MEMO Webinar Series: "Why Canada?"
- Date
- October 26, 2026
- Time
- 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET
- Location
- Online
- Contact
- ashika.niraula@torontomu.ca
What makes Canada a migration destination? What does choosing Canada actually mean in today's changing migration landscape?
Join the MEMO Webinar Series for an engaging conversation exploring why migrants come to different provinces in Canada, how opportunities and expectations shape migration decisions, and how these experiences unfold after arrival. Drawing on findings from the MEMO research project (Canada Hub), our panel will examine the factors that attract people to Canada, the challenges they encounter, and what these stories reveal about complex migration drivers and decision-making.
Date: Oct. 26th, 2026
Time: 2:00-3:30Pm (EST)
Location: Online
For any questions, please reach out to ashika.niraula@torontomu.ca
Moderator
Moderator - Professor Emeritus Usha George, MEMO / Canada Hub Coordinator, Global Migration Institute, Toronto Metropolitan University
Usha George is recognized for her expertise in newcomer settlement and integration. She is a professor in the School of Social Work at Toronto Metropolitan University and the current Academic Director of the Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement (TMCIS). Usha is the former Interim Vice President of Research and Innovation and the Dean of the Faculty of Community Services (2006-2017). In 2015, she was awarded the Errol Aspevig Award for Outstanding Academic Leadership. She is the past director of the Ontario Metropolis Centre of Excellence for Immigration and Settlement. Her main areas of teaching, research, and professional activity are social work with diverse communities, and newcomer settlement and integration, with an emphasis on examining policies and programs to ensure newcomers have the supports they need to settle and become contributing members to Canadian society. Her scholarly work has attracted over $14 million CAD in research grants and contracts. She is well published and is often sought by the media for her views on immigration.
Featured Speakers
Speaker - Associate Professor Suzanne Hot, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of British Columbia
Dr. Suzanne Huot is an Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of British Columbia and Interim Co-Director of the Centre for Migration Studies at UBC. Her research examines the intersections of occupation, immigration and Francophone minority communities, including the occupational implications of migration and the roles of legislation, policy and service providers in immigrant and refugee experiences.
Speaker - Professor Patricia Martin, Department of Geography, University of Montreal
Dr. Patricia Martin is a Full Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Montreal. Her research interests include gender, identity and difference, violence and citizenship, globalization, international development, political geography, and Mexico. Her recent research examines intersecting forms of violence and their effects on social worlds in Mexico.
Speaker - Dr. Marshia Akbar, Director of the BMO Newcomer Workforce Integration Lab Research Area & Lead on Labour Migration, Global Migration Institute Toronto Metropolitan University
Dr. Marshia Akbar is Director of the BMO Newcomer Workforce Integration Lab and Research Lead on Labour Migration at the CERC in Migration and Integration at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her interdisciplinary research bridges policy, practice and lived experiences, with a focus on international migration, employment integration, social equity, and the labour market integration of migrants in Canada.
Speaker - Professor Luisa Veronis, Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Ottawa
Dr. Luisa Veronis is a Professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Ottawa and holds the Research Chair on Immigration and Franco-Ontarian Communities. Her research focuses on the social and political geographies of immigration, settlement and integration of immigrants and refugees in Canadian cities, with particular interest in Francophone immigration in minority contexts. She is also Scientific Co-director, MEMO and Co-coordinator of the Socio-Comparative Studies Working Group.