Syrian refugee resettlement: A case study of local response in Hamilton, Ontario

Abstract

This paper examines the response by local government and stakeholders to the arrival and resettlement of Syrian newcomers in Hamilton, Ontario in 2015 and 2016—the first major wave of refugee arrivals since two significant changes in Hamilton's settlement organizational landscape. The creation of a local immigration partnership called the Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council (HIPC) is an example of place-based policymaking within local immigration and settlement in Canada. Place-based approaches emerged to bypass top-down policy ineffectiveness, and the shift to empower civic participation in the local decision-making process is seen as one solution to public policy innovations. Examination of HIPC's role in this context is thus critical to understand the challenges and learnings encountered in one place-based setting. Our findings suggest that the lack of power (in terms of information, communication, resources, and funding) led to a missed opportunity for HIPC to lead a significant resettlement initiative. HIPC's inability to bring together key partners across the sector prior to and during the event is symptomatic of systemic barriers the Council had faced, including competing interpretations of HIPC and its role by its members. This study suggests the effectiveness of place-based policy is not without its nuances, and iterative challenges and learnings.