Integrity Journal of Arts and Humanities

Policies have opened Canada to migrants, often skilled immigrants on a permanent-resident basis, under programmes like Express Entry. Despite such policies, Black immigrants have faced several barriers in their workplace, such as low-wage pay and diminutive advancement opportunities. These findings are represented in a qualitative study that explores how Black immigrant workers in Calgary perceived diversity management and workplace inequality based on Johnson’s polarity management theory with the best applications of Benet’s Polarity of Democracy (POD) framework. The research used narrative inquiry to gather the subjective explanations of 10 Black immigrant workers who had spent five years in the workforce in Calgary, Alberta. The study exposes the polarity thinking of Canadian workforce diversity and equality. Participants viewed increased diversity as a solution to the problem of inequality, but significantly, many faced enduring challenges in achieving upward adjustments to equalise their workforce. Their polarity management approach revealed vast unconscious biases and ‘Canadian experience’ expectations still facing Black immigrants three decades after the multiculturalism policy took effect in 1988. The findings, which reveal the dilemma of Black immigrant workers, illustrate the possibilities of paradigm shifts from viewing diversity as an isolated problem to framing it as a polarity that needs to be balanced with an equally powerful one that is equality. A more balanced approach to diversity and equality shows a complete way forward, with positive social change including more equitable and just workplaces, agreement and a mutual understanding to propel industries and society toward a more just future.