In partnership with ActionDignity the Migrant Dignity Project sought to understand the wider policy and status issues that contribute to some workers being more vulnerable to COVID-19 in the workplace. This included looking at the relationship between Canadian immigration policy, access to Occupational Health and Safety for essential workers, and the conditions inside Alberta’s largest meat processing facilities. The research was funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Findings from the project supported ActionDignity’s ongoing advocacy and policy efforts to support racialized ‘essential’ workers in Alberta.
Writing
Bragg, B. (2020, April 27). Alberta’s COVID-19 crisis is a migrant-worker crisis, too. Contributed to The Globe and Mail.
Bragg, B. (2020). COVID-19 and meatpackers in Southern, Alberta – avoiding ‘the culturalist trap.’Canadian Diversity, 17(3), 50-55.
MediaCoverage
Dryden, J. December 1, 2021. What Cargill workers want. CBC News.
Herring, J. November 25, 2021. Immigrant workers at Alberta meat plants vulnerable to dangerous conditions, research finds. Calgary Herald.
Brown, R. February 19, 2021. COVID-19 among meatpackers in Southern Alberta. CBC Calgary News at 6.
CITIES OF REFUGE
I am currently working on a book manuscript, under contract with MQUP, based on research on refugee resettlement in Canadian cities. While immigration policy is determined at a national scale, the day-to-day integration experiences of immigrants and refugees to Canada takes place at the local level – in cities, communities and neighbourhoods. Using one neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta as a case study, my research takes a community-informed and ethnographic approach to understanding how former refugee families navigate the complex geographies of urban life. This work explores how migrant status shapes experiences of citizenship, including access to services and support, at the neighbourhood level.
2018 PhDs Go Public: Bronwyn Bragg Doctoral student Bronwyn Bagg explores the gendered and generational dynamics of immigrant integration and belonging in Canadian cities. She is interested in the way immigrant status impacts access to services and supports for newcomers in increasingly diverse urban contexts characterized by inequality and austerity.
Media Coverage
Underwood, C. July 6, 2018. Design and make-up of ‘Little Syria’ ideal for resettlement, says Calgary-based researcher. CBC News.
Thompson, K. June 26, 2018. From policy to practice: Resettlement journeys of Syrian refugees. The Source, Forum of Diversity.
Warren, J. November 6, 2017. Five students whose research could impact critical challenges. National Post.
SUPERDIVERSITY IN CANADIAN CITIES
Diversification is one of the key social processes that defines our times. Over the past few decades, multiple causes and categories of migration – combined with migrants’ new and varying origins – have been transforming urban populations in complex ways, worldwide and, particularly, in Canada.
I contributed to the analysis of the Calgary section of this website, exploring the nature of socioeconomic and immigration status superdiversity in Calgary.
