Our Podcast

Support Stories from Newcomers to Canada and help refugees and newcomers tell their own stories and share them with the people that need to hear what they have to say. Check out our podcast in partnership with UBC Centre for Migration Studies, which will give you an early glimpse of some of these stories in-progress and our authors.

The UBC Centre for Migration Studies' Global Migration podcast is back for a second season entitled "Geographies of the Heart: Life-writing from Newcomers to Canada." This series brings you newcomer stories from around the province. The voices that have created this podcast are local BC-based newcomers, and their stories challenge us all to think differently and more deeply about the contemporary Canadian immigration landscape. Bringing together a diverse array of newcomer voices, each episode shares compelling, first-hand experiences of coming to and living in Canada. This season is born out of a year-long writing project with a group of newcomers who have been authoring their own stories of migration on topics such as love, loss, displacement, exile, belonging and disruption. These stories capture the current complexity of journeying to and settling in Canada. Most importantly, this series creates a space in which newcomers can share their experiences and perspectives with policymakers, academics and the media. Season 2 of the series runs from February 2021 to April 2021.

Season 2 is hosted by Mohammed Alsaleh: an international speaker and award-winning advocate. After losing cousins to cancer, Mohammed decided to become a physician with a specialization in oncology. But during a final exam in medical school, he was arrested by Syrian state-security then was brutally tortured for the next 120 days. After surviving death in prison, he was forced to flee his home and made an extraordinary journey to Vancouver, BC, arriving in Canada as a refugee in late 2014. Today, he is an inspirational speaker that brings the voice of refugees to the international stage. He has been recognized by the likes of Canada’s Justin Trudeau and Hollywood’s George Takei, and in 2018, he received the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award for his refugee advocacy efforts. From Syria to Canada, his journey was famously featured in the documentary "Welcome to Canada."

— The UBC Centre for Migration Studies