Examining Canada’s Approach to “Refugees” across Two and a Half Centuries (1770-2023)
The journal Études Canadiennes/Canadian Studies is pleased to announce a special issue on Canada’s long-term approach to “refugees”, directed by Guest Editor Dr. Sheena Trimble (Université catholique de l’Ouest), in association with Editor-in-Chief Dr. Laurence Cros (Université Paris Cité).
In 2018, Canada surpassed the United States in real numbers of refugees admitted. This result was a source of pride for the Canadian government, public, and media. On the whole, a positive narrative of Canada’s refugee resettlement practices has tended to dominate government, public, and even academic discourses, at least since the admission of some 60,000 Indochinese refugees in 1979-1980. A general sense of Canadian generosity towards refugees has tended to prevail within and beyond Canada’s borders, as symbolized by the award of the Nansen Medal to the people of Canada in 1986 by the UN. The Canadian state has played an active role in promoting this positive narrative.
The formal inclusion of “refugee” as a specific class of immigrants in the Immigration Act of Canada dates back only to 1976. Nonetheless, many older migrations, such as Quakers (1770-1779) and Black Loyalists (1780-1789) emigrating to Canada, could in fact be considered as refugee movements. If one contextualizes all these movements, it soon becomes clear that Canada’s history of refugee reception is hardly a long calm river from 1770 to 2023, but rather a long, winding, rocky road. Examining the long history of “refugee” resettlement in Canada would allow the frank assessment of the narrative of Canadian generosity and a clearer understanding of the present as informed by the past.
The objective of this issue is present a long-term perspective that compares and contrasts Canada’s approach to refugee admission, resettlement and integration during different periods of the country’s history. Contributions of theoretical reflection as well as concrete case studies are welcome. Proposals may come from different disciplinary fields and adopt a variety of methodological approaches. The following is a non-exhaustive list of some of the themes that might be considered:
- Evolving definitions and (de)constructions of “refugeeness” and “refugee success”
- Evolving federal legislation and policies regarding refugees, the potential input of provinces into national discussions of refugee policy
- Representations of refugees and asylum seekers in media, government information and public opinion, as well as in literary, cultural and artistic production
- The voices of refugees speaking out about their own situation or issues that affect(ed) them
- The (de)mythification of Canadian generosity toward refugees
- Tendencies in government and in the public to favour certain refugees or asylum seekers over others based on evolving ideas of “deservingness”
- The disinclination or outright refusal to consider certain groups or individuals as refugees
- Public mobilization in support of, or in opposition to, refugee admission and resettlement
- The genesis and evolution of Canada’s private sponsorship program
- The uneven/unequal path to citizenship
- The complacency associated with Canada’s geographic removal from most refugee populations and movements that have troubled that complacency
- Refugees and asylum seekers viewed as posing potential threats to Canada: communists, terrorists, criminals, competitors for jobs, welfare profiteers, “extreme” cultural others
- Dark moments in Canada’s history of refugee treatment, including the “production” of refugees from Canada itself
- Gender and sexuality considerations in refugee admission and resettlement
- The treatment reserved for child or youth refugees who arrive as part of families or unaccompanied
- (Un)welcoming places and geographies related to refugee resettlement in cities, small towns, farms, remote areas
- The success, failure, or absence of measures to facilitate refugee integration
Proposals are to be sent as a single document (Word format), to both editors (strimble@uco.fr and laurence.cros@u-paris.fr), and should contain:
– a working title and an abstract (250 to 300 words)
– a brief biography (no more than 100 words)
The deadline for submission of proposals is December 15, 2024.
Notification of decisions will follow shortly afterwards. Full articles (about 8,000 words) will need to be submitted by February 15, 2025. Articles should follow the formatting guide of the journal, available at https://journals.openedition.org/eccs/369
Articles will be submitted to a double peer-review process. Selected articles will be published in issue 98 (June 2025) of Études Canadiennes/Canadian Studies, simultaneously in printed form and as an electronic publication (open access) on https://journals.openedition.org/eccs/.