Fostering a Society of Diverse but Cohesive Citizens: Perspectives from Canadian Experience

Abstract

Concern over the shrinking population in Japan has attracted greater attention to the reality of immigrants as a workforce. In order to prepare for the greater diversification of Japanese society that will be brought about by immigrants, this paper introduces the Canadian strategy of managing diversity. Canada is a country of immigrants and officially supports multiculturalism through legislation.

The first section of this paper describes how multiculturalism has been inevitable for the nation-building and social development of Canada. The second section describes the transition of the Canadian multiculturalism policy and related educational trends from the 1970s to the 2000s referencing the social background. It specifically refers to the transformation of multiculturalism policy into citizenship policy after the 1990s. In the third section, the Canadian approach to social cohesion is examined. The policy defines active participation in society as the key to promote cohesiveness in a multicultural society. The premise is that the process of working together will promote a sense of belonging and unity among people of different racial, cultural, and social backgrounds. The recognized institutional barriers that keep immigrants from fully participating in the society are also pointed out. The fourth section examines the inclusiveness of the concept of Canadian identity, the attitude toward cultural diversity, and the educational approach to promote social cohesion through examining federal and Quebec documents on citizenship education. Several practical problems concerning citizenship education at the school level are also described. As a final thought, several questions for Japan are raised, based on the Canadian experience.