[Last updated: Fall 2023]
Resources of particular use to Soc-Anth 4310-01 Minority and Ethnic Groups: A study of minority and ethnic groups (native and immigrant) within Canadian "multicultural" society. The course also includes a review of Canada's immigration policies and their effects on Canada's multicultural landscape. (Cross-listed with Diversity and Social Justice Studies 4310).
Note that if you Google "immigration canada" you will find lots of sites that look official but are companies that offer immigration processing services, like immigration.ca. Avoid these sites, as their data is profit-motivated and thus suspect.
Databases to search to find peer-reviewed articles and other academic-appropriate sources:
OneSearch
OneSearch includes peer-reviewed journal articles, non-peer-reviewed sources like magazines, and books/book chapters. It is not Canada specific unless you add terms to limit to Canada as in the example links below.
Start by clicking on this link, but then in the AND boxes that are empty, add your own subtopic terms
Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA)
CBCA includes peer-reviewed journals, non-peer-reviewed sources like magazines and a few newspapers, and some books. It has a strong Canada content focus, but some material written by Canadians but not about Canada gets included.
Start with this link and then in front of the "loc(canada)" put your own subtopic terms and include an AND right before the "loc". Use the peer-reviewed checkbox on the results screen if you want to exclude books and other non-peer-reviewed publications.
LOC(canada) AND ( "visible minorit*" OR multicultural* OR "multi-cultural" OR racial* OR "vertical mosaic" OR "ethno-racial" OR racis* OR immigra* OR pluralis* OR ethnocultural OR polyethnic* OR indigenous OR "first nations" OR metis OR "native canadian*" ) (search link expires 2024-09-26)
A version of that link that does NOT include the indigenous search terms:
LOC(canada) AND ("visible minorities" OR "visible minority") OR multicultural* OR "multi-cultural" OR racial* OR "vertical mosaic" OR "ethno-racial" OR racis* OR immigra* OR pluralis* OR ethnocultural OR polyethnic* (link expires 2024-09-26)
Newsbank - Canada
Newsbank has newspapers, wire services, transcripts from broadcast news programs, but nothing peer-reviewed. The overall database is international, but it has the full text of many Canadian sources, including smaller newspapers and CBC news transcripts. The sample link below is pre-limited to Canadian sources.
Start with this link then add your own topic words in the second search box; be sure to change the field from "Date(s)" to either "Lead/First Paragraph" (or "All Text" for broader results):
Google Scholar (GS)
- ( canada OR canadian) AND ( "visible minority" OR multicultural OR "vertical mosaic" OR "ethno-racial" OR immigrants OR immigration OR pluralism OR ethnocultural OR polyethnicism)
- ( canada OR canadian) AND ( racial OR racialized OR racialization OR racism OR racist)
- ( canada OR canadian) AND ("first nations" OR "native peoples" OR aboriginals OR indigenous OR "native canadian" OR "indians of north america" OR metis OR inuit OR eskimos)
GS tips:
- When you find a good article from keyword searching, follow the "Cited by" and "Related articles" links below it (best practice: right-click "Open in New Tab" on these) to find more like it
- If you find a really good article in OneSearch, paste that article title into GS as its own search, then use the "Cited by" and "Related articles" links below it to find more like that one.
- Turn on links to our Check@UPEI system so you don't face the nasty "paywall" when trying to get to the full text when off campus. See instructions on how to do this.
Ebook Collections
- Canada Commons - Over 85,000 books and government documents relating to Canada. Check with your instructor with regard to which sources would be considered appropriate for use in your assignment
- ScholarsPortal Ebooks - thousands of ebooks published by Canadian university presses, so mostly academic-appropriate; not entirely about Canada, but most are
Canada Government Sources
For policies, laws, statistics, and other official reports from federal and provincial levels of government
- Google Search of Government websites - add your own keywords to the search box at the top
- Official Government of Canada website for Immigration and Citizenship
- Statistics Canada data about immigration and ethnocultural diversity and their page on Indigenous Peoples
Historical Sources
- Canadiana Online - over 40 million digitized pages of historical documents from Canadian sources
- UPEI History professor Lisa Chilton has done a handy 40-page primer on the pre-1930 history of Canadian immigration policy as a booklet for the Canadian Historical Association: Receiving Canada's immigrants: the work of the state before 1930 (pdf)