Author(s)

Felicia I. Nwalutu

Department of History, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

The main purpose of the 2003 first Minister on Health Care Renewal Accord was to ensure that Canadians received accessible, sustainable and portable healthcare. In spite of these provisions, the health of immigrants in Canada living in various provinces continues to fall through the cracks. How does the labor market situation of unemployment and underemployment affect the mental health conditions of immigrants and their access to healthcare? What role do gender, race, and income play in getting access to quality and specialized health care in the provinces? This paper examines the impact of unemployment, underemployment and Term employment on the mental health of immigrants in Canada. The paper uses the author-ethnographic narrative, Spirituality and Healthcare model, anti-racist and anti-colonial theories to foreground immigrants’ experiences in Canada. It concludes that the difficulty of navigating through and penetrating the Canadian labor market for immigrants with foreign training especially the minority groups, grossly limits their integration into the economic mainstream and consequently, their optimal productivity to the society. Failure to secure decent jobs after retraining, with the hope of being accepted by Canadian employers, often leads to depression and other health issues.

Unemployment, Underemployment, Low Income, Stressor, Depression Hyperthyroidism

Nwalutu, F. I. (2019) Canadian Labour Market as a Dispiriting Phenomenon on Skilled Migrants: Mental Health Consequences on Immigrant Canadians. Sociology Mind, 9, 151-167. doi: 10.4236/sm.2019.93011.