Impact of Bilingualism in the Canadian Workplace
Team Members
Pia-Patrizia Keenan, Can Li, Yuge Qi
Abstract
Throughout Canada’s history, bilingualism has been celebrated as a hallmark of Canadian identity which showcases this country’s commitment to diversity and multiculturalism. Drawing on previous literature gleaned from the literature review, this paper showed that bilingual individuals make more in the workplace. However, this failed to consider individuals who speak more than one language who experience linguistic racism: immigrants. Even though they are qualified individuals, immigrants are more likely to face accent discrimination in the workplace. Furthermore, this paper examines the rampant nature of accent discrimination faced by immigrants in Canada, elucidating its detrimental effects on their career advancement, workplace integration, and overall well-being. It emphasizes the importance of fostering inclusive work environments that value linguistic diversity and actively combat accent discrimination through measures multiple stakeholders (i.e. frontline workers, Human Resource Groups and the Ministry of Health) can take to mitigate the negative implications of accent discrimination.
Impact of Bilingualism in the Canadian Workplace - Executive Summary Video
