Supervisors: Geraldine Pratt, Jemima Baada

Degrees: M.Arch with a minor from the Collaborative Water Program (University of Waterloo School of Architecture), B.A.S (University of Waterloo School of Architecture)

Entry Date: September 2024

Expected Graduation Date: August 2029

Research Statement: 

I am interested in the use of immigration as a development strategy in the global north, with a focus on rural sites which are shifting away from resource based economies. This inquiry builds on my M.Arch thesis at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture where I considered the implementation of a light rail transit line in Waterloo Region. In that research, I found that municipal debt financing of transit infrastructure depends on predicted population growth — amounting to state-led gentrification in areas that would become connected by new transit. Immigration played a huge role in supporting this investment and has led me to shift to sites where the persistence and impact of growth-oriented policies might be more intense. I am most interested in the Atlantic Immigration Program as this model proliferates across Canada.