Abstract

According to estimates reported in an exploratory study by the IRSST, immigrant workers’ cases may make up as much as 80% of cases admitted for rehabilitation on the island of Montréal.

Inclusion and selection policies for immigrants have been implemented in Québec and the rest of Canada to assist with labour market integration. Despite this, numerous studies show that immigrants find it more difficult to integrate into the labour market than native-born Canadians. The pitfalls, injuries and disappointments that these workers may experience during their migration, socio-occupational integration and compensation trajectories can pose considerable challenges in the process of returning to and reintegrating into the labour market, and can, in some cases, jeopordize their migration plans.

This research project intends to draw up a dynamic portrait of the life courses of immigrant workers who have suffered an employment injury. Using the life course perspective will make it possible to take into account the plurality of experiences associated with the occurrence of an employment injury. The participants in the study will be asked to situate their employment injury on a lifeline and to relate it to other events that they consider significant. This first phase will make it possible to draw up a dynamic portrait of the life courses of immigrant workers who have suffered an employment injury and thus identify common patterns, and to initiate, in a second phase, a process of reflection and discussion with OHS professionals. In that phase, the research team aims to document how understanding and taking into account the life courses of these workers could help OHS professionals and influence their strategies and their capacity for action.