Metropolis International 2025 Summit

Metropolis International Summit 2025
October 2–3, 2025 | Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada

Join us for the 2025 Metropolis International Conference, taking place at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) on October 2-3, 2025. This landmark event marks an exciting new chapter for Metropolis International as it partners with the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration (CERC Migration) program at TMU.

Over two days, global scholars, policymakers, and practitioners will convene for cutting-edge dialogue on migration and integration. The program will offer fresh insights, critical analysis, and recommendations from leading experts on topics including solidarity cities, diaspora finance, and the evolving terrain of advanced digital technologies on migration research and policy.

The event will also feature a keynote address by Dr. Alejandro Portes, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Princeton University.

Date: October 2-3, 2025

Location: Toronto, Canada

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Program and Agenda:

Thursday, October 2, 2025

8:30 AM EDT Welcome coffee

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9–9:15 AM EDT Welcome and introduction

• Anna Triandafyllidou, Toronto Metropolitan University

• Violet Roumeliotis, Settlement Services International, Australia

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9:15–10:45 AM EDT Panel 1: Solidarity Cities – Policy Frameworks, Coalitions and Challenges in the Americas

Throughout history, cities have been built and transformed through migration, serving as key sites of human movement. For many cities worldwide, migration is both a daily reality and central to their identity. At a time of increasing criminalization of migration, summary deportations, and xenophobic rhetoric, the role of cities as places of solidarity is becoming increasingly important. This panel brings together researchers and stakeholders from the Americas and Europe to discuss local initiatives to protect migrants with uncertain status, the role of different stakeholders in these solidarity initiatives, and to highlight the opportunities and challenges of multi-level migration governance.

Chair: Gioconda Herrera, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales Ecuador

Co-chair: Bridget Collrin, Toronto Metropolitan University

Speakers:

• Mayors and migration issues in large U.S. cities | Els de Graauw, City University of New York

• The key role of cities for protecting migrants and promoting integration in challenging times | Pablo Ceriani, United Nations Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families

• Selected initiatives of European cities to support migrants and refugees | Anne Güller-Frey, Tür an Tür e.V.

• Solidarity cities: Evidence from soli*city | Harald Bauder, Toronto Metropolitan University

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10:45–11:15 AM EDT Coffee break

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11:15 AM–12:45 PM EDT Panel 2: Mobilising Diaspora Finance

The links between migration and development have dominated research and policy debates for the past 50 years. Studies have analyzed what role diasporas can play in supporting socioeconomic growth in their countries of origin, and research has highlighted the importance of financial, social, and political remittances that diasporas send back home. Less attention has been paid to the role of countries of origin and financial actors in channeling those diaspora investments in ways that promote development, not only at the household level but through sustained policy tools. This panel discusses how countries of origin can best mobilize diaspora finance for development.

Chair: Jean-Christophe Dumont, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Co-Chair: Yu Wei Ye, Toronto Metropolitan University

Speakers:

• Re-thinking diaspora financial engagement with origin countries | Stephen Gelb, Heilbroner Center for Capitalism Studies, New School for Social Research

• Mobilizing remittances for development policy options for countries of origin | Dane Rowlands, Carleton University

• Diaspora engagement and productive uses of diaspora remittances | Mary Setrana, University of Ghana, Accra

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12:45–2 PM EDT Lunch break

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2–2:30 PM EDT Keynote

Autarchy and immigration: The new American model of development and its consequences

Keynote Speaker: Alejandro Portes, Princeton University

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2:30–3:45 PM EDT Panel 3: Roundtable on Migration Governance in Challenging TImes

This Roundtable reflects on the ways in which the radical uncertainty experienced today (that includes geopolitical, economic, and social aspects) shapes migration governance at various levels (local, national, transnational).

Chair: Anna Triandafyllidou, Toronto Metropolitan University

Co-Chair: Sharon Broughton, Toronto Metropolitan University

Participants:

• Eva Millona, Immigration Initiative at Harvard University

• Silvia Nunez, Center for Research in North America, UNAM, Mexico

• Brenda Yeoh, National University of Singapore

• Naika Foroutan, German Center for Integration and Migration Research

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4 PM EDT Day 1 Concludes

Friday, October 3, 2025

8:30 AM EDT Welcome coffee

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9–10 AM EDT Keynote

Migration Governance: Perspectives from the Continent

Ambassador Amma Twum-Amoah, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, African Union

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10–11:30 AM EDT Panel 4: Migration Data in the Era of Advanced Digital Technologies

Advanced digital technologies and the affordances of social media have radically changed the way we study migration flows and migrant integration. Migrants, like all people, tend to have a heavy digital footprint that allows researchers, as well as states and international organizations, to analyze their movements and behavior. Powerful processors and sophisticated software can process massive amounts of data at the blink of an eye, and migrant data travels faster than light through interoperable and often opaque systems. This panel discusses what types of new data on migration exist today, and how the abundance of such data can shape the type of research and policy questions that we ask, hence shaping responses and policies.

Chair: Jon Simmons, UK Home Office

Co-Chair: Jane Amachree, Toronto Metropolitan University

Speakers:

• Digital transformation of migration information systems: Boon or a curse? | Jean-Christophe Dumont, Organization for Economic Co-operation, and Development

• Techno-optimism vs. reality: Big data collection for European migration governance | Maegan Hendow, International Centre for Migration Policy Development, Vienna

• Migration management in the age of algorithms: The good, the bad, and the morally fuzzy | Meghan Benton, Migration Policy Institute, Washington, DC

• Digital recruitment practices in Germany: What we know | Felicitas Hillmann, Technical University Berlin

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11:30–11:45 AM EDT Coffee break

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11:45 AM–1:30 PM EDT Panel 5: Leveraging Advanced Digital Technologies for Supporting Migrants

The use of advanced digital technologies in supporting migration and integration became highly visible in the mid-2010s, particularly during the refugee emergency across the Mediterranean. The trend has since accelerated significantly because of the pandemic and the related need to use digital technology to communicate, share information, and provide services. Civil society organizations have had to grapple with such a radical shift in a brief period, navigating turbulent waters as private and public providers offered software and data systems, users required services, and staff lacked training to operate in the new hybrid environment. This panel explores the experiences of different civil society actors in navigating this change and discusses the conditions under which advanced digital technologies can be beneficial to civil society organizations supporting migrants.

Chair: Mireille Paquet, Concordia University

Co-Chair: Georgiana Mathurin, Toronto Metropolitan University

Speakers:

• Nothing for us, without us: The necessity of migrant leadership and co-design for any success in digital technology usage | Elana Wong, Civil Action Committee 

• Bridging the digital divide: SSI’s role in empowering migrants through ethical and inclusive technology | Violet Roumeliotis, Settlement Services International 

• Building the future of migration services: IRCC’s digital transformation journey | Chantal Goyette, Immigration Refugees Citizenship Canada, Ottawa

• Are we there yet? Advanced digital technologies, support, and protection of Filipino migrants | Marla Asis, Scalabrini Migration Center

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1:30 PM EDT Concluding remarks

Anna Triandafylloidou, Toronto Metropolitan University

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1:30–2:30 PM EDT Lunch

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