Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I examine the shaping of citizenship, social reproduction, and "integration" to Canada through programs targeting immigrant parents.

Paper long abstract:

In Canada, immigration is a central means for securing its population. Along strict immigration policies, securing desirable immigrants is further pursued through several civic enterprises. Sexuality, health, and reproduction are core aspects in these social enterprises. In this paper, I turn to "parenting programs" targeting immigrants to Canada to examine childrearing practices promoted by state-sponsored institutions, and consider how they shape new Canadian citizens. These interventions are proposed as a solution to the "problems" post-settlement poses to newcomer families to Canada. Based on my ethnographic inquire into sexuality education as the cultural spaces where parents and their family practices are interpellated and "integrated" into the social fabric of a mid-sized Canadian prairie city. Through my fieldwork in parent-management education I heard from settlement "experts" and newcomers. I explore the ways in which parents become active in their own governance, responsible for their reproductive practices, and also re-define desirable citizenship by raising "proper" or "good" reproductive actors.