Migrant Integration in the mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides

移民在加拿大大流行后的经济复苏和未来增长中发挥着重要作用。这场流行病突显了移民对社会和经济的贡献以及他们面临的挑战。它还加快了已经在进行的社会经济和政治变革进程，特别是在先进数字技术在提供服务、组织工作和参与民间社会方面的作用方面。虽然定居和融合是该国既定的政策优先事项，但我们坚信，目前的概念模式和公共政策落后于社会和经济的快速转型。要了解移民融合在加拿大(和国际上)所涉及的挑战和机遇，需要社会科学(社会学、政治学、经济学、社会工作、城市规划)、健康科学(护理、认知科学、公共卫生、职业健康)、工程和信息技术(人工智能、网络安全、人机交互、交通运输)和数字人文之间强有力的跨学科互动。弥合分歧研究计划旨在通过调查加速的技术改造如何与移民融合过程相互作用来填补这一空白。我们在4个研究主题中安排了我们的工作：移民健康和福祉；工作和终身学习；地方和基础设施；公民身份和参与，这些领域有意宽泛，以便进行跨学科和跨部门的工作，但也密切交织在一起，以检查横向联系。我们的工作将侧重于城市背景，包括大城市中心和中小城市--因为这些都是新移民和定居移民的主要目的地。凭借瑞尔森大学在移民和定居研究方面的多重优势和国际领先地位，包括加拿大移民与融合卓越研究教席，我们与其他三所同样从跨学科和跨部门角度研究移民融合的极具竞争力的大学展开合作：艾伯塔大学、不列颠哥伦比亚大学和协和大学。项目产生的创新方法、分析模型、数据、软件工具和政策成果将有助于使加拿大更具包容性、公平性和弹性，同时改善社会和技术创新生态系统。

Immigration plays an important part in Canada's post-pandemic economic recovery and future growth. The pandemic has highlighted immigrants' contributions to society and economy and the challenges they face. It has also accelerated socio-economic and political transformation processes that were already under way, particularly as regards the role of Advanced Digital Technologies in providing services, organizing work, and participating in civil society. While settlement and integration are established policy priorities in this country, we firmly believe that current conceptual paradigms and public policies are lagging behind the rapid transformation of society and the economy. Understanding the challenges and opportunities that immigrant integration involves in Canada (and internationally) requires a robust interdisciplinary engagement between the social sciences (sociology, politics, economics, social work, urban planning); health sciences (nursing, cognitive sciences, public health, occupational health); engineering and information technology (AI, cybersecurity, human-robot interaction, transportation); and digital humanities. The Bridging Divides research program aims to fill this gap by investigating how accelerating technological transformation interacts with immigrant integration processes. We organize our work in 4 Research Themes: Immigrant Health and Well-Being; Work and Lifelong Learning; Place and Infrastructure; Citizenship and Participation, areas intentionally broad to allow for interdisciplinary and intersectoral work but also closely intertwined so as to examine horizontal connections. Our work will focus on the urban context, including both large urban centres and small and mid-sized cities-as these are the main destinations of both newcomers and settled immigrants. Building on the multiple strengths and international leadership of Ryerson U in immigration and settlement studies, including the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration, we partner with three other highly competitive universities equally engaged in studying immigrant integration from interdisciplinary and intersectoral perspectives: the U of Alberta, the U of British Columbia, and Concordia U. The innovative methods, analytical models, data, software tools, and policy outcomes generated by the Program will contribute towards making Canada more inclusive, equitable, and resilient, while improving social and technological innovation eco-systems.