World in Motion

Beginning with an overview of key global processes, trends and patterns pertaining to international migration, this lecture will outline who moves (who doesn’t), why, how and where in the world. Dr. Hennebry will discuss the laws, policies, practices and systems that underpin the governance of migration at global, national and local levels, and point to key issues such as ensuring the labour and human rights of people on the move. Further, detailing the emergence of the new UN Global Compact for Safe Orderly and Regular Migration, and the role of UN agencies, states and non-state actors, this presentation will provide a synopsis of this important moment in history and what lays ahead for governments, migrants and communities around the world.

This lecture explores the theoretical and empirical developments in the study of borders, migration, and belonging in the global context. Borders are a ubiquitous phenomenon in a globalized world. Despite promises of globalization ushering in a highly mobile and borderless world, there has been a multiplication, evolution and changing dynamics in the various manifestations in the border and the impact on human mobility. Borders operate to demarcate territory and sovereign authority while also regulating the movement of people and capital through the reproduction and reinforcement of various forms of division. The border is a space where we can see the visible manifestations of state power, authority and the ability to exert control over different populations. Examining the border is a valuable opportunity to analyze the unequal access to individual mobility, often divided along gendered, classed and racialized lines. This lecture will explore the border in a wide range of contexts including, the emergence of the global bordering regime, humanitarianism, and the refugee and asylum seeking process.

Each year over 20 million people globally are displaced from their homes by floods, storms, droughts, wildfires and other extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change. The World bank has estimated that, if no action is taken to curb global greenhouse gas emissions and foster sustainable development, over 200 million people may be displaced by the impacts of climate change by 2050. This lecture reviews current science on the relationship between environmental change and migration and identifies pathways for action to avoid worst case scenarios from occurring.

For most of the twentieth century, the U.S.-Mexico border was overwhelmingly important as a barrier to Mexican migration to the United States. Yet it has also functioned as a barrier for Latin American migration to Canada, and increasingly is dominated by attempted movements from a widening circle of other nationalities, including asylum seekers from outside the Western Hemisphere. This presentation will put contemporary headlines into a broader geopolitical context to explain how migration enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border is part of a much more widespread system of controls. Policies of the U.S., Canadian, and Mexican governments are highly interactive and cannot be understood simply by examining processes within each country. A historical perspective will show how policies dating to the late nineteenth century have recently shifted in surprising ways.

In the hope of addressing chronic labour shortages and sluggish economic growth, the Canadian government plans to increase immigration in the coming years to per capita levels not reached since the 1920s. Along with his colleagues, Dr. Skuterud suggests that economic immigration in the Canadian context should aim to boost GDP per capita in the full population including the newcomers. An examination into the potential for increases in Canadian immigration levels to achieve this objective suggests that Canada is not well-positioned at present to leverage heightened immigration. In this lecture, Dr. Skuterud will examine the economics of immigrations, and present a possible framework for identifying the optimal level of economic immigration.

International skilled health worker migration is a key feature of the global economy, a major contributor to socio-economic development and reflective of the transnationalization of health and elder care that is underway in most Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development nations. The distribution of care and health workforce planning has previously been analyzed solely within national contexts, but increasingly scholars have shown how care deficits are being addressed through transnational responses. This lecture examines the complex processes that feed health worker migrants into global circulation, the losses and gains associated with such mobility and examples of good practices, where migrants, sending and destination communities experience the best possible outcomes.

The future of work in Canada depends on having enough people with the right skills to perform in-demand jobs. The federal government’s economic recovery strategy relies heavily on increasing immigration targets. But there is one issue. Many newcomers struggle to find employment and end up working in precarious jobs. The issue of precarious employment among immigrant workers is not new. There are many stories of foreign-trained engineers driving taxis and internationally-educated Filipino nurses working as nannies. With more immigrants now settling in small and mid-sized cities, it is up to communities to ensure immigrants are integrated into their local economy. This talk will present findings from a research study that examined how smaller urban centres integrate newcomers into employment efficiently and effectively. Challenges and opportunities in local integration practices are explored and new ideas and innovations in immigrant employment integration are identified.

Migration and immigration are largely seen as international and national affairs, but immigrants live and experience their challenges and successes in local communities. In Canada, the federal and provincial governments share responsibility for immigrant selection and facilitating the movement of people from around the world to Canada. It is then in local communities across the country where immigrants are welcomed, where they settle, get connected to services, go to school, find work, participate in community and develop social connections and a sense of belonging. Local matters in immigration.

This lecture will explore the experiences of immigrants living in Waterloo Region and the way organizations across the region have worked together through the Immigration Partnership to create the conditions for immigrants to succeed and help build a welcoming, dynamic community for everyone.