Migration Foresight: Lessons from researching emerging migration trends

Date: May 26, 2025
Time: 9:30 AM EDT - 3:00 PM EDT
Location: CERC Migration Office

The Migration Foresight project at the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration (CERC Migration) invites researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to a special forum focused on innovative approaches to understanding the future of migration. As global patterns of mobility shift in response to forces like climate change, economic instability, and political upheaval, new methods are urgently needed to anticipate and respond to emerging trends.

This event will feature expert presentations that will examine how emerging migration trends—such as climate change and global warming—shape mobility patterns across regions, as well as a roundtable discussion exploring innovative ways to analyze migration flows and to translate complex data into clear, actionable insights for decision-makers and the public.

By fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, this discussion aims to brainstorm alternative approaches to measuring and analyzing migration flows, ultimately contributing to more informed and responsive migration management strategies. The conversation will lay the groundwork for future research and collaboration, offering new perspectives on how to anticipate and address the new and emerging migration trends.

The event takes place alongside the 16th Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (external link) (CARFMS25), hosted by Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement.

Program

9:30–9:45 AM EDT	Welcome coffee
9:45–10 AM EDT	Opening Remarks: Zhixi C. Zhuang, Academic Director, Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement, Toronto Metropolitan University Yousef Khalifa Aleghfeli, Research Fellow – Data Science, CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University
10 AM–12:30 PM EDT	Climate Science and Mobility: How should we better understand climate-induced displacement? Chair: Sarah Hoyos-Hoyos, CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University Co-chair: Yousef Khalifa Aleghfeli, CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University Individual presentations: (PDF file) Climate Coloniality, Border Securitization, and Climate Justice: A Critique of Canada's Approach to Climate Mobility \| Rahul Balasundaram, Policy and Advocacy Manager, Canadian Council of Refugees (PDF file) Challenging Dichotomies in Climate Migration: The Case of Rural Migrants in Ghana \| Jemima Nomunume Baada, Assistant Professor, Geography, University of British Columbia (PDF file) Climate Commons’ Impact on Women’s Migration in Southwestern Coastal Bangladesh: A Gendered Perspective \| Md Ashrafuzzaman, Associate Professor, Anthropology, University of Chittagong, Bangladeh (PDF file) Sustainable Development for Migrant Justice? A Case Study on Masdar City, United Arab Emirates \| Asma Atique, Research Fellow, CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University (PDF file) Establishing a Typology of Climate Mobilities and Future Research Directions \| Amrita Hari, Associate Professor, Feminist Institute of Social Transformation, Carleton University
12:30–1:30 PM EDT	Lunch break
1:30–3 PM EDT	Data Science and Migration: How can we effectively communicate migration data knowledge? Chair: Yousef Khalifa Aleghfeli, CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University Co-chair: Sarah Hoyos-Hoyos, CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University Roundtable participants: Jason Goetz (external link) , Assistant Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University Stein Monteiro (external link) , Lead Research Associate, Immigration, Conference Board of Canada Gabby Resch (external link) , Assistant Professor, Information Visualization, Ontario Tech University
3–3:15 PM EDT	Closing remarks Yousef Khalifa Aleghfeli, Research Fellow – Data Science, CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University

Migration Foresight: Lessons from researching emerging migration trends

Program

Links