Preparing for Climate-Related Migration: An Exploratory Assessment of Capacities and Barriers Facing Calgary-based Immigrant Serving Agencies in Responding to Climate Change

This thesis uses climate justice as a conceptual framework to explore the capacities and barriers of immigrant-serving agencies (ISA) in Calgary, Alberta, in responding to climate migration. The research addresses the limited research conducted in Canada on climate migration and policies at different government levels. This study uses an exploratory qualitative case study approach to answer two research questions. Firstly, to what extent are ISA addressing climate change and climate migration in policies and programs, and secondly, what policies and programs can improve ISA's capacity to address climate migration? The study finds that ISA plays a crucial role in serving the immigrant population in Calgary, with their operations divided into three core areas: education, employment, and socio-cultural. However, ISA's readiness to include climate migrants remains a significant barrier. Five themes emerged from the interview data: funding, policy gaps, restrictive criteria, preparedness, and the need for agencies to support climate justice through EDI (specifically anti-racism) training. The study recommends introducing an officially stated policy on climate migration, which can be achieved in several ways, for instance, by considering climate migrants under section 25 of the Immigration and Refugee Act, holding temporary removal orders, or relaxing the eligible criteria restrictions. To empower climate migrants and enhance their representation, one potential approach is to include ISA as members of a national climate change advisory board or committee. ISAs, as front-line workers familiar with the experiences and needs of immigrant communities, can provide valuable insights and perspectives in shaping climate change policies and strategies. Their inclusion would ensure that the National Adaptation Strategy considers the challenges faced by climate migrants and incorporates their voices into decision-making processes. This research contributes to the literature by addressing the significant gap in research, policy, programming and practices on the climate migration nexus and ISA's capacities and barriers. It also highlights the need for addressing climate migration in policies and programs at different government levels, which can contribute to climate justice and support climate-vulnerable communities