World Refugee Day 2026 – June 20
June 20, 2026 is recognized as World Refugee Day by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and by all who work in the refugee protection and resettlement sector.
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The 1975 Green Paper on Immigration and Population
As we approach the fortieth anniversary of the tabling of the Immigration Act, 1976, the Society has compiled some information that might be of interest to those who are researching this period in Canadian immigration history.
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Practitioners made it perfect – Immigrant Settlement in Canada
This project presents a series of interviews conducted with professionals who helped transform the delivery of settlement services to newly arrived immigrants to Canada. They have worked in various facets of Canada’s immigration system and, in many instances, had to fill a policy void with practical measures to ensure the effective integration of newcomers into…
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“Hearts of Freedom” Book Tour
In this video, CIHS member and former president Mike Molloy provides a short summary of the inspiration behind the Hearts of Freedom project and the subsequent book, Hearts of Freedom: Stories of Southeast Asian Refugees.
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“Hearts of Freedom – A Tribute to Ottawa’s Project 4000”
Ottawa artist An Nguyen has created an artwork entitled “Hearts of Freedom – A Tribute to Ottawa’s Project 4000″
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Hearts of Freedom – Promotion in Thailand
Dr. Stephanie Stobbe provides an account of recent Hearts of Freedom promotion activites in Bangkok, Thailand.
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An interview with Joe Bissett
In 1956, James “Joe” Bissett was one of the first recipients of a Master of Arts in Public Administration from Carleton University. CIHS member Doug Dunnington recently located this video of Carleton University’s 2024 interview with Joe, who is a CIHS member emeritus. Carleton has established the Bissett Alumni Award for Distinctive Contributions to the…
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Vietnamese Boat People Museum Fundraising Banquet – March 28, 2026
The Vietnamese Boat People Museum, a project aimed at commemorating the experiences of over 1.5 million refugees who fled Vietnam following the fall of Saigon in 1975, is holding a gala fundraising banquet on Saturday, March 28, 2026. The invitation is extended to all and there is a particular hope that former immigration officers who…
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The Southeast Asian Refugee Movement to Canada: Chronology 1954-1980
We have posted a revised and more complete chronology of developments leading up to and following the start of the movement of Southeast Asian refugees to Canada.
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Photo album page has been updated!
We have updated the page containing photo albums from the southeast Asian refugee resettlement program of the late 1970s and early 1980s to make them easier to view. Anyone who has photos that they feel will be of interest to CIHS members, from any period of Canada’s immigration history, is encouraged to let us know. We will…
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From the Archives: 1986 – the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award is awarded to “the people of Canada”
In 1986, the people of Canada were the recipients of a prestigious award for their work on behalf of refugees. The Nansen Refugee Award, first presented in 1954, is named after Fridtjof Nansen, who was the first High Commissioner for Refugees at the League of Nations. He led the development of a travel document for…
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Immigration and Impact – Interactive Timeline
Our partner, The Canadian Museum of Immigration History at Pier 21, has graciously allowed us to link to their integrated timeline of Indigenous and immigration history in Canada. The timeline provides an interactive journey through Canada’s rich immigration history, beginning with the first arrival of humans on the North American continent some 40,000 years ago, through to…
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Resettlement of southeast Asian refugees (1979-1981)
Interview with Brian Bell, Chief of Policy, Settlement Services, EIC (1979-1981) “[I]t was the people from top to bottom, and it was the times. The department had gone from … between the 60s to the 90s … from Manpower and Immigration with a very strong employment orientation, to the 80s where there was a real…
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Southeast Asian Refugees (1975-1981)
Photo album page has been updated! We have updated the page containing photo albums from the southeast Asian refugee resettlement program of the late 1970s and early 1980s to make them easier to view. Anyone who has photos that they feel will be of interest to CIHS members, from any period of Canada’s immigration history, is encouraged…
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Ne prenez pas les bateaux
L’ancien agent du service exterieur d’immigration, René Bersma, propose ses souvenirs détaillés du début de sa carrière, en mettant particulièrement l’accent sur ses expériences en Asie du Sud-Est (1978-1982).
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Don’t Take the Boats
Former immigration foreign service officer René Bersma offers his comprehensive recollections of the early part of his career, with particular emphasis on his experiences in south-east Asia (1978-1982).
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A significant fiftieth anniversary
CIHS offers its heartiest congratulations to the Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian communities in Canada on this important anniversary of the 1975 fall of Saigon. Since they first started to come to Canada and especially through Canada’s southeast Asian refugee program, they and their Canadian offspring have contributed to the fabric and success of this country….
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Perspectives on the Ugandan Asian movement to Canada in 1972
Marking the 50th anniversary of the 1972 arrival in Canada of Ugandan Asian refugees, Jody Bucholtz, head of the Renfrew-Lanark County Local Immigration Partnership, organized a podcast with Ms Noreen Nasim and Ms Bharti Dhir, whose families had been resettled in Britain, and Mike Molloy, who played a key role in the processing of the…
