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The Regularization Maze: How Canada’s Temporary Migration System Manufactures Precarity
February 2 @ 11:45 am - 1:45 pm
Free
Join the UBC Centre for Migration Studies for the third event in our Speaker Series on Understanding Liminality and Legal Precarity, featuring Prof. Delphine Nakache. She will present her talk, “The Regularization Maze: How Canada’s Temporary Migration System Manufactures Precarity.”
This event will be held in a hybrid format. Lunch will be served at 11:45 AM in Dodson Room. The lecture will start at 12:15 PM and wrap up at 1:45 PM.
Following Dr. Nakache’s CMS Speaker Series lecture, join us for a wide-ranging discussion on precarious migration in Canada from 3:00 – 4:00 PM in C.K. Choi 351. Graduate students are especially welcome!
Abstract
Drawing on the PRECAR project—a multi-year, multi-provincial study of precarious legal status trajectories in Canada—this talk presents findings from fieldwork conducted between 2019 and 2022 across Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec (148 interviews with migrants holding temporary migration status and 62 key informants). Despite entering Canada legally, most participants failed to achieve permanent residence, with many losing status entirely by the time of the interview. The talk examines three interconnected mechanisms producing these outcomes: a maze of failed regularization attempts, temporary protection traps, and systematic rights gaps— revealing how Canada’s current temporary migration system manufactures precarity rather than providing pathways to integration.
About Delphine Nakache
Delphine Nakache is a lawyer and Full Professor in the Faculty of Law, French Common Law Section, at the University of Ottawa, where she holds a University Research Chair on Migrant Protection and International Law. Her research focuses on improving protection for the most precarious groups of asylum seekers, temporary migrants and immigrants. Her work, published in English and French, bridges academic research and public policy. She regularly engages with government and civil society representatives on these topics and acts as a consultant for many government and intergovernmental institutions.
