Overlooking Lived Experiences: Access to Asylum & Canada’s Safe Third Country Agreement
Canada’s Safe Third Country Agreement limits who can seek asylum in Canada.
As access to asylum narrows in the United States, Canada’s continued reliance on the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) has drawn renewed attention. CMS affiliate and Law Professor Efrat Arbel traces STCA legal challenges from 2007 to 2023 to reveal how the courts erroneously focus on the way the law appears on the books, rather than how it operates on the ground.
“As Canada moves towards enhanced border restrictions, it is imperative for stakeholders to understand how the law actually operates at the land border, and to pay attention to the lived experiences of the people who cross it.”
Key Findings
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The Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) limits access to refugee protection in Canada by disallowing asylum seekers who arrive from the United States from seeking refugee protection in Canada.
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Asylum seekers at the Canadian land border are almost always returned to the U.S. The agreement assumes that asylum seekers have access to protection in the United States. Canadian law offers few, if any, meaningful legal avenues through which to contest returns.
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Canadian appellate courts have not sufficiently addressed the realities of asylum seekers who reach Canada’s borders. Ongoing STCA challenges, including at the Supreme Court of Canada, have mischaracterized the agreement’s impacts and overlooked lived experiences.
Recommendations
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As the legal challenges to the STCA continue, Canadian courts should evaluate the agreement’s legal validity by reference to how it operates in practice. This process should examine how the STCA operates on the ground, paying attention to lived experiences.
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Courts should consider how asylum seekers’ positionality and vulnerabilities shape access to legal remedies. Without this, the STCA’s operations and effects cannot be fully understood.
Implications for Current Events
It has been one year since U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” (EO 14159). Since then, the United States has ended asylum processing at all U.S. ports of entry, increased enforcement against noncitizens, increased deportations, and revoked other forms of humanitarian protection – like Temporary Protected Status – for those both seeking protection and individuals who had already been granted humanitarian protection.
UBC Professor Efrat Arbel’s research shows that under the STCA, asylum seekers are routinely turned back to the U.S., with almost no chance of accessing asylum or other forms of legal protection in Canada. The recent changes in the United States’ refugee determination laws provide yet more proof that the United States is not a “safe” country for refugees and should not be designated as such under Canadian law.
About the Authors
Efrat Arbel is an Associate Professor at the UBC Peter A. Allard School of Law. Her research is focused on Canadian immigration detention, refugee protection, and border governance. She has published widely in these fields. Her research has helped shaped law and policy in Canada and has introduced creative tools to advance legal education and public engagement.
Marjorie Rugunda is a PhD student in the department of Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia. She holds a BA degree from Rhodes University, South Africa and a Master’s degree from the University of Calgary. Her current research studies how institutions within Africa represent entrenched colonial legacies that shape contemporary social and political relations in (post)colonial contexts.
Original Research
Arbel, Efrat. “Border Trouble: Critical Reflections on the Canada–US Safe Third Country Agreement Litigation.” International Journal of Migration and Border Studies 8, no. 3–4 (2024)
Copyright: UBC Centre for Migration Studies
Availability: Web & Print
Publication date: January 28, 2026
Pages: 3
This publication is part of the CMS Migration Insights Series. The research briefs synthesize peer-reviewed, published academic research by CMS affiliates.
Selective Welcome: How Race Shaped Immigration Policy in the U.S and Europe
Racial hierarchies intersect with immigration policy to shape who belongs—and who doesn’t—in the U.S. and Europe.
Current immigration debates in the U.S. and Europe are frequently framed as discussions on who is deserving of entry and settlement. It is historical laws rooted in racial bias, however, that shape contemporary policies and political discourse on these divides. Dr. Terri Givens examines the historical link between race and immigration, which is crucial for creating fairer systems going forward.
“We continue to see the impact of immigration policy today that excludes people from certain backgrounds. We need to continue to pay attention to these kinds of inequities.”
Key Findings
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U.S. and European immigration policies have been shaped by racial and ethnic categorization. After the U.S Civil War and World Wars I & II, Global North governments increasingly targeted groups they considered racially or culturally undesirable.
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In the early 20th century, U.S. immigration policies were influenced by eugenics—the belief that some races were biologically superior. These ideas led to policies which favoured Northern and Western Europeans while limiting immigrants from Southern Europe, Africa, and Asia from migrating into the U.S.
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After World War II, European countries recruited migrants from former colonies to rebuild their economies. Initially welcomed as labourers, these migrants often faced discrimination and remained socially isolated, reinforcing racial boundaries.
Recommendations
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Governments should eliminate nationality-based quotas and reassess temporary labour recruitment programs to ensure they do not disadvantage migrants from formerly colonized countries.
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They should adjust their current immigration policies to address racial discrimination in entry, settlement, and citizenship processes.
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Governments should develop programs that safeguard migrants’ rights and combat racial discrimination in immigration processes.
Implications for Current Events
On May 12, 2025, the Trump administration welcomed 59 white South African Afrikaners as refugees at Dulles Airport, citing claims of racial persecution. At the same time, the administration has expanded large-scale deportations and humanitarian protection revocation for Haitian migrants and asylum seekers. These decisions are not an isolated action. Rather, they are part of a broader pattern in which the Global North countries extend protection to specific groups while intensifying restrictions on others. These contrasting responses reinforce longstanding hierarchies over who is framed as deserving of immigration and who is not.
These contemporary examples offer only more evidence of the enduring legacy of racially motivated immigration policies. Terri Givens’ book, The Roots of Racism: The Politics of White Supremacy in the US and Europe, emphasizes how recognizing the historical use of immigration laws to maintain racial hierarchies can inform and even later produce stronger, more equitable, and inclusive immigration policies going forward.
About the Authors
Terri Givens is a Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia and a CMS affiliate. With a distinguished career that includes leadership roles as Vice Provost at the University of Texas at Austin and Provost of Menlo College, she has made significant contributions to higher education and scholarship. Dr. Givens is the author of several influential books, including Radical Empathy: Finding a Path to Bridging Racial Divides and The Roots of Racism: The Politics of White Supremacy in the US and Europe.
Marjorie Rugunda is a PhD student in the department of Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia. She holds a BA degree from Rhodes University, South Africa and a Master’s degree from the University of Calgary. Her current research studies how institutions within Africa represent entrenched colonial legacies that shape contemporary social and political relations in (post)colonial contexts.
Original Research
Givens, Terri E. The Roots of Racism – The Politics of White Supremacy in the US and Europe. Bristol: Bristol University Press, 2022.
Copyright: UBC Centre for Migration Studies
Availability: Web & Print
Publication date: January 13, 2026
Pages: 3
This publication is part of the CMS Migration Insights Series. The research briefs synthesize peer-reviewed, published academic research by CMS affiliates.
Who Changed Their Minds? Two Shifts in Canadian Public Opinion on Immigration: 1995-2005 and 2023-24
When Conservation Excludes: Japanese Canadian Fishers and BC’s Salmon Industry (1900-1930)
How fisheries policies in British Columbia in the early twentieth century became tools for racial exclusion of Japanese Canadian fishermen under the banner of protection, and what their experiences can teach us today.
In early 20th-century British Columbia, salmon conservation policies were closely tied to Anti-Asian sentiment. Under the guise of protecting fish stocks, government officials pushed policies to exclude Japanese Canadians from the fishing industry. Dr. Benjamin Bryce examines how race, environment, and policy came together to shape BC’s fisheries.
“Japanese Internment and dispossession in Canada during World War II had a long history, not only the result of wartime anxiety. It drew from decades of anti-Japanese discrimination in British Columbia.”
Key Findings
- In early 20th-century British Columbia, salmon fisheries’ management was tightly intertwined with racial discrimination. Despite being citizens and vital to the industry, Japanese Canadian fishers faced reduced access to licences, legal restrictions, and growing hostility from white fishermen.
- Salmon fisheries became a battleground for resource control and for defining who was welcome in Canada as exclusionary practices were shaped both by fears of environmental depletion and white nationalism.
- Japanese Canadian fishers pushed back on this discrimination with legal petitions. In 1928, a Supreme Court case ruled that the province could not give priority to some British subjects over others.
Recommendations
- Conservation and environmental protection policies in B.C. should be designed with explicit attention to racial justice and social justice.
- Fishing policies must also consider the community needs and fishing practices of historically marginalized or discriminated groups.
Implications for Current Events
On August 7, 2025, the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Cowichan Nation’s aboriginal right to fish on the south arm of the Fraser River.[1] After more than 10 years of legal battles, the Cowichan First Nation is now able to legally return to the lands that they had fished prior to colonial restrictions. The British Columbia Supreme Court’s recent ruling calls contemporary attention to the ongoing challenges associated with communities’ right to water and fishing—rights long suppressed by settler colonial states. Going back more than a century, very similar battles for fishing rights were ongoing. At the time, it was Japanese Canadian fishermen in British Columbia who were stripped of access to fisheries in favour of white fishers, all under the guise of salmon conservation. Japanese Canadian fishers in the 20th century and First Nations’ ongoing fights today show us that regulation is never neutral.
[1] Ollek, Maya, Brodie Noga, and Moira Kelly, “Cowichan Tribes: Court Reaffirms Flexible Approach to Aboriginal Right to Fish,” JFK Law LLP, September 11, 2025, https://jfklaw.ca/cowichan-tribes-court-affirms-flexible-approach-to-aboriginal-right-to-fish/
About the Authors
Benjamin Bryce is an Associate Professor of History at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on migration and health in the Americas. At UBC, he teaches courses on global history, migration, imperialism, and anticolonialism. He is also chair of the Latin American Studies program (2022-2027). Beyond UBC, Bryce is the digital editor of the Journal of the Canadian Historical Association (2025-27), the curator of the virtual museum BridgeToArgentina.com, and a fellow at the Lateinamerika-Institut at the Freie Universität in Berlin, funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2023-26).
Zixi (Peter) Zhang is a PhD student in the Department of History at the University of British Columbia. He studies early modern East Asia with a focus on China. His current research centers on the Chinese intellectual diaspora during the Ming-Qing transition in the seventeenth century.
Original Research
Benjamin Bryce, Japanese Exclusion and Environmental Conservation in the BC Salmon Fisheries, 1900-1930, Western Historical Quarterly, Volume 53, Issue 3, Autumn 2022, Pages 267–292, https://doi.org/10.1093/whq/whac033
Copyright: UBC Centre for Migration Studies
Availability: Web & Print
Publication date: December 3, 2025
Pages: 3
This publication is part of the CMS Migration Insights Series. The research briefs synthesize peer-reviewed, published academic research by CMS affiliates.
From Exclusion to Expression: How Creative Expression Supports Refugee Youth in Canada
Refugee youth use creativity to heal, feel belonging, and shape new identities as they navigate life in Canada.
As refugee youth resettle in Canada, many face exclusion, discrimination, and social pressures – especially in schools. Dr. Sofia Noori’s research explores how young people use storytelling, music, and creative expression to navigate these challenges, heal from trauma, and rebuild a sense of belonging within Canadian classrooms and society.
“Whether public schools serve as safe havens and/or places of healing depends on the adults' consistent, positive, and meaningful engagement with students, particularly those who have experienced forced displacement.”
Key Findings
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Many refugee youth in Canada face racism and bullying in schools. These forms of exclusion build up over time and leave youth feeling emotionally disconnected and uncertain of who they are.
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Storytelling, music, and self-reflection practices can create spaces where refugee youth piece together their past and present situations to feel more supported and included.
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Higher education opens space for creative expression and self-exploration. Colleges and universities offer refugee youth outlets that support personal, community, and artistic growth.
Recommendations
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Incorporate refugee voices in policy development. Youth with experiences being refugees can and should help shape the programs and policies that affect them, especially in education.
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Offer comprehensive mental and emotional well-being programs for refugee youth. In addition to therapy, other forms of healing that encourage reflection, creativity, and identity exploration should be accessible.
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Equip educators with additional teaching support and training that focus on the needs and useful teaching practices to best support refugee youth and newcomers.
Implications for Current Events
Given programs like Canada’s Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) and efforts to create new work and study streams for refugee youth, there is an urgent need to consider how educational environments can support, rather than just accommodate, these young people. Dr. Sofia Noori’s research highlights how, for refugee youth, the journey doesn’t end at arrival. Many refugees face emotional hardship and cultural pressure in schools, which can further alienate them.
Resettlement must include more programming and emphasis on creativity through music, art, and storytelling. Educators, policymakers, and school leaders must integrate refugee voices into curricula, fund creative arts programs, and ensure that schools and colleges foster spaces where identity is not suppressed but explored. As Canada continues to think creatively about its refugee resettlement programs, it should also develop innovative and effective educational policies that ensure refugee youth are not only settled but also feel welcome and supported.
About the Authors
Sofia Noori is an Assistant Professor at UBC’s Faculty of Education, Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy. Her research and writing focuses on how refugee youth navigate schooling systems in Canada, in the aftermath of living in civil unrest or war, migration, transitory states, refugee camps, and resettlement. Her work is informed by postcolonial theory and developmental psychology. She is working with educators from across the country to develop resources, materials, and strategies to help meet the academic and psychosocial needs of newcomer students from war zones.
Marjorie Rugunda is a PhD student in the department of Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia. She holds a BA degree from Rhodes University, South Africa and a Master’s degree from the University of Calgary. Her current research studies how institutions within Africa represent entrenched colonial legacies that shape contemporary social and political relations in (post)colonial contexts.
Copyright: UBC Centre for Migration Studies
Availability: Web & Print
Publication date: November 18, 2025
Pages: 3
This publication is part of the CMS Migration Insights Series. The research briefs synthesize peer-reviewed, published academic research by CMS affiliates.
Canada’s Higher Education Sector as Immigration Actor
The increasing integration of Canadian higher education with immigration has sparked debate and positioned the education sector as a crucial player in the nation’s immigration strategy.
The Canadian immigration system often touts a pathway from study to immigration, attracting thousands of international students each year. But with soaring enrollment numbers, many now face challenges in moving from student to permanent resident status. Dr. Sandra Schinnerl and Dr. Antje Ellermann examine this disconnect, highlighting the increasing competition and uncertainty international graduates face in their journey toward permanent residency.
“We need to recognize that education and immigration are linked, where expectations are made but might not be met today.”
Immigration and Integration Policy, Government of British Columbia
Key Findings
- Higher education institutions are key actors in Canada’s immigration system. By driving growth in international student enrolment, universities and colleges shaped both the scale and composition of temporary and permanent immigration.
- Rapid growth in international enrolments produced unintended system-wide pressures. Institutional supports and immigration capacity did not keep pace with growth in admissions.
- International graduates face uneven labour market outcomes. Many encounter employment barriers, lower earnings, and limited opportunities to use their Canadian education to secure permanent immigration status.
Recommendations
- Expand institutional support systems to help international students navigate employment and immigration pathways.
- Coordinate international student recruitment with labour market and immigration realities. Higher education institutions should consider housing, services, and workforce realities, while the government should provide clear, stable immigration policies and pathways for qualified graduates.
- Ensure transparency in policy objectives. Governments should clearly communicate that international student policies are not designed primarily for permanent settlement.
Implications for Current Events
As of August 2025, the number of new student arrivals to Canada had decreased by 132,505 (59.7%), compared to the same period in 2024. This decline reflects the Canadian government’s 2024 decision to introduce a cap on international student permits for 2025, aimed at addressing unsustainable growth. The federal government also tightened eligibility criteria for the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program (PGWPP), further limiting international students’ opportunities to transition into the Canadian workforce and, consequently, their possibility of obtaining permanent residency.
What drove this recent reduction in Canada’s international student population? Dr. Schinnerl and Dr. Ellermann trace the recent changes to a misalignment between government, university, and student goals—exacerbated by the previously uncapped admission system. They argue that while the majority of international students view Canadian education as a pathway to permanent residence, neither immigration policy nor university programs have prioritized this transition. The uncapped admission system allowed the number of graduates seeking permanent residency to far exceed the number of permanent resident annual targets. These changes also underscore the findings of the original 2023 research that highlighted that the education–immigration relationship was becoming precariously unsustainable.
About the Authors
Sandra Schinnerl is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Centre for Migration Studies and a Senior Economist with the Government of British Columbia, focusing on Immigration and Integration Policy. Sandra’s work broadly examines the changing relationship of post-secondary institutions in providing support, skills and preparation for international students interested in migrating to Canada. Sandra earned her PhD at the University of British Columbia.
Antje Ellermann is Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Centre for Migration Studies at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on the politics of migration and citizenship in the global North. She is the author of the award-winning The Comparative Politics of Immigration: Policy Choices in Germany, Canada, Switzerland, and the United States (2021) and States Against Migration: Deportation in Germany and the United States (2009), both published by Cambridge University Press.
Copyright: UBC Centre for Migration Studies
Availability: Web & Print
Publication date: October 28, 2025
Pages: 3
This publication is part of the CMS Migration Insights Series. The research briefs synthesize peer-reviewed, published academic research by CMS affiliates.
Italian Dumplings and Chinese Pizzas: Food, Migration, and Identity Between China and Italy
How Chinese and Italian consumers find each other at the dining table.
Chinese food in Italy and Italian food in China are more than meals—they’re cultural exchanges shaped by migration, tourism, and media. Professor Gaoheng Zhang’s research examines how food mobilities between China and Italy have shaped identities, challenged stereotypes, and highlighted both the tensions and possibilities of cross-cultural understanding in today’s globalized world.
“Food is an essential life experience for migrants and other mobile subjects. The China-Italy case study is compelling because of the global influence of their cuisines and labour migrations.”
Key Findings
- Food is more than nourishment; it is a cultural language. Studying food culture helps us understand how Italian and Chinese migrants understand each other.
- Chinese restaurants in Italy and Italian food in China are cultural bridges for immigrants and locals to negotiate their identities in relation to each other.
- Migration between Italy and China increased in the 1980s. While Chinese food offered Italians a taste of the exotic, it also became a target for racial stereotypes. Meanwhile, middle-class Chinese tourists embraced Italian cuisine in China as a signal of their global, multi-cultural identity exemplified by a taste on international cuisines.
Recommendations
- Food mobilities are central to migration stories. Policymakers should pay more attention to how everyday practices—like dining out or owning a restaurant—shape intercultural understanding.
- Media and public discourse should be more aware of how culinary narratives can both foster empathy and reinforce racial boundaries.
- Supporting migrant food entrepreneurs and promoting inclusive food cultures like holding food festivals can help combat cultural exclusion and facilitate cross-cultural understanding.
Implications for Current Events
Zhang’s research highlights the significant role food plays in cultural exchanges. As migration continues to reshape societies and anti-Asian racism resurfaces globally—especially in the wake of COVID-19—food stories become stories about who belongs. In Italy, Chinese restaurants were early targets of public fear during the pandemic, revealing how racial anxieties are often projected onto everyday spaces like eateries. Meanwhile, Chinese tourists navigating Italy’s cuisines negotiate both fascination and exclusion, mirroring global struggles over identity and cultural ownership. These dynamics are not unique to China and Italy. Across the world, migrants and tourists use food to claim space, assert their identity, and foster a sense of belonging. Policymakers and social actors should recognize the role of transcultural cuisines in promoting economic inclusion and cultural dialogue. Supporting diverse food cultures can be a powerful tool against xenophobia—turning the dining table into a site of connection rather than division.
About the Authors
Gaoheng Zhang is an Associate Professor of Italian Studies at the University of British Columbia. Zhang’s scholarship analyzes migration and culture from within contemporary Italy’s and Western Europe’s global networks with Asia, America, and Africa. He applies multi-lingual, multi-perspectival, and multi-sited methods to his case studies. His intellectual project is focused on transculturality and dialogism.
Zixi (Peter) Zhang is a PhD student in the Department of History at the University of British Columbia. He studies early modern East Asia with a focus on China. His current research centers on the Chinese intellectual diaspora during the Ming-Qing transition in the 17th century.
Copyright: UBC Centre for Migration Studies
Availability: Web & Print
Publication date: October 15, 2025
Pages: 3
This publication is part of the CMS Migration Insights Series. The research briefs synthesize peer-reviewed, published academic research by CMS affiliates.