Hector Cowan – Chernobyl

May 22, 2019January 31, 2026

Canadian diplomats carry out many different duties when serving abroad. CIHS member, Hector Cowan, was tasked with helping a group of Canadian students leave the disaster zone of the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear plant explosion.

Foreign operations | Immigration | Refugees

An interview with Joe Bissett
February 24, 2026February 24, 2026

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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Foreign operations

Officer recruitment in the 1950s
December 13, 2014January 25, 2026

In 1957, the Government launched a recruitment program to bring university students into the Foreign Service as immigration officers. A CIHS member who was recruited through the program has provided us with a copy of the recruitment brochure which outlines recruitment standards, the career path and working/living conditions. The brochure was printed by the Queen’s…

Read More Officer recruitment in the 1950s
Foreign operations | Refugees | Southeast Asians | Special movements

Resettlement of southeast Asian refugees (1979-1981)
January 16, 2026May 7, 2026

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…

Read More Resettlement of southeast Asian refugees (1979-1981)
Foreign operations | Refugees | Southeast Asians | Special movements

Ne prenez pas les bateaux
January 9, 2026January 27, 2026

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).

Read More Ne prenez pas les bateaux
Foreign operations

This Canadian visitor visa is 40 years old, and so is the CIHS!
February 9, 2026February 9, 2026

Susan Gregson confirms that it was she, as a young visa officer in Beijing, who issued this Canadian visitor visa (or “CVV” as we called them) back in the summer of 1986, just before being cross-posted to Rome. Coincidentally, the CIHS is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026! In February of 1986, the seventeen original…

Read More This Canadian visitor visa is 40 years old, and so is the CIHS!
Foreign operations

Interview – Jack Mitchinson
November 27, 2023January 31, 2026

Jack Mitchinson, featured in Bulletin 107, was interviewed at his 1990 retirement party about his two years (1986-1988) of auditing overseas visa offices. Jack had earlier worked in several immigration offices across Ontario from 1952.

Read More Interview – Jack Mitchinson

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