ABSTRACT
By all appearances, Canada seems to be thus far relatively immune to the rise of anti-immigrant populist mobilizations that are sweeping across the globe. In fact, studies show that Canadian attitudes towards immigration and ethnocultural diversity remain consistently positive. What explains Canadian exceptionalism to rise of anti-immigrant populism? What lessons are other countries drawing from Canadian exceptionalism? This chapter develops answers to these questions in two steps. First, it shows that Canadians’ relaxed attitude towards immigration and their reluctance to embrace anti-immigrant populism cannot be explained by an underlying tolerance of ethnocultural diversity; instead, this phenomenon is far more closely related to the structure of Canada’s immigration system and, more specifically, to its (highly) selective immigration criteria. Second, this chapter argues that other immigrant-countries have not looked to Canada’s multicultural experiment for inspiration; rather, it is Canada’s rather restrictive immigration practices that these countries hope to emulate. More specifically, this chapter argues that Canada’s real influence in terms of multiculturalism is providing a blueprint for a European political right concerned with limiting the diversification of their respective states. In brief, this chapter concludes that there is a disjuncture between Canada’s self-image as a tolerant polity and a multicultural success and its outward projection as a restrictive immigrant-receiving country.
