“Cashberta:” Migration Experiences of Somali-Canadian Second Generation Youth in Canada

My paper examines the circumstances that have pushed Somali-Canadian male youth from Toronto to Alberta; a region with a growing and booming economy. Once in Alberta, Somali youth are caught in situations where many are unable to work in their professional fields, or are unemployed and underemployed due to lack of skills and education. Without employment, some of these Somali youths have ended up in criminal activities—ultimately leading to their death. This paper is grounded in the migration, settlement and integration of the Somali diaspora of Canada throughout the 1990s to the present, with an emphasis on the difficult integration and settlement experience of Somali-Canadian youth. It seeks to better understand the experiences of Somali families, specifically Somali families from the Greater Toronto Area, and the barriers they have faced in their process of relocation from Somalia to Canada. Further, this paper emphasizes the experiences of Somali-Canadian second generation male youth who are impacted by the obstacles their immigrant families face upon arrival in Toronto, and how that has hindered their integration into mainstream Canada such as in the labour market, the education system and their experiences with discrimination and other systemic barriers. These families face literacy problems and therefore cannot provide necessary educational support to their children at home. They face employment barriers and housing conditions in areas that are sometimes prone to violence, and consequently do not possess the requisite political skills to assist their children in navigating the various institutions that they must interact with such as the schools, security, policing and judicial systems. All of these challenges have affected Somali youth leading to their own difficult experiences in Canada.I anticipate that this paper will add onto the paucity of research on second generation immigrant youth, specifically the experiences of Somali-Canadian males in Toronto, and the struggles they face every day, such as acute discrimination due to their race, skin color and religion, and their origins from an immigrant household usually situated in low income neighbourhoods in the Greater Toronto Area.