Labour Market Gatekeepers

Human Resource Management Professionals Defining and Excluding Immigrants in Alberta, Canada

Bibliographic Data

ID24217417
AuthorsChene Redwood (0009-0007-8261-6747, Department of Sociology and Anthropology Carleton University Ottawa Ontario Canada), Carieta O Thomas (0000-0003-0416-6262, Department of Sociology and Anthropology Carleton University Ottawa Ontario Canada)
Year2026
Volume63
Issue4
Publication date2026-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCanadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1755-6171 • E-ISSN: 1755-618X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/cars.70053
LanguageEN
References cited30

Despite being admitted to Canada as “the best and the brightest,” immigrants often face underemployment and poverty. Few studies on immigrant labour market integration consider the role of local policy actors such as human resource management (HRM) professionals, who make and influence hiring decisions. Drawing on interviews and Relational Inequality Theory, this paper examines how HRM professionals in Alberta categorically define and evaluate immigrant candidates. Findings reveal that HRM professionals fail to recognize immigrants as legally entitled and preferred workers based on their permanent residency, instead treating them as temporary migrants who are administrative burdens or financial risks. Strategic HRM logics provide non‐racial justifications for exclusion, yet evaluations are guided by cultural fit criteria that serve as proxies for Whiteness. These insights reframe the problem as also a recognition of legal status, showing how immigration categories and cultural racism intersect to reproduce inequality in Canada's labour market.

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