Refugee Integration Goes Transnational: Afghans and Ukrainians Prepare for Integration in Canada Before and After Arrival

ABSTRACT What does integration look like when immigrants and refugees mobilize socioeconomic resources before arriving in their new destination countries to proactively navigate the integration process? To date, research in refugee studies has emphasized the importance of socioeconomic capital and access to digital technologies in facilitating employment, housing and language acquisition. In comparison, our empirical insights from 80 interviews with Afghan refugee women and displaced Ukrainians in Canada point to a growing use of online tools and transnational connections in destination countries as strategies for integration. Specifically, our participants relied on online tools and social connections to search for employment and housing opportunities prior to arrival in Canada. Due to the lengthy wait times for accessing language classes upon arrival, many participants, in turn, enrolled in affordable online English classes taught by tutors located in Eastern Europe. By incorporating this transnational digital landscape into current debates on refugee integration, policy and theoretical implications, it suggests that integration is increasingly influenced by transnational and digital dynamics which extend beyond the national boundaries of origin and host countries.