Managing Diversity

Abstract

Comparing the United States (U.S.) and Canadian responses to immigration in the context of each country’s civil rights struggles underscores the importance of history, geography, demography, and institutional structures in determining law and policy. Civil rights in the U.S. required a civil war over slavery and created an important role for courts to interpret constitutional mandates of equal treatment. Constitutionally enshrined individual rights came late to Canada and change occurred often through piecemeal legislative and bureaucratic action rather than litigation. Such differences in the trajectory of rights influence differences in immigration policy: active support and management of entry and integration in Canada versus an ambiguous welcome and laissez-faire incorporation in the U.S. Looking to the future, the political system and contentious views on immigration make policymaking difficult in the U.S., while Canadian policymakers enjoy more public support and flexibility as they take on the challenges and opportunities of immigration.