Migration and the impact that immigrants have on Canada is and always has been central to a robust understanding of Canadian identity. However, despite claims that “the world needs more Canada,” Canadians, their governments, and scholars pay much less attention to the estimated 3 million Canadian expatriates who live elsewhere. The Construction of Canadian Identity from Abroad features Canadian scholars who live and work outside Canada (or have recently returned to Canada) and who write and think deeply about identity construction. What happens when that Canadian is a scholar whose teaching, research and scholarship, professional development, and/or community engagement focuses directly on Canada? How does being abroad affect how we interpret Canada? In short, in what ways does “externality” affect how Canadian expat scholars intellectually approach, construct, and identify with Canada? This engaging volume is ideal for university students, scholars, government officials, and the general public.

Study and residence abroad are important for adult second language learning, promoting oral skills, fluency and sociopragmatic competence in particular, alongside broader intercultural competence. However learner achievements during residence abroad are variable and cannot be fully understood without attention to the social settings in which learners engage, and the social networks they develop. This edited collection explores the relationship between sociocultural experience, identity and language learning among student sojourners abroad. Three broad themes are identified: the contribution of different settings (host families, student exchanges, work placements etc) to language learning opportunity; the role of social networks in sojourners' language practices and learning success; and their evolving social identities. The book is relevant for a readership interested in informal second language learning, as well as for managers of residence abroad programmes.

Separated by the world’s longest land border and engaging in over three billion dollars in trade daily, Canada and the United States share security concerns, cultural interests, and a history spanning more than 250 years. Alan Rock, former Canadian ambassador to the United States, has said that this special relationship represents “a bond that is beyond practical. It borders on mystical.” The rise of nativist sentiment, however, has raised concerns over preserving this relationship. History Has Made Us Friends illuminates the nature and dynamics of Canada-US relations, examining their history, attributed meaning, and conceptualization. Contributors consider many angles and perspectives, including the impact of geopolitical change, to determine whether the relationship warrants the moniker “special.” They explore whether shared values and demographic similarities continue to cement the relationship, and if it still matters whether presidents and prime ministers get along. While things look different today from when President Kennedy declared, “What unites us is far greater than what divides us,” History Has Made Us Friends argues that the Canada-US relationship – often narrowly understood or dismissed as a relic of the past – continues to be unique and resilient.

In Bombardier Abroad, Thomas examines several cases of the Canadian aerospace giant’s work in the high-speed rail sector in South Africa, China/Tibet, and Israel/Palestine and argues that these projects are deepening existing social and political tensions. By participating in these infrastructure projects, Thomas argues, Bombardier is both inserting itself into highly contested social and political climates and profiting from actions that further exacerbate existing conditions of dispossession and inequality. Thomas also examines the various ways in which the Canadian state supports the work of Bombardier in these countries. Centred around a theoretical framework that combines concepts of dispossession, political economy and important interventions from the field of settler colonial studies, Bombardier Abroad is a critical look at the problematic practices of a Canadian corporation and the ways in which the Canadian state is culpable.

How did British colonists in Victorian Montreal come to think of themselves as “native Canadian”? This incisive, richly illustrated work reveals that colonists adopted Aboriginal and French Canadian activities – hunting, lacrosse, snowshoeing, and tobogganing – and appropriated them while imposing British ideologies of order, discipline, and fair play. In the process, they constructed visual icons that were recognized at home and abroad as distinctly “Canadian” national symbols. The new Canadian nationality mimicked indigenous characteristics but ultimately rejected indigenous players, instead championing the interests of white, middle-class, Protestant males who used their newly acquired identity to dominate the political realm. Becoming Native in a Foreign Land demonstrates that English Canadian identity was not formed solely by emulating what was British. In fact, it gained enormous ground by usurping what was indigenous in the fertile landscape of a foreign land. A vital and original study, it will appeal to scholars and enthusiasts of Canadian history, identity, and culture.

How did British colonists in Victorian Montreal come to think of themselves as “native Canadian”? This richly illustrated work reveals that colonists adopted, then appropriated, Aboriginal and French Canadian activities such as hunting, lacrosse, snowshoeing, and tobogganing. In the process, they constructed visual icons that were recognized at home and abroad as distinctly “Canadian.” This new Canadian nationality mimicked indigenous characteristics but ultimately rejected indigenous players, and championed the interests of white, middle-class, Protestant males who used their newly acquired identity to dominate the political realm. English Canadian identity was not formed solely by emulating what was British; this book shows that it gained ground by usurping what was indigenous in a foreign land.

With contributions from some of Canada's leading historians, political scientists, geographers, anthropologists, and sociologists, this collection examines the transnational practices and identities of immigrant and ethnic communities in Canada. It looks at why members of these groups maintain ties with their homelands -- whether real or imagined -- and how those connections shape individual identities and community organizations. How does transnationalism establish or transform geographical, social, and ideological borders? Do homeland ties affect what it means to be "Canadian"? Do they reflect Canada's commitment to multiculturalism? Through analysis of the complex forces driving transnationalism, this comprehensive study focuses attention on an important, and arguably growing, dimension of Canadian social life. This is the first collection in Canada to provide a comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of transnationalism. It will appeal to scholars and students interested in issues of immigration, multiculturalism, ethnicity, and settlement.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, the visual arts were considered central to the formation of a distinct national identity, and the Group of Seven's landscapes became part of a larger program to unify the nation and assert its uniqueness. This book traces the development of this program and illuminates its conflicted history. Leslie Dawn problematizes conventional perceptions of the Group as a national school and underscores the contradictions inherent in international exhibitions showing unpeopled landscapes alongside Northwest Coast Native arts and the "Indian" paintings of Langdon Kihn and Emily Carr. Dawn examines how this dichotomy forced a re-evaluation of the place of First Nations in both Canadian art and nationalism.

This book delves into the complexity of the exclusion of multiple minority identities against the backdrop of anti-Black racism, linguistic discrimination, slavery, and colonialism and neo-colonialism, along with resilience against identity exclusion. Analyzing the construction and negotiation of Canadian, Francophone, and Black-African identities, we juxtapose inclusive identity meanings with dominant perceptions to show ways in which race, language, ethnicity, and religion shape identities in the 21st century. Drawing on the criterial tradition, critical race theory, critical multiculturalism, and critical ethnography, we engage the work of Frantz Fanon and Negritude and utilize semi-structured interviews, document collection, and content analysis to interpret identity and identification. We shed light on identity exclusion and subjectivity that fuels identity strategizing and agency, and recommend reforms, including naming Black Canadians an independent designated group, and combining multiculturalism and official bilingualism to strengthen belongingness among Blacks and other marginalized communities and to build the inclusive future that we long for.

This book explores how the recruitment and retention of Asian international students in Canadian universities intersects with other institutional priorities. Responding to the growing need for new insights and perspectives on the institutional mechanisms adopted by Canadian universities to support Asian international students in their academic and social integration to university life, it crucially examines the challenges at the intersection of two institutional priorities: internationalization and anti-racism. This is especially important for the Asian international student group, who are known to experience invisible forms of discrimination and differential treatment in Canadian post-secondary education institutions. The authors present new conceptualisations and theoretical perspectives on topics including international students’ experiences and understandings of race and racism, comparisons with domestic students and/or non-Asian students, institutional discourse and narratives on Asian international students, comparison with other university priorities, cross-national comparisons, best practices, and recent developments linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. Foregrounding the institutional strategies of Canadian universities, as opposed to student experience exclusively, this direct examination of institutional responses and initiatives draws out similarities and differences across the country, compares them within the broader array of university priorities, and ultimately offers the opportunity for Canadian universities to learn from each other in improving the integration of Asian international students and others to their student body. It will appeal to teacher-scholars, researchers and educators with interested in higher education, international education and race and ethnic studies.