Migration Studies Commons^™

Issue 26: Labour, Poverty, And Health Concerns Of Migrant Women And Girls Working As Kayayei In Ghana's Urban Centres, Comfort Baidoo, Robert Mcleman

International Migration Research Centre

Over the past four decades, growing numbers of women and girls have left northern Ghana for the country's cities, drawn by the promise of work, independence, and a chance to support their families. Many end up as kayayei, head porters who carry goods through Accra's crowded markets for a negotiated fee. Their labour keeps the informal economy moving, yet it comes at a steep personal cost: unpredictable earnings, punishing physical strain, unsafe housing, and a healthcare system that too often leaves them out. This brief draws together the available evidence on the economic and health conditions of kayayei in Greater-Accra. …

Issue 25: Beyond Blame: Gender-Based Violence Prevention And African Diaspora Communities In The Waterloo Region, Halima Ahmed, Valdrin Dragusha, Stella Omonigho, Fadhilah Balogun

International Migration Research Centre

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) remains a critical social, public health, and governance challenge in Canada, particularly for migrant and refugee women (Tastsoglou, 2025). This is increasingly prominent at the local level in the Waterloo Region, particularly for African and racialized diaspora communities navigating settlement, integration, and institutional access. While multi-level governance and frameworks exist at the city, regional, provincial, and federal levels to address GBV, they tend to work in silos, and local implementation gaps persist. The gaps are shaped by cultural stigma, fragmented service delivery, precarious immigration status, formalinformal networks of support, and unequal access to culturally responsive support systems. …

Issue 24: Reducing Bias In Border Technology: Policy Recommendations For The Equitable Implementation Of Facial Recognition Technology At Canadian Borders, Aniela Kola, Menka Belanger, Rukaiya Merchant

International Migration Research Centre

No abstract provided.

Tech Note 01: Financial Technology (Fintech) And Digital Remittances, Sean T. Sithole

International Migration Research Centre

No abstract provided.

Issue 23: A Rights-Based Migration Strategy For Canada: Addressing Inequities In A Time Of U.S. Political Repression, Marika Jeziorek

International Migration Research Centre

This brief argues that the growing appeal of Canada to highly skilled professionals fleeing rights-based repression in the United States presents a unique opportunity to strengthen its skilled migration strategy through an equity-focused and economically sustainable approach. As U.S. professionals—particularly women, racialized individuals, healthcare providers, and academics—seek safety, professional autonomy, and legal protection, Canada has emerged as a key destination (Favaro, 2025; Levinthal, 2024; Malkin, 2016; Jackson, 2024). This appeal is rooted in Canada’s reputation as a rights-based society, one that contrasts sharply with the erosion of freedoms in parts of the U.S. To uphold and deliver on this perception, …

Issue 22: Actors Overlooked In Economic Integration: Syrian Refugee Single Mothers In Turkey, Ayşe Perihan Kırkıç, Fatmanur Delioglu

International Migration Research Centre

Syrian refugees in Turkey are struggling with integration, as policies fail to address holistic approaches, especially at they pertain to class and gender. Previous research on this topic has focused on legal rights, employment, the impacts on Turkey's labor market, and local perceptions of Syrian refugees in the workforce. This policy paper addresses a significant gap in the integration of Syrian refugee single mothers. Specifically, this research explores how economic integration is influenced by class and gender. To understand their experiences, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Syrian refugee single mothers residing in Istanbul. We argue that the economic integration of …

Issue 21: Temporary Shelter To Permanent Home: Advancing Permanent Residency For Ukrainian Refugees In Canada, Marika Jeziorek

International Migration Research Centre

The Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program, initiated in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, has provided temporary refuge to a significant number of Ukrainian nationals. While this program has been effective in addressing immediate safety needs, its temporary nature falls short of ensuring the long-term stability and socio-economic integration of Ukrainian refugees into Canadian society. Unlike Convention Refugees, who are individuals granted permanent residency in Canada because they have been recognized as needing protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, …

Issue 20: Building Inclusivity In Linguistically Diverse Communities: A Role For Interpretation And Translation Services, Emma Dufour, Samaa Kabbar, Anmol Rana, Noah Ricciardi, Kim Rygiel

International Migration Research Centre

This paper investigates the importance of interpretation and translation services in resettling and integrating refugee and immigrant newcomers within the Waterloo Region. According to Waterloo’s Immigration Partnership, immigrants account for 22.6% of the region’s population (Folkema and Vandebelt 2019, 17). This places the Region’s proportion of immigrants as the eighth highest in Ontario (Folkema and Vandebelt 2019, 5). In 2016, the Region of Waterloo recorded over 120 languages as the mother tongue of more than 120,000 residents (Languages Census Bulletin 2016), including Arabic, Tigrinya, Spanish, Somali, Farsi, and Mandarin (IP 2018, 6). Celebrating living in a vibrant, multilingual community necessitates …

Issue 19: Up/Rooted: Gender, Sexuality And Refuge In Canada, Rosemary Kimani-Dupuis, Allison Petrozziello, Carol B. Duncan, Jenna L. Hennebry

International Migration Research Centre

Issues of gender and sexuality affect refugee experiences of flight, resettlement and integration, yet often remain unacknowledged and unaddressed in policy and programming to support those seeking refuge in Canada. There exists a power dimension between those being served (refugees) and those providing services and policymakers. This Policy Points presents core issues at the intersection of gender, sexuality and seeking refuge discussed during the "Up/Rooted: Gender, Sexuality and Refuge in Canada" workshop held at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Waterloo, Ontario. Participants from a range of community organizations working with refugees, community members, persons with refugee backgrounds, researchers, and …

Issue 18: Disaster Displacement: Examining The Post-Dorian Experience On Eleuthera, Kearney Coupland

International Migration Research Centre

In September, 2019, Hurricane Dorian made landfall on the island of Abaco, its surrounding cays, and on Grand Bahama in The Bahamas. As a result of the storm, an estimated 12,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Marsh Harbour, the commercial hub of Abaco, and the surrounding cays, the small, low-lying islands off the coast of Abaco, received the majority of the damage. In addition to housing some of the most expensive resorts in The Bahamas, Marsh Harbour had two large shantytowns, the Mudd and the Peas, which were largely home to Haitian migrants who worked at the resorts and private …

Issue 17: Private Sponsorship In Canada: The Resettlement Of Syrian Refugees In The Kitchener-Waterloo Region, Suzan M. Ilcan, Diana Thomaz, Manuela Jimenez Bueno

International Migration Research Centre

The number of refugees in need of resettlement in the world is estimated to surpass 1.44 million people in 2020, with Syrians currently representing 40% of refugees in need of resettlement. In late 2015, the Canadian government made a commitment to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees and, since then, there has been abundant research analysing the large-scale resettlement process, its successes, limitations, and lessons for future policymaking and host communities.

This Policy Points contributes to these analyses by unpacking the particular lessons from the Kitchener-Waterloo region, and highlighting the resettlement experiences of privately sponsored Syrian refugees in this area. It draws …

Issue 16: Irregular Migration To Canada: Addressing Current Policy Responses That Impact Refugee Claimants’ Arrival And Settlement In The Country, Monica Romero

International Migration Research Centre

The unexpected influx of refugee claimants irregularly crossing the US-Canada border since 2016 has strained Canada’s immigration system. According to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB), 47,425 claims were referred to the IRB in 2017, and more than 43,000 were still pending at the end of the year (IRB, 2017). This only increased in the following years; in 2018, 55,388 claims were referred to the IRB and as of June of 2019 more than 74,000 were still pending. Compared to the total claims referred to the IRB in 2016 (23,350) and 2015 (16,592), these numbers represent a significant …

Issue 15: Economic Precarity Among Syrian Refugee Families Living In Lebanon: Policy Recommendations To Restore Hope In The Context Of Displacement, Bree Akesson, Dena Badawi

International Migration Research Centre

The conflict in Syria has been described as the largest humanitarian crisis to date. Ongoing for over eight years, the conflict has resulted in over five million refugees and 6.6 million people internally displaced within the borders of Syria. Most refugees from Syria have been displaced to neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, and Lebanon. Lebanon is host to over one million Syrian refugees. Prior to the Syrian crisis, Lebanon was struggling economically, which has since exacerbated anti-refugee sentiment and government policies that aim to discourage Syrians from seeking refuge in Lebanon. Within Lebanon, Syrian families are challenged with …

Issue 14: Welcoming Diversity: The Role Of Local And Civil Society Initiatives In Integrating Newcomers, Feyzi Baban, Fuat Keyman, Hande Paker, Kim Rygiel

International Migration Research Centre

In a global context marked by growing international forced displacement and migration, societies are becoming increasingly more diverse. The question of how to live together with newcomers has become a policy issue of utmost concern. While populist governments in Europe and in the US are failing to offer citizens and
newcomers alternative models for living together that encourage greater ethnic, cultural and religious plurality, in this report we highlight the contributions and lessons drawn from local and civil-society initiatives that have been successful in bringing hosts and newcomers together. We explore three such cases: Riace, a small Italian village where …

Issue 13: Syrian Refugee Resettlement And The Role Of Local Immigration Partnerships (Lips) In Ontario, Canada, Margaret Walton-Roberts, Luisa Veronis, Sarah Wayland, Huyen Dam, Blair Cullen

International Migration Research Centre

During the peak of the Syrian refugee “crisis” in 2015 and early 2016, the Canadian Federal Government responded with a push to drastically increase the number of Syrian refugees it planned to resettle. The resulting Syrian Refugee Resettlement Initiative (SRRI) put to the test Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs), a form of place-based policy that had been in place since 2008 where communities collaborate in the support, development and execution of local immigration and refugee resettlement plans. This issue of Policy Points discusses a study of three LIPs (Hamilton, Ottawa, and Waterloo Region) and their response to the SRRI. The research …

Issue 12: International Students Adaptation And Integration In The Canadian University Sector, Guanglong Pang, Margaret Walton-Roberts

International Migration Research Centre

International students are increasingly seen as potential migrants in the Canadian context. Pathway language programs are widely recognized as an effective system to enhance international students’ linguistic skills and a means towards effective cultural adaptation before entering university degree programs. University instructors commonly agree that Asian international students experience integration challenges. Given that China continues to dominate as the leading sending country of international students to Canada, this research examined Wilfrid Laurier University’s affiliated language program, which has a large Chinese student population, in order to assess the socio-cultural adaptation process. Considering the variable educational contexts that Chinese international students …

Issue 11: Scaling Canada’S Local Immigration Partnerships (Lips) Model For Proactive Refugee Resettlement, Ahmed Mohamoud Elmi, Marina Ghosh, Sasha Oliveira, Margaret Walton-Roberts

International Migration Research Centre

In this issue of Policy Points we provide a vision for scaling up Canada’s Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) model for refugee resettlement abroad. Global refugee resettlement is an issue that needs a coordinated and collaborative approach that includes communities as partners. Canada presents a proactive and responsive solution to this problem. First introduced in Ontario in 2008, LIPs are a community-based collaborative model for newcomer resettlement and integration that has proven successful in many local communities across Canada. Most importantly, LIPs played an important role in the resettlement of Syrian refugees in several communities across Canada in 2015-2016. The recommendation …

Issue 10: Global Care Chains: Addressing Unpaid Reproductive Labour In The Philippines, Harrison Ellis

International Migration Research Centre

This brief examines policy options to address the gender disparities of unpaid care work created by the global care chain. Examining the Philippine context, potential responses include equalizing maternity and paternity leave, expanding state childcare services, partnering with money transfer businesses (MTBs), and promoting the recruitment men for care positions. This issue has been recognized by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Target 5.4 of the SDGs calls for the recognition of the value of “unpaid care labour and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of responsibility within the household and …

Issue 09: Temporary Migration Policy, Trends, And Ontario’S Economy: 2000-2012, Keegan Williams

International Migration Research Centre

Ontario is unique when it comes to international migration in Canada. It is the leading province in overall flows, including individuals participating in the temporary foreign workers (TFWs) program. Employers hire TFWs on a contractual basis to work here, and from 2000 to 2012, about 800,000 came to Ontario – representing 40% of Canada’s total TFWs. Despite their growing numbers, economic importance, and the rapidly changing landscape of federal immigration policy, there is little work looking at the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or its economic impact on the province. In this research, we found that employers in specific industries, like …

Submission For The Standing Committee On Human Resources, Skills And Social Development And The Status Of Persons With Disabilities’ Review Of The Temporary Foreign Workers Program, Jenna Hennebry, Janet Mclaughlin

International Migration Research Centre

Key Recommendations to Reduce Migrant Worker Vulnerability and Secure Meaningful access to Rights and Protections

Immigration, Visa and Work Restrictions

• Provide opportunities for permanent residency for all TFWs who want it, regardless of sector or skill level.
• Under Federal-Provincial Immigration Agreements, expand the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) in sectors such as carework and agriculture.
• Provide open work permits or at very least sector-specific work permits for all TFWs.
• Provide family visas to allow family members to unite with TFWs while in Canada.
• Provide job security and protections for TFWs. Specifically, all TFWs must have eligibility for renewed employment based on …

Issue 08: New Policies, New Students, New Direction? Trends In International Student Enrollment In Ontario’S Changing Policy Landscape, Keegan Williams, Gabriel Williams, Amy Arbuckle, Margaret Walton-Roberts, Jenna Hennebry

International Migration Research Centre

International students bring immense benefits to Ontario’s postsecondary system and labour market through the financial boon they bring to universities and colleges, their cultural diversity, the positive economic impacts they can have on Canadian society after graduation, and the skills they develop and contribute. However, many international students may find it difficult to transition to permanent residence after graduation, or find the career they seek immediately upon completion of their studies. In addition, little is known about the number of international students transitioning to the labour market, their socioeconomic outcomes, or their success in doing so. The present analysis sought …

Indirect Pathways Into Practice: Philippine Internationally Educated Nurses And Their Entry Into Ontario’S Nursing Profession, Lualhati Marcelino

International Migration Research Centre

• Social connectedness to social support systems and communities highly affect the transitioning success of Philippine Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs). These networks are especially critical during the first year upon arrival.
• The fragmented, indirect pathways to professional practice, (including barriers to foreign credential recognition, lengthy and costly examination, licensing and retraining result in direct devaluation of IENs and the possibility of permanent (de)skilling.
• Female IENs endured more financial and emotional hardship, compared to their male counterparts, with regard to family obligations and deeper financial burden. While many of the male IENs experienced the same challenges as women, the latter experienced longer …

International Migration Of Health Professionals And The Marketization And Privatization Of Health Education In India: From Push-Pull To Global Political Economy, Margaret Walton-Roberts

International Migration Research Centre

Health worker migration theories have tended to focus on labour market conditions as principal push or pull factors. The role of education systems in producing internationally oriented health workers has been less explored. In place of the traditional conceptual approaches to understanding health worker, especially nurse, migration, I advocate global political economy (GPE) as a perspective that can highlight how educational investment and global migration tendencies are increasing interlinked. The Indian case illustrates the globally oriented nature of health care training, and informs a broader understanding of both the process of health worker migration, and how it reflects wider marketization …

Entrepreneurship And Inclusive Growth In South Africa, Zimbabwe And Mozambique (Migration Policy Series No. 68), Jonathan Crush, Caroline Skinner, Abel Chikanda

International Migration Research Centre

While increasing attention is being paid to the drivers and forms of entrepreneurship in informal economies, much less of this policy and research focus is directed at understanding the links between mobility and informality. This report examines the current state of knowledge about this relationship with particular reference to three countries (Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe) and four cities (Cape Town, Harare, Johannesburg and Maputo), identifying major themes, knowledge gaps, research questions and policy implications. In many African cities, informal enterprises are operated by internal and international migrants. The extent and nature of mobile entrepreneurship and the opportunities and challenges …

Issue 07: The Need For Local Reintegration Policy/Programs In Rural Mexico, Meredith Giel

International Migration Research Centre

Since 2007, a growing number of Mexican immigrants in the United States have been returning to Mexico. For the first time since the 1960s, net migration in Mexico is zero, implying that just as many Mexicans are returning to Mexico as are going to the United States. There are a number of factors contributing to this return migration by Mexican nationals. This current situation presents the Mexican government with new priorities and responsibilities. Upon return, many of these unskilled workers face barriers preventing proper reintegration back into Mexican society, including a lack of support networks, potential language and cultural barriers …

Issue 06: The Migrant Farmworker Health Journey: Identifying Issues And Considering Change Across Borders, Janet Mclaughlin, Jenna Hennebry, Donald C. Cole, Gabriel Williams

International Migration Research Centre

There are currently about 300 000 temporary foreign workers employed in Canada every year, roughly 20 000 of whom work as migrant farm workers (MFWs) in the province of Ontario. MFWs travel primarily from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean and typically work on a seasonal basis, with just over 15 000 workers annually coming to Ontario under Canada’s long-standing Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), and many under the Stream for Lower Skilled Occupations (SLSO). All workers are eligible (with some variability) for provincial health insurance in Ontario (OHIP) and workers’ compensation (WSIB), and are covered by provincial health and …

Issue 05: Backgrounder On Immigration Policy Changes And Entry To Practice Routes For Internationally Educated Nurses (Iens) Entering Canada, Margaret Walton-Roberts, Keegan Williams, Jennifer Guo, Jenna Hennebry

International Migration Research Centre

Every year, about 17,500 internationally-educated nurses (IENs) immigrate to Canada from countries like the Philippines, India, and China. While many IENs would like to practice in Canada, new immigration policies and professional regulations at the federal and provincial level limits their ability to do so. In response, migrants are increasingly using two-step immigration routes to enter the profession (e.g., international student -> permanent economic immigrant) or pursuing alternative careers in health (e.g., Personal Support Worker). These outcomes have significant policy implications for labour force planning in nursing, ethical recruitment for international healthcare workers, the process of migrant workforce integration, and …

Immigration Policy Changes And Entry To Practice Routes For Internationally Educated Nurses (Iens), Margaret Walton-Roberts, Jennifer Guo, Keegan Williams, Jenna Hennebry

International Migration Research Centre

This knowledge synthesis report examines how migrant transition programs (status conversion from temporary to permanent) inform nursing labour force planning. This has significant policy relevance because immigration transition policies add complexity to a) labour force planning in the health sector (Pittman et al., 2007), b) ethical recruitment protocols for international health care workers, c) processes of migrant workforce integration (Blythe et al., 2009; Little & Buchan, 2007), and d) the assessment of structural processes that shape and reproduce migration as a form of gendered state developmentalist policy for sending regions (Valiani, 2012). Nursing offers a lens into how gender and …

Urban Informality And Migrant Entrepreneurship In Southern African Cities: 10–11 February 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Jonathan Crush

International Migration Research Centre

• The informal sector is the big story in African cities. To respond effectively, data collection and monitoring tools need dramatic improvement.
• Informal trading largely happens outside official city planning. This absence of recognition may be unconscious but is not benign.
• Ethnic networking and business positioning are of crucial importance for migrant-run small businesses.
• Those working in the informal sector in South Africa generally operate under hostile conditions.
• Volumes of trade and duties paid by cross-border traders show that this sector is significant to SADC governments.
• There is a policy contradiction between the government’s promotion of business tourism and the increasingly …

Brain Drain And Regain: The Migration Behaviour Of South African Medical Professionals (Migration Policy Series No. 65), Jonathan Crush, Abel Chikanda, Ivy Bourgeault, Ronald Labonté, Gail Tomblin Murphy

International Migration Research Centre

Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has experienced a significant outflow of health professionals. The out-migration of health professionals from the country is part of a broader global trend of health professional migration from the Global South to the Global North. In the health sector, this “brain drain” has led to a significant decline in the quality of care in affected countries. The costs of health professional migration for countries of origin are usually measured in terms of lost investment in training and the gaps in medical care left by their departure. One recent study, for example, estimated that …