Student Clubs or Resettlement Frontlines? Rethinking the Role of WUSC’s Local Committees: A Policy Critique
Hend Alqawasma （ School of Social Work, McGill University, 3506 University Street, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A7, Canada ）
https://doi.org/10.37155/2972-4856-0403-5Abstract
The combination of refugee sponsorship with access to higher education highlights World University Service of Canada’s unique resettlement pathway. Local Committees (LCs) of student volunteers are established on academic campuses to support the resettlement and integration of refugee youth arriving through the Student Refugee Program (SRP). Although praised for its innovation, limited available research evaluates the effectiveness of the program’s support model, nor its impact on the sponsored students. While LCs are delegated responsibilities typically reserved for resettlement organizations, student volunteers often lack the necessary training, experience, and institutional support to meet these tasks. This paper uses a phenomenological approach to examine how existing policy gaps shape the lived experiences of refugee students in terms of integration and education in Canada. Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted with seven WUSC scholars. Grounded in critical theory, thematic analysis of the findings reveals inconsistencies in the quality and continuity of support across campuses as well as discrepancies between student volunteers’ capacities and refugee students’ expectations and needs. As concern is raised about the sustainability and equity of the current model, a policy revision is required to better structure the role of LCs. Future developments must include ensuring consistent standards of support to enhance the integration experience of refugee youth students in Canada.
Keywords
Private Sponsorship of Refugees; WUSC; student clubs; Student Refugee Program; policy and practice; education and integrationFull Text
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[4].Brookfield, S. D. (2014). Foundations of Critical Theory. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 16(4), 417-428. doi:10.1177/1523422314543819
[5].Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches, 4th edition. Los Angeles: SAGE.
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[10].Haugen, S., Lenard, P. T., & Wills, E. R. (2020). Creating Canadians through private sponsorship. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 53(3), 560–576. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423920000244
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[17].Labman, S., & Pearlman, M. (2018). Blending, bargaining, and burden-sharing: Canada’s resettlement programs. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 19(2), 439–449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-018-0555-3
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[20].Ozuem, W., Willis, M. and Howell, K. (2022), "Thematic analysis without paradox: sensemaking and context", Qualitative Market Research, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 143-157. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-07-2021-0092
[21].Paley, J. (1997). Husserl, phenomenology and nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 26(1), 187–193. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.1997.1997026187.x
[22].Peterson, G. (2012). “Education Changes the World”: The World University Service of Canada’s Student Refugee Program. Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees, 27(2), 111-121. doi:10.25071/1920-7336.34728
[23].Plasterer, R. (2011). Investigating Integration: The Geographies of the WUSC Student Refugee Program at the University of British Columbia. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 27(1), 59–74. https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.34349
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[25].Shankar, S., O’Brien, H. L., How, E., Lu, Y. W., Mabi, M., & Rose, C. (2016). The role of information in the settlement experiences of refugee students. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 53(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2016.14505301141
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[28].Sundler, A. J., Lindberg, E., Nilsson, C., & Palmér, L. (2019). Qualitative thematic analysis based on descriptive phenomenology. Nursing Open, 6(3), 733–739. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.275
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Copyright © 2026 Hend Alqawasma
Publishing time:2026-07-09
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