“Un Paso Atrás, Dos Adelante”: Reporting the Experiences of Spanish-Speaking Latin Americans Navigating and Adapting to the Canadian Workplace

The linguistic landscape of Canadian workplaces is becoming increasingly diverse as organizations employ individuals from various countries and who speak different native languages. As language is a critical marker of identity and group membership, language-based identities are powerful in shaping workplace experiences. Understanding these experiences and how individuals adapt can offer organizations insight into how to integrate a linguistically diverse workforce. This study explored the language-related experiences of Spanish-speaking Latin Americans in the Canadian National Capital Region as they adapt to and integrate into their workplaces and the coping strategies they use. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews demonstrated that participants vacillate between feelings of self-doubt and a sense of confidence as they navigate the emotional and cognitive challenges of working in their non-native language. A detailed description of the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and interactional coping strategies that participants enacted to navigate and adapt to their workplaces is provided. Findings from this study have implications for practical strategies to facilitate the integration of non-native speakers into the Canadian workplace.