Temporariness in Canada

Permanence in a territory continues to be the basis for rights, including entitlements to work, residency, and pathways to citizenship. Migration and refugee laws set the limits for who is included in the territorial state and the nation as an imagined community. Canada, much like other immigrant-receiving liberal democratic states, designs and adapts its immigration and refugee systems to reflect its own interests and the right to sovereign rule of its territory. In the aftermath of the events of 9/11, perceived threats to national identity mixed with national security concerns have meant that migration laws in tandem with citizenship laws are now associated with the essence of the nation. In such a context, migration and refugee laws have been transformed into the "last bastion of sovereignty."