Speaker:
Dan Hiebert
Professor
Emeritus\, Department of Geography\, UBC
Talk title:
Immigration Levels Planning in Canada: Balancing Complex Demographic
Trade-offs
Tor
onto\, Canada. Photo: Ferdinand Stohr unsplashTalk Abstract:
Abstract: In this presentation I consider the broad relati onship between immigration and demography by focusing on the levels plannin g process in Canada. Immigration is frequently portrayed as a demographic ‘ fix’ for Canada. To what extent is this true? What are the key trade-offs i nvolved? If we place demography at the centre of our analysis\, is there an optimum level of immigration for Canada? At the most generalized level\, s hould Canada establish a population policy that would serve as a guide for immigration levels planning (akin to the way the Bank of Canada sets intere st rates according to a desired range for inflation)?
These are particularly pressing questions in an era when n atural increase in Canada is about to cross the zero threshold (probably in 2029) and become negative. Unless Canadians dramatically alter their ferti lity\, all population growth in Canada for at least the next 50 years will be driven by immigration. Given that reality\, what is a ‘reasonable’ (or ‘ responsible’ or ‘sustainable’) level of immigration?
And\, as always\, when asking such a basic social question\, there is an even deeper one lurking beneath it: who gets to decide Canada’s popu lation future\, and under what principles?
Speaker Bio:
Dan Hiebert is Prof essor Emeritus\, Geography Department\, UBC. In retirement he continues to be interested in international migration. At the broadest scale\, this invo lves trying to understand how policy and regulatory systems shape migration \, and also how people become mobile\, with or without the consent of state s. He tries to understand Canadian immigration policy within this wider con text\, and consider it in relation to the policies of other countries\, esp ecially in Europe and Australasia. At the local scale he studies the conseq uences of immigration in Canadian cities\, highlighting Vancouver’s situati on (with a foreign-born population exceeding one million). More specificall y\, he looks at the integration of newcomers in the labour and housing mark ets of cities\, and how this changes their residential structure and social relations. This work is highly integrated with public policy\; throughout his career he has participated in advisory roles at the local and national level in Canada\, and also have regular interaction with government agencie s in several other countries. This culminated in his secondment to Immigrat ion\, Refugees and Citizenship Canada\, from 2022-2024\, in the role of Aca demic in Residence.
This is hybrid event hosted in Geog 2 29 and on zoom.
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CATEGORIES:Featured Events LOCATION:Geography building GEO:49.266015;-123.256221 URL;VALUE=URI:https://geog.ubc.ca/events/event/geography-colloquium-series- dan-hiebert/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://geog.cms.arts.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2026/01/HiebertColloquiumFeatureImage_COL_20260114_Rev1-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Vancouver BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 DTSTART:20251102T090000 TZNAME:PST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR