Canada's track record on World Refugee Day and what can be improved

On June 20, World Refugee Day, many gathered to honour the more than 110 million refugees around the world. This year, Canada led the way in global refugee resettlement, according to UNHCR. This country was the largest resettlement nation in 2022, resettling 47,600 people. However, while many praise the work done by Canada and its refugee agencies, advocates believe there is more work to be done. 

Canada has accepted more than one million refugees since 1980, with the UNHCR calling this country a world leader in resettlement.

"I'm grateful for the people who are making me feel at home," Murat Simsek told CTV National News. The 26-year-old made his way to Canada from Turkiye by way of France and then the United States. He now studies at the University of Toronto, where he is president of the school’s Amnesty International chapter.

"I don't feel like a second class citizen, I'm happy that Canada has a long-standing tradition of welcoming refugees," said Simsek, who works to advocate for those seeking safety and protection.

He arrived in Canada through Roxham Road, an unofficial border crossing that has since been shut down.

"These people risk their lives to cross the border so it's so upsetting that Roxham Road is closed now for refugees," Simsek said, speaking of the journey people make to seek safety in Canada.

Canada's highest court ruled in a unanimous decision June 16 that the country's Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States to control the flow of asylum seekers across the shared border is constitutional.

The pact, which came into effect in 2004, recognizes Canada and the U.S. as safe places for potential refugees to seek protection. But Simsek and other refugee rights groups are calling for governments to reconsider the closure of Roxham.

"All our politicians and state officials. They need to understand that people who come to Canada are seeking safety and protection, that means that back home they faced troubling situations," Simsek said.

Canada accepting 47,600 refugees in 2022 helped push the country's population to more than 40 million people just last week.

"This is the story of Canada. This is the story of Canadians," said Michael Casasola, a senior resettlement officer with the UN Refugee Agency. He has worked with refugees for more than 30 years and while he admits housing and employment for refugees can be challenging at first, it does improve over time.

"It does improve each year and improves again for the next generation, and that's one of the things Canada does, other countries tend to plateau. The Canadian experience shows the integration experience improves," said Casasola.

He adds Canada has a reputation of adopting refugees into communities and shows true signs of successful social integration and inclusion.

"Children, who arrive here under the 12 have a higher completion rate of college, university and graduate studies than Canadian born kids. That doesn't mean somehow refugee kids are smarter than Canadian born kids. It means that the system works, and when given access to things like education, refugees will take for advantage of it and Canada benefits in the end."

Canada hopes to welcome 500,000 new permanent residents in 2025, but refugee advocates point out that government-assisted resettlements will drop by 8,000 that same year, compared to 2023, while private-sponsored resettlements increase.

"This is an unacceptably low number for a country as wealthy as Canada, and in the context of global crisis. And it doesn't match the level of generosity we see from Canadians," said Gauri Sreenivasan, co-executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees.

Advocates are also calling for a clear plan on social supports such as housing and jobs, which are problematic in the Canada's biggest cities.

While thinking of those forced to flee conflict, violence and persecution, Simsek said he is reminded of a poem by Warsan Shire.

"No one is home, unless home is the mouth of a shark," Simsek said, reading an excerpt from the poem. "No one leaves, unless home chases fire under your feet, hot blood in your belly." 

--With files from The Canadian Press.