Learn English, go to school, get a job… and play sport? Immigrant Youth Recreation and the Settlement Service Agency

This community-based study explored the experiences of immigrant youth in Toronto who participate in recreational programming at a settlement service agency, CoalitionTO*. To guide my findings, I applied a variety of transdisciplinary theoretical frameworks, such as cultural capital, social inclusion, critical race theory, and modern assimilation theories. I utilized participant observation and interviews with youth participants and staff members. My results found that despite strong multiculturalism narratives, assimilation into dominant institutions was viewed as expectation of migration and White, Canadian physical culture was perceived by all stakeholders as an effective means of facilitating the settlement of youth. However, youth were not passive within this process; they exerted agency to reflect on their positionality and made decisions to enhance their social mobility. This study unpacks the complex tensions between assimilation and social inclusion and calls for a greater examination of the broader socio-political context surrounding sport/recreation.M.Sc