Social Cohesion: Insights from Canadian Research

Abstract

Canadian research has not resulted in definitive answers about the nature of social cohesion, but it has created a new “lens” through which existing government and private sector policies and practices can be viewed and individual behaviours assessed. This paper will provide an overview of Canadian research activity on social cohesion since 1997, discuss the debates about definitions and examine the key findings about social cohesion that have arisen from the past six years of research in Canada. It will then turn to the public policy implications of social cohesion. Finally, it will propose a tentative model for social cohesion, based on what we believe that we know about the interrelationships between the multiple inputs and “complex mobilities” that contribute to social cohesion within any individual society.