Over the past two decades, Canada’s immigration and refugee policies have become increasingly restrictive and difficult to navigate – particularly for temporary workers, asylum seekers, international students, and non-status migrants. At the same time, the country continues to project a strong humanitarian image abroad.
How do we make sense of this disconnect? And how well do Canada’s domestic policies align with its international obligations?
These are the pressing questions at the heart of the newly established University Research Chair on Migrant Protection and International Law, held by Professor Delphine Nakache of the uOttawa Faculty of Law’s Common Law Section. This Chair seeks to bridge the gap between domestic policy and international law, and to examine how Canada’s global migration diplomacy shapes, and is shaped by, its internal practices.
The Chair will host its inaugural conference on May 20, 2025, which will explore Canada’s role in global migration governance and launch its first flagship project on Canada’s migration diplomacy. The event will feature a roundtable discussion with leading experts, including Professor James Milner (Carleton University), Professor François Crépeau (McGill University), and Professor Idil Atak (Toronto Metropolitan University). The event will be moderated by Professor Nakache.
This conference will be a unique opportunity to engage with cutting-edge research, challenge dominant narratives, and reflect on how Canada can better align its policies with the rights and protection of migrants.
What: Inaugural conference of the University Research Chair on Migrant Protection and Internation Law: Canada’s Migration Diplomacy and the Protection of Migrants
When: May 20, 2025, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Where: In person (University of Ottawa, Faculty of Social Sciences, room FSS 4004 on the 4th floor) and online (hybrid format)
Event Highlights:
- Roundtable with top migration scholars
- Launch of flagship research on Canada’s migration diplomacy
- Interactive Q&A session