Every day, immigrants land at Pearson airport near Toronto. Some arrive on temporary work visas, others on international-student permits. Some are on a pathway to permanent residency, while others claim refugee status as soon as they arrive at customs. All of them are seeking safety, prosperity and freedom.
For the special immigration-themed issue of Maclean’s, published this month to coincide with Canada Day, the editorial team asked photojournalist Ian Brown to document a collection of newcomers in their first few months in Canada. Who is coming to Canada now, we wanted to know, and why?
Brown reached out to settlement agencies, refugee centres and community groups. He met people fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan, Ukrainian refugees who left their families in a war zone and young professionals from India seeking job prospects. He criss-crossed the Greater Toronto Area, photographing them in the neighbourhoods they now call home. The result is a stunning photo essay with intimate, honest testimonies from newcomers in moments of dramatic transition. “Everyone I met,” says Brown, “was resolved to better their lives and integrate into Canadian society.”
—Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief
