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Essay / Economic disparity among immigrants in Canada - 1398
When we talk about cultural capital and immigrants, a symbolic element can be language. Canada has two official languages in which employers conduct business. If an immigrant has limited knowledge of French or English, finding a job can be almost impossible. However, even for immigrants who speak French or English, the path to finding employment may not be easier. As immigrants come from another country, they may have brought with them their own cultural capital in the form of an accent. “Job applicants with visible racial markers in their speech were often eliminated” (Banerjee, 2009, p. 471). Even when fluent in Canada's official languages, some immigrants were not offered jobs because of their individual accent. There are, however, certain accents that employers consider "acceptable", many of which are European. But for those with less desirable accents, such as those from East and South Asia, their accent may hinder their job application. In some cases, disqualify them from the job altogether. And with Canada's immigrant population largely coming from "less desirable" areas, this could continue to have a negative impact on the growing unemployment rate. Even when immigrants manage to find a job, they must fight to earn the same salary as their natives.