International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 3 No. 18; October 2013 84 Ethnic Identity and Psycho-Social Well-being among New Canadian Migrants Kon K. Madut, PhD Taos Institute 30 Montana Way Ottawa, ON K2J 4M5 Canada Abstract This article provides an overview of the theoretical and policy background on Construction of ethnic identity, exclusion and social well-being among New Canadian migrants. The article searches for the historical patterns of immigration policies and ideologies determined who should and should not be admitted to Canada as preferred immigrants .This study begins with the era of racial classification and categorization and goes until the era of multiculturalism, employment equity, and affirmative action acts of 1986. The research demonstrates that past historical practices pertained to social exclusion of groups based on ethnic identity, have paved ways to discriminatory policies that continue to affected progress of racialized immigrants socially, psychologically and economically to the present time. The article will also evaluate what has changed in these immigration policies throughout the history of resettlement and integration of migrants in Canada. Keywords; human psychology, race, identity, stigma, integration, ideology. Immigration, migration, exclusion Introduction The contributions of immigrants to Canada in the areas of social, cultural, economic and politics have been acknowledged by many researchers. However, an 84-participant focus group study done by Kunz, Milan and Schetagne (2000) concluded that racialized minority migrants continue to face “difficulties with the demand for Canadian experience, evaluation of foreign credentials, and not being considered for promotion if employed” (p. 40). Another study on socioeconomic integration of racialized minorities, conducted by George and Doyle (2010), indicated that “racialized minorities, like Aboriginal peoples, are seriously disadvantaged in Canada's workforce; with large gaps between labor market prospects for racialized minority and non-racialized minority populations” (para. 9). The policies that have shaped the fabric of the current Canadian labour force, immigration process and its future prospects have led scholars, including Knowles (2007), to ask what Canada will look like decades or a century from now if changes are not introduced to strengthen the current immigration policies. For purposes of this article, I want to discuss certain historical socio-psychological constructions of racialized minorities in Canadian society that underpin their current socioeconomic status and continue to hinder their successful integration as effective contributors in Canadian socio-cultural and economic development. According to Taylor (2008), the disproportionate success of majority groups on one hand, and the disproportionate failures of racialized minorities on the other hand, can be traced to inequalities, injustices and social crises founded in deep- rooted socio-political and cultural nationalism constructed by Canada’s “founding fathers,” who demanded that any ethnic groups coming to Canada should fit socially and culturally into one of the two majority groups (French and English) to better integrate, or assimilate, into a Canadian society. With that rationale, the First Nations communities have remained isolated, as they have neither adapted nor assimilated into the Canadian mainstream. The social, economic, and psychological disparity of Canadian society along ethnic lines has a long history and can be better understood within the historical perspectives of socio-political and cultural interaction between communities within the larger Canadian society. Key among these is immigration policies stretching from the colonial period to the foundation of the Confederation union, and into contemporary Canada. Charon (1983) noted that the fabric of Canadian society has been often cited as a union of the descendants of earlier French and English settlers/immigrants, the First Nations, who are the natives of the land, and the ethnic communities that were brought in by both the English and French to work and subsequently adapt to, or integrate into, the Canadian society.