The role of post-secondary institutions in #WelcomeRefugees

In 2015, the Canadian government announced an ambitious goal to be a leader on the global stage for efforts to re-settle 25,000 Syrian refugees fleeing war and destitute conditions. Dubbed the #WelcomeRefugees initiative, several federal ministries initiated a five phase plan to work with international and Canadian partners. While the federal government has achieved its goal based on numbers and has proclaimed itself a leader on the global stage, the work has not been the responsibility of the nation state alone. Private sponsors, non-governmental organizations, and local governments at the provincial, territorial, and municipal levels played a significant role in the initiative. In this context, colleges and universities across Canada announced commitments to the initiative. What is unknown is the extent to which post-secondary institutions have been involved in this wave of refugee settlement. In this paper, we will examine three university policy statements about programs initiated at Ontario universities to support the settlement of Syrian refugee students in Canada. Specifically, we ask: 1) What are the networks of actors that have formed around these policy initiatives to support Syrian refugee students, and 2) What spaces are created through these policies for Syrian refugee students in Canadian PSE?