On Saturday, March 15, the Refugee Parliament, in partnership with the International Development Studies Student Association (IDSSA), The Refugee Centre, and the McGill Refugees Research Group, hosted the Refugee Parliament Conference. Created in Fall 2022 by Alessia Mottet, Maria Radu, Saadet Serra, and Shona Moreau as part of their SWRK[Read More…]
Tag: Immigration
McGill and other Quebec universities call for exemption from potential cap on international students
On Nov. 5, McGill President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini, accompanied by the heads of other major Quebec universities and CEGEPs, spoke at a public consultation at the National Assembly of Quebec regarding the province’s proposed Bill 74. If passed, the bill would allow the provincial government to put a cap[Read More…]
Seeing superdiversity: How immigration shapes Canadian cities
How do we understand the dynamic population changes taking place in Canadian cities? At the end of 2024, the Superdiversity in Canadian Cities website will launch, designed to make complex immigration census data accessible to a wide audience. On Nov. 7, the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC)[Read More…]
McGill administration and students consider potential ramifications of federal government immigration restrictions
On Oct. 24, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Minister Marc Miller announced the 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan which aims to decrease the number of temporary residents in Canada from 6.2 per cent of the population in 2023 to 5 per cent by the end of 2026. To achieve this,[Read More…]
2024 Mallory Lecture interrogates Canada’s pro-immigration appearance
Irene Bloemraad, professor of Political Science and Sociology at the University of British Columbia, delivered the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada’s 2024 Mallory Lecture, titled “The Limits of Canadian Tolerance” on Oct. 30. She presented her recent research on Canadians’ attitudes towards out-of-status immigrants—temporary residents whose visas have[Read More…]
The Illusion of Inclusion
As an American who came of age during the tumultuous Trump era, with the 2016 election marking my first real exposure to the complexities of national politics, I couldn’t wait to move to Canada. Amid the chaos of increased polarization, inflammatory rhetoric, and escalating tensions that defined U.S. politics, Canada[Read More…]
Parliament Hill must address the root causes of the migrant crisis
Last year, around 39,000 refugees entered Canada through Roxham Road, an illegal border-crossing site between New York and Quebec, which requires an extremely dangerous journey on foot. This past January, almost 5,000 were reported to have crossed the site into the province. The situation has sparked heated debate at Parliament[Read More…]
Canadian mining: Putting a price on Latin American lives
Canada is one of the world’s most prominent players in the mining industry, and its presence has been swiftly growing since the 1990s. Nowhere is Canada’s dominance seen more clearly than in Latin America—where between 50 and 70 per cent of mining activity involves Canadian companies. With its neocolonialist control[Read More…]
Abolish migrant prisons now
On Oct. 25, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) opened a new migrant detention centre in Laval, Quebec. Canadian provinces, often in accordance with CBSA contracts, forcefully detain migrants for “administrative reasons” and continue to incarcerate many for indefinite periods of time. The excuse of administrative detention undermines the violent[Read More…]
Shattering the political illusion of Legault’s anti-immigrant policy
The Quebec provincial election campaign has officially kicked off and, as election day approaches on Oct. 3, voters have much to consider after a tumultuous four years. This fall, immigration is top of mind. Businesses want more immigrants to relieve the province’s major labour shortages, Bill 96 has stirred intense[Read More…]
