In this episode, we discuss yet another quite unique element of the Canadian sponsorship model: the pre-arrival communication between sponsors and sponsored refugee newcomers. In most sponsorship programs, the first contact between sponsors and sponsored refugees is when newcomers arrive in their country of destination. In Canada, however, it is quite common that sponsors and sponsored refugees communicate extensively before the moment of arrival. This communication may have a lot of benefits, and in some cases, pre-arrival contact may even prove crucial for the success of the sponsorship. Our guest speaker is Dr. Christopher Kyriakides who holds the Canada Research Chair in Citizenship, Social Justice and Ethno-Racialisation at York University.

You can find more about the topic of pre-arrival sponsor-sponsored interaction in the following publications:

• Kyriakides, C., McLuhan, A., Anderson, K., Bajjali, L., & Elgendy, N. (2019). (Mis)Trusted Contact: Resettlement Knowledge Assets and the Third Space of Refugee Reception. Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees, 35(2), 24-35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1064817ar 
• Kyriakides, C., Bajjali, L., McLuhan, A., & Anderson, K. (2018). Beyond Refuge: Contested Orientalism and Persons of Self-Rescue. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 50(2), 59-78.
• Kyriakides, C., McLuhan, A., Anderson, K., & Bajjali, L. (2020). Transactions of Worth in Refugee-Host Relations. In S. Labman & G. Cameron (Eds.), Strangers to Neighbours: Refugee Sponsorship in Context (pp. 198-211). Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.