Although immigration is a key component of Canada's entire history, the debate around it has reached a breaking point in the past few years. Details on migrants and their impact appear in headlines daily across the country, and policies surrounding their movements are a major point of contention in national, provincial and local politics.
Concordia's new Institute for Research on Migration and Society (IRMS) aims to bring evidence-based scholarship to this debate and build an interdisciplinary hub for informed discussion on how to help immigrants adapt to and augment Canadian society.
"This institute brings the great minds and valued programs of study focused on migration at Concordia under one banner," says Mireille Paquet, director of IRMS and associate professor of political science.
"We are responding to the urgent need to bring expertise from across the social sciences to answer economic, political, social, psychological and many other pressing questions about immigration and the importance of training the future leading voices in this field."
A unique opportunity
"Currently, most of the academic discussions on migration happening in Quebec are only taking place in French," explains Kassandre Thériault, IRMS coordinator.
"But one of the big realities with newcomers is they often enter here but leave for other provinces. As the first fully bilingual research hub on migration in Canada, IRMS is uniquely positioned to contribute to knowledge and policy. It can also bridge immigration politics across provinces and with the Government of Canada."
In addition to Paquet, IRMS launched with a core team of 10 faculty members, including Antoine Bilodeau, institute co-director and professor of political science; Colin Scott, assistant professor of political science; and Deniz Duruiz, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology.
The team also includes three highly regarded researchers: Marie-Jeanne Blain, Mylène Coderre and Capucine Coustere, with more to be added alongside a growing cohort of students.
Collaborations and partnerships
IRMS is already engaged in several high-profile projects linked to government and academia.
It is the home for Concordia's participation in Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides, a seven-year interdisciplinary initiative funded by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund. The IRMS the only institutional partner in Quebec is primarily contributing to the citizenship and participation stream of the project: specifically, looking at how to make immigration socially sustainable and exploring the implementation of advanced digital technologies.
Paquet is also engaging IRMS to support her work to develop the Réseau de recherche sur l'immigration, l'intégration et les relations interculturelles au Québec (RQ3I). This collaboration with researchers from Université de Montréal and Université Laval seeks to bridge the gap between research and public policy. It is funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ) and represents the first time such an investment has been made to foster inter-institutional research on immigration.
Through the Canada's Changing Immigration Landscape (CCIL) project, IRMS is working with the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation at the Institute for Research on Public Policy and the Centre for Migration Studies at the University of British Columbia. Together, they aim to improve the quality of policy debates and expand the information available to policymakers, media and Canadians.
"We are thrilled to be working with leading institutions across Canada to improve outcomes for immigrants," Paquet says. "We are growing rapidly and are excited to have great flexibility in conceptualizing projects and developing partnerships as we study migration from both Quebec and Canadian perspectives."
Learn more about Concordia's new Institute for Research on Migration and Society and meet the team behind the new research hub.
