Implementing “Welcoming communities” Policies at the neighborhood level in Montreal: the study of the Vivons nos quartiers initiative
In a context of a discrepancy between shifting and ambiguous policies, "hostile" public discourse and everyday realities on the ground, what can we learn from the case study of the Vivons nos quartiers initiative on the implementation of migration policies? This initiative, led by Montreal community organizations working in the immigration sector, aims to share best inclusive practices within Montreal's neighbourhoods. This project began in the context of the arrival of Syrian refugees in 2016, and readjusted to the realities of the large influx of asylum seekers in 2017-2018. Based on an ethnographic research, we discuss the interactions observed during trainings, meetings and consultations among community and institutional actors. The analysis examines the implementation of Canadian policies aimed at establishing "welcoming communities", as described and measured by Esses et al. (2010 and Belkhodja (2009). We mobilize the concept of social resilience to analyse the strategies used by the organizations in the settlement sector facing the challenges of immigration. Indeed, the perceived "migration crisis" in Quebec has had a contradictory influence on the implementation of settlement policies. On the one hand, "paralysing" and on the other hand "mobilizing" actors in the field. The concern with the establishment of "welcoming communities" lies at the crossroads of this ambivalence. By producing a mobilizing narrative framework, the project we documented contributes to the resilience of the host communities and, by extension, that of the newcomers.