Sara Hormozinejad
Sara Hormozinejad is a researcher with the Global Migration Institute and the Bridging Divides research program, where she contributes to two research projects. The first, To Naturalize or Not? A Comparative Study of Naturalization Decisions and Meanings of Citizenship Among Migrants in Canada, examines how naturalized citizens and eligible permanent residents understand citizenship and the factors shaping their decisions to pursue or forgo naturalization. The second, Canadian Multiculturalism and Diversity, explores changing public attitudes toward multiculturalism, diversity, and immigration in Canada. Sara’s role on this project includes co-leading the qualitative component and supervising a team of six research assistants.
Sara is also a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Toronto. Her dissertation, supported by SSHRC and OGS scholarships, examines how migration aspirations are socially constructed and evolve across the migration trajectory, from emigration through settlement and return. Her research emphasizes the temporal dynamics of mobility and the cultural and imaginative dimensions of migration aspirations across transnational contexts. Sara holds an MA in Anthropology from the University of Toronto and a BA (Honours) in Anthropology from the University of Calgary.
Recent publications
(2026). Dreaming the West: how migration imaginaries are constructed and transformed among middle-class Iranians. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2026.2676754 (external link)
(2026). Migrants as homo affectus: How emotion shapes return migration among Iranians. Emotion, Space and Society, 59, 101155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2026.101155 (external link)
(2024). Multiple Jeopardy: Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on non-status families and workers in the GTA. Toronto: FCJ Refugee Centre, York University and the University of Toronto. With Goldring, L., Landolt, P., Borras, J., Elgueta, N., and Marshall, S. (PDF file) https://cep.info.yorku.ca/files/2024/03/Multiple-Jeopardy-Impacts-of-the-COVID-19-pandemic-on-non-status-families-and-workers-in-the-GTA-March-2024.pdf?x24645 (external link)
(2023). “‘Why did you return?’: North-South return migration and family ties in the case of Iran.” Socialpolicy.ch 2023(2):1–19. https://doi.org/10.18753/2297-8224-4485 (external link)