Johanna Reynolds – The Conversation

A Syrian woman is welcomed by a sponsor at a community gathering welcoming with her family in Queensland, N.S., in April 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

January 29, 2025

Suspending private refugee sponsorship will trap refugees in war zones and keep families apart

Biftu Yousuf, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa; Anna Lise Purkey, University of Waterloo; Dawit Demoz, York University, Canada, and Johanna Reynolds, York University, Canada

Refugees at risk now face longer wait times to come to Canada, and for those already here, longer periods of separation from family members abroad who remain in danger.

A Congolese family approaches the unofficial border crossing with Canada while walking down Roxham Road in Champlain, N.Y., in August 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Charles Krupa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Charles Krupa

January 20, 2020

Refugee stories reveal anxieties about the Canada‑U.S. border

Grace Wu, University of Lethbridge; Johanna Reynolds, York University, Canada, and Julie Young, University of Lethbridge

Canadian leaders have desperately tried to preserve the country’s image of liberal humanitarianism at our border, but the reality is Canada’s immigration history is built upon exclusion.

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