A paper released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows a gap in thinking and policies at the intersection of climate change and immigration. Preparing BC for Climate Migration examines current policies and practices relating to climate migrants—people who, due to the effects of climate change, are displaced from their homes.

While Canada has contributed more than its fair share of emissions that cause climate change, people in the poorest counties who have contributed the least to the problem are feeling the harshest impacts of climate change.

The study identifies three key shortcomings:

Neither our governments, nor the leadership of our health, housing and other core service systems, are thinking about, let alone planning for, what climate migration may require of our social, cultural, service and infrastructure systems.

Immigration and refugee policy and practice are not currently designed to accommodate the underlying reality of climate change and migration;

More migrants will require enhanced settlement and other social services, but service-provider organizations are already stretched thin.

According to SFU Faculty of Health Sciences professor, and report co-author Tim Takaro, “Canada has a moral responsibility to people who migrate due to climate change—not just as a matter of charity or generosity, but of justice and reparation as well. The federal and provincial governments, rather than ignoring the issue, should develop a comprehensive policy framework to manage climate migration.”

Tens of thousands of people are already on the move due to climate change, and that number stands to increase substantially. Canada’s leadership must begin a serious conversation about how we will take responsibility and prepare, both structurally and culturally, for the inevitability of climate migration.

“Currently, the services and organizations that help to settle immigrants are already under stress from inadequate funding—they are barely been getting by. Yet, the demands on them will only grow.”

In particular, the report recommends Canada create a new immigration class of “climate migrants” along with targets and programs to ensure Canada absorb its fair share of those migrants. Key ser-vices—including legal, housing and education—should be made available to these migrants, and funding should be allocated to reduce strain on these already-overloaded systems.

As the Society for Bangladeshi Climate Justice’s Mohammed Zaman states, “Canada’s immigration numbers have remained stagnant for two decades. Canada must open itself to more migrants. A new immigration category would helpand people who come to Canada as climate migrants should be in addition to our existing immigration numbers. We need to do better.”

Recognizing that most climate migrants will remain in the Global South, the report recommends that Canada increase its support to developing countries shouldering the burden of climate displacement.