From Haiti to Canada: The Migration That Binds

This study explores Haitian migration to Canada, the networks tying the two countries together, and the statecraft managing this movement during the decade beginning in 2010. The work investigates transnational spaces as a principal feature of contemporary Haitian migration and contends that Haitian cultural identity and solidarity within these spaces become decisive factors around why many Haitians choose to come to Canada. The concept of a diasporic lakou is highlighted as a transnational space of collectivist solidarity that provides a new and culturally inflected approach to future Haitian migration and migrant transnationalism research. Ideas of slow harm and ontological security are also integrated into this relational theoretical framework. Based on interviews in two Canadian provinces with people of Haitian backgrounds, empirical findings point to the intensifying impoverishment and insecurity generated by natural disasters and political instability in Haiti. Changing government provisions, agreements, and regulations on Haitian migration are also traced to deepen the analysis.