmrc-irmu.info.yorku.ca/files/2018/07/An-Anatomy-of-Settlement-Services-in-Canada_BMRCIRMU.pdf (external link)} 

_{Preston, V., Shields, J., & D’Souza, J. (2024). Transforming settlement and integration services during a pandemic. International Migration, 62(2), 22-37. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13245 (external link)} 

_{Richmond, T., & Shields, J. (2004). NGO Restructuring: Constraints and consequences. Canadian Review of Social Policy, 53, 53-67.}

_{Richmond, T., & Shields, J. (2005). NGO-Government relations and immigrant services: Contradictions and challenges. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 6(3-4), 513-526. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-005-1024-3 (external link)} 

_{Richmond, T., & Shields, J. (2024). The Canadian non-profit sector: Neoliberalism and the assault on community. Fernwood Press.}

_{Shields, J., Drolet, J., & Valenzuela, K. (2016). Immigration settlement and integration services and the role of nonprofit providers: A cross-national perspective on trends, issues and evidence [Working paper no. 2016/1]. Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement.  (PDF file) https://www.torontomu.ca/content/dam/centre-for-immigration-and-settlement/tmcis/publications/workingpapers/2016-1-shields-drolet-valenzuela.pdf}

_{Shields, J., & Lujan, O. (2019). Immigrant youth, settlement and resilience: A qualitative examination of newcomer youth and settlement service [Primary research report, IWYS project].  CERIS.  (PDF file) https://ocasi.org/sites/default/files/iwys-primary-research-youth-final-report.pdf (external link)} 

_{Shields, J., Türegün, A., & Lowe, S. (2014). Settlement and integration research synthesis 2009-2013. CERIS & Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). https://rshare.library.torontomu.ca/articles/report/Settlement_and_Integration_Research_Synthesis_2009-2013/23929164?file=41965935}