The Institute for Research on Migration and Society (IRMS) at Concordia University is an interdisciplinary hub for migration research based in Montreal, Canada. Founded in 2024, IRMS brings together faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and research professionals working across political science, sociology, anthropology, geography, communication, education, psychology, engineering, arts, and digital studies. As Concordia University’s focal point for migration scholarship, the institute supports research, training, and public engagement on the evolving relationships between migration and society.
IRMS conducts research on a wide range of migration issues in Canada and beyond, with expertise in migration governance, migrant integration, temporary migration systems, labour and precarity, public attitudes toward migration and diversity, and the growing role of digital technologies and AI in migration management. Our work combines qualitative, quantitative, participatory, and interdisciplinary approaches and is often developed in collaboration with governments and community organizations.
Located in Montréal, Canada's second-largest city and a major francophone immigrant destination, IRMS benefits from unique research access to Quebec's distinctive immigration policies, linguistic integration programs, and provincial-federal governance dynamics. Our bilingual (French/English) capacity enables research that bridges anglophone and francophone scholarly worlds and creates important points of dialogue with migration research traditions in Europe and North America.
IRMS is also a core partner in Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides, Canada's flagship migration research initiative (2023-2030, $98.6M CFREF). Director Mireille Paquet leads the program's Citizenship and Participation theme, connecting IRMS to 60+ research leaders, 38 partner institutions, and 80+ active projects across Canada.
The institute maintains strong links with Quebec’s emerging migration research ecosystem, including the newly established Réseau québécois de recherche en immigration, intégration et relations interculturelles (RQ3i), a unique gateway to Quebec's francophone research community and policy ecosystem rarely available through anglophone Canadian institutions. Supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec and partnered with Quebec's Ministry of Immigration, RQ3i brings together researchers across Quebec universities to address the province's distinctive challenges: temporary immigration growth, asylum demands, legislative change, and public polarization.
Training and knowledge exchange are central to IRMS’s mission. The institute supports graduate students and postdoctoral researchers through fellowships, scholarships, research assistantships, and conference funding. As a new IMISCOE institutional member, IRMS sees itself as contributing a strong North American and bilingual perspective to the network. We are particularly interested in strengthening transatlantic conversations on migration governance and politics, digital migration, labour and migration, as well as comparative research methods.
As IMISCOE continues to expand its presence in North America, IRMS is well positioned to contribute to the network’s research, training, and knowledge-exchange activities. Through our access to Canada’s largest migration research infrastructure, strong ties to francophone scholarship, and expertise in emerging areas such as digital migration governance and AI, we look forward to developing new collaborations and creating opportunities for researchers, students, and practitioners across the IMISCOE community.