What are Canadian churches called to do about migrants and refugees? The faith-based organization Citizens for Public Justice offers some reflections.
It’s one of the most contentious and sensationalized topics in Canadian politics and public discourse – immigration. As with many social issues, followers of Christ can find faithful ways through the noise if we reflect on God’s heart and on what believers who went before us did and thought. As people around the world observe World Refugee Day (June 20) and some churches observe World Refugee Sunday, perhaps now is a good time to think on this.
Throughout the Old Testament the call to welcome the sojourner is not simply a prescribed act of charity – it is presented as being deeply reflective of the heart of God. God speaks of sojourners as people to be welcomed and treated with impartiality and empathy, and emphasizes His own heart in Deuteronomy 10:18, which tells us that He “loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing” (ESV).
The following verse reminds God’s people they know what it is like to be a sojourner themselves. Likewise, many of us in Canadian churches can trace our roots back to family members who immigrated to Canada for various reasons, or we ourselves may be refugees and migrants.
In a spiritual sense all of us are sojourners or migrants – our ultimate allegiance is not to earthly nations and empires but to Christ, whose heart is for all people, every tribe, tongue and nation around the world.
Jesus elaborates on our call to justice and empathy through the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The parable illustrates how selfless love extends beyond those in close proximity to us or who hold similar social identities to us – it especially includes those who are marginalized in society.
While we may come from different nations, speak different languages and even follow different religions, the doctrine of imago dei exhorts us to recognize every person has been made in the image of God. We are called to reflect the love of God to all people and to honour each other as fellow image bearers.
Just as the global church community has historically advocated for people marginalized by society, Canadian churches also have a rich tradition of advocacy for refugee rights, partnering with the government to welcome refugees and resisting laws and policies that have undermined the rights of refugees.
Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ), the faith-based organization where I work, began engaging in refugee rights advocacy in the mid-1990s in response to Canada’s 1995 budget which imposed a hefty and controversial Right of Landing Fee for every adult immigrant and refugee.
In CPJ’s recently published book A Renewed Canadian Welcome, refugees, migrants and advocates reimagine what Canadian immigration policies would look like if they were based on human rights and informed by the lived experiences of refugees and migrants themselves.
At a time when immigration is such a controversial topic, the launch events for this book have been an important forum where people across denominations have been listening to refugees, migrants and advocates to contemplate ways of walking alongside sojourners with justice and hospitality.
The book additionally aims to help readers understand and support the movements for refugee and migrant justice, including the role of religious groups. Book contributor Geoffrey Cameron highlights the prominent role of religious groups (including churches and other faith-based organizations) in influencing refugee law and policy in Canada through practical partnerships, advocacy efforts and resistance.
Notably, Canadian churches were instrumental in the establishment of the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program which uses churches’ unique capacity to mobilize resources and social networks to partner with the government in welcoming refugees into our communities. The program has been praised and replicated around the world as an example of civil society’s involvement in refugee resettlement.
Cameron writes, “Through both public lobbying and quiet activism, religious groups have promoted the adoption of specific policy measures and urged government to admit particular groups of vulnerable people.” For example, following the 1971 coup in Chile the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) was a key advocate for the resettlement of Chilean refugees in Canada, as requested by Canadian missionaries and Chilean churches. While the Canadian government was reluctant, it eventually resettled around 7,000 Chilean refugees, in large part due to the assertive advocacy of churches and other members of civil society.
More recently the CCC, whose membership represents about 85% of Canadian Christians, has also taken its advocacy into court. The CCC (with Amnesty International and the Canadian Council for Refugees) has launched two different legal challenges to the constitutionality of the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) and the designation of the U.S. as a Safe Third Country.
Under this current agreement and designation, if someone seeking asylum lands in the U.S., they must make their refugee claim there. They cannot then come to Canada to make their claim.
Since the inception of the STCA in 2004, refugees and advocates have been calling for its repeal as it violates refugee rights under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as international law. The most recent case reached the Supreme Court of Canada in 2022. While the court upheld the STCA as constitutional, it sent part of the case back to the Federal Court, which is still pending a hearing date.
Meanwhile, refugees and advocates continue to call for the agreement to be revoked due to the barriers it imposes on refugee rights and due process.
While Canadian attitudes to refugees and im/migrants shift and change, we can remain grounded in our call to reflect the heart of God by treating the sojourner with empathy, impartiality and hospitality. Amid rising anti-refugee and migrant rhetoric and drastic cuts – not only to immigration levels, but crucial settlement services – may the Canadian Church continue its faithful and historic witness by building communities of hospitality, justice and mutual flourishing with all our neighbours.
Rena Namago is the refugee & migrant rights policy officer at Citizens for Public Justice. She also coauthored a chapter in the book A Renewed Canadian Welcome. Photo of refugee family with Canadian flag courtesy CPJ.