Refugee States is a three-year research partnership dedicated to building a living counter-archive of migration stories in Canada. The project focuses on narratives of forced and voluntary migration, told directly by community members whose experiences are often overlooked or erased.

Through digital storytelling and oral history, Refugee States brings together refugees, migrants, artists, educators, and researchers to document how race, class, gender, and sexuality shape the realities of displacement. These recorded stories form a growing digital archive that preserves a vital part of Canada’s cultural memory and offers new ways to understand migration beyond dominant narratives.

The project is guided by co-directors Dr. Thy Phu (University of Toronto) and Dr. Edward Ou Jin Lee (Université de Montréal), whose collaboration bridges the insights of both institutions.

Designed as a resource for communities, teachers, historians, and researchers, the Refugee States archive supports intergenerational knowledge, strengthens community organizations, and ensures that migration stories are carried forward rather than lost over time.