International student migration (ISM) is playing an increasingly important role in global population movements and international connectedness. Traditional core-periphery channels (e.g., United States and India, respectively) are changing due to new nodes (e.g., Brazil, South Korea) in an emergent multipolar global structure. This study examines these structures, specifically by documenting and analyzing big data drawn from social media to "nowcast" (i.e., estimate current) global ISM. Facebook data were scraped for twenty countries to identify their higher education student migrant stocks and analyze the network structure of ISM in 2023. Social network analysis together with multinomial logistic modeling are used to examine the influential countries within the network and the extent to which origin-destination similarity explains the variations in migration. The analysis finds prominent roles played by classical geographical topologies of distance, contiguity, and similarity, playing out in nuanced ways that reveal both established migration channels and signals of an emerging global multipolar structure. The study's findings contribute to our understanding of new mappings and multipolar structures of ISM including the potential for research avenues based on big data drawn from extensive social media data reservoirs.

Abstract This study analyzes the inter‐urban migration of approximately 154,000 higher education students within 17 Canadian census metropolitan areas in the academic year prior to the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic (2019–2020). Using novel linked data from alternative sources, we applied linear regression and standard cross‐classified multilevel formulations of gravity models to analyze the statistical association between student migration flows and environmental quality (i.e., indicators relevant to human health) and its moderating effect on regional economic development and other factors. By focusing on the pre‐pandemic academic year, this research provides a baseline picture of inter‐urban student migration in Canada and offers a point of comparison to assess post‐pandemic changes in student mobility and urban migration dynamics of this key demographic.

Despite the gendered rebalancing of enrolments in higher education (HE) in the West, the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines persists. Gendered selectivity of field of study influences higher education student migration (HESM) and in turn sheds light on HE participation. Framed by gender intersectionality theories both in HE studies and migration scholarship, this paper uses innovative data to analyse the intersectional effect of gender and field of study on HESM in Canada. Based on Statistics Canada's postsecondary student information system for the 2019/20 academic year, Canadian interregional flow matrixes structured by gender, field and level of study are constructed and analysed. The results show compelling evidence of the influence of gendered differences in HESM when intersected with field and level of study. Notably, women pursuing STEM studies migrate significantly more than any other grouping (i.e. gender, field and level of study groupings). The paper concludes with a discussion of policy implications for the influence of HESM on community demographic make-up and local labour markets, as well as future research including the need to understand gendered dimensions of migration intentions and motivations.

Economic resilience focuses on how localities react and respond to shocks. A recent conceptual advancement, known as the agency perspective and rooted in evolutionary thinking, highlights that economic actors (e.g., practitioners, firms, and institutions) play an essential role in localities' resilience. However, empirical investigations into the role of economic actors have been scarce. To address this shortcoming, in this study we conducted in-depth interviews with 22 practitioners (economic development officials) from various cities in Ontario, Canada. Through an evolutionary lens, we examine practitioners' perceptions of and responses to endogenous shocks-notably, major industrial plant closures over the past 20 years. We find that practitioners influence localities' resilience through each dimension of the resilience process. Most notably, they support their localities' adaption through various short- and long-term adaptive strategies. Also, we find that economic actors have different capacities and resources at their disposal to respond to shocks depending on the size of their city and its geographical location. Regarding the latter, we reiterate a commonly noted north-south divide in the province. In addition, we find that economic actors are constrained by multi-scalar policies, and thus operate in the confines of existing power and political structures.

This paper examines the recent growth of experiential learning (EL) and the university-community (or so-called town-gown, TG) connections created as a result of this expansion. The research is framed by critical scholarship on the nature and role of the university and the place of liberal education specifically, as well as policy drivers aimed at social and economic impacts from EL. Two subthemes are also examined: first, the role of the arts, humanities and social sciences disciplines in EL expansion and, second, the extent to which TG connections focus on the university's local host community as opposed to more distant and even international arrangements. Mixed research methods including public document analysis and key informant interviews are used to document and interpret EL developments across nine varied universities in Ontario, Canada. The results underline broad sector commitment to EL that in turn creates new and different TG connections for the university. Rapid expansion has brought a variety of challenges identified both by universities and community EL partners. The paper concludes with discussion of policy implications and consideration of the future of EL in light of the 'digital pivot' of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper is concerned with long term strategic planning in higher education and focuses on Ontario’s strategic mandate agreement (SMA) sector planning framework. In 2012, the province initiated its new SMA planning process by requiring all higher education institutions to propose their own strategies for their academic visions, missions, and objectives. The proposals submitted by Ontario’s universities furnish the empirical content of this paper: a historically unique, comprehensive and comparable set of documents capturing institutions’ self-understanding and plans for their respective futures. Using concepts from organizational theory, content analysis of universities’ SMA proposals reveals divergent strategies, both in terms of institutional administrative responsiveness to the SMA process as well as the academic (i.e., education and scholarship) content of the submissions. In addition, two further sub-themes are analysed: proposals for experiential learning and so-called town-gown connections. Both themes also reveal very different visions amongst institutions. In general, the proposals appear to be independent of institution type and community size/location. Setting the stage for future research, the paper concludes with policy discussion of: (i) the possibilities for institutional diversity in the context of policy discourses on institutional differentiation; (ii) implications for system planning given the structure and process of Ontario’s ongoing SMA framework.

Approximately ten percent of Canadian higher education students cross provincial boundaries each year to attend college or university. Despite its size and impact, the geography of higher education student migration (HESM) is not well documented in Canada. This paper analyses Statistics Canada’s Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS) for the academic year 2016/17. Interaction matrixes are developed and mapped to analyse both the broad geographical structure of interprovincial HESM and the impact of language, specifically student mother tongue, in shaping migration patterns. In both the overall picture of HESM and that of mother tongue, HESM generates expected patterns as well as important migration variations. Ontario and Quebec anchor the national picture and, together with others, constitute exchanges amongst contiguous provincial clusters. Unique cross-country interprovincial connections are also revealed and migration by mother tongue generates further nuances still. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this work for understanding (i) migration-based integration amongst Canadian provincial higher education systems, and (ii) with further research, the multi-scalar processes and geographies of HESM for institutional and local economic policy makers.

The modifiable areal unit problem, MAUP, is ever-present although not always appreciated. Through real examples, this article outlines the basic causes of MAUP, namely changes in the size, shape, and/or orientation of spatial categories/polygons used to map areal data. The visual effects of changes to mapped data are obvious even though the impacts on our understanding of the world are profound. The article concludes with a discussion of technical and broader strategic approaches for confronting the effects of MAUP on our treatment and interpretation of areal data.

The advent of user-generated content, crowdsourcing and other forms of lay data generation have led to opposing arguments about the quality and reliability of data in the geoweb,. The main focus of this chapter is an 'experiment' to test the quality, validity and lay monitoring of volunteered geographic information (VGI) data. Given the growing importance of VGI, in particular its very different sources and potential uses, it is important that we also consider how this movement affects the ways in which we re-envision the pedagogy of geographic education. Accordingly, a sub-theme of this paper focuses on the manner in which the VGI experiment is undertaken: the experiment is run with students as a means of complementing their otherwise technical GIS training with primary research that exposes them to the wider social issues and debates relating to geographic data. We discuss the implications of this research project both for observers of the development of VGI and the pedagogy of GIS teaching and learning.

In relation to institutional-level policy and planning, the Province of Ontario signed strategic mandate agreements (henceforth, SMAs) with all 45 publicly funded colleges and universities. The SMA planning process is a comprehensive, province-wide exercise that identifies the respective strengths of each university and directions for growth and development. This chapter reports findings from a qualitative analysis of SMAs that was conducted to understand priorities for diversity and inclusion in the province's universities. This chapter finds that the general focus remains on promoting diversity and inclusion in the international and Indigenous contexts. In these contexts, universities are making a range of efforts to support international and Indigenous students and enhance overall learning by internationalizing and indigenizing curriculum. Surprisingly, very little emphasis is placed on diversity and inclusion in the faculty and staff context within all SMA documents. The chapter concludes with recommendations for institutions seeking to bolster diversity and inclusion.

In the Province of Ontario, Canada, aggressive policy promoting wind energy development has led to both rapid development and intense stakeholder conflicts. Focusing on developers, key stakeholders largely hidden in the extant research literature and the perspectives of other stakeholders drawn from secondary sources, this paper presents original primary research to help fill this knowledge gap. Based on semi-structured interviews with established and active developers in the Province, we find that feed-in tariffs have arguably been the strongest driver of developers successfully getting turbines up and running. Yet, legislative and policy attempts to reduce delays and smooth the development process have often complicated the development process. Developers recognise and often agree with community viewpoints that the process as framed by Ontario’s policy environment forestalls cooperative development, particularly with respect to community engagement. While developers are supportive of better community engagement, they feel constrained by policy-related barriers. Findings from the study show that communities will only be engaged in projects to the full extent possible if developers take the initiative to transcend regulatory requirements for public engagement. The study concludes with useful lessons for jurisdictions transitioning to low or zero emissions energy technologies. Specifically, it supports recommendations for alternative policy approaches including consideration of policy specificity around economic benefit destitution, and community engagement and ownership of projects.

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the Ontario-led strategic mandate agreement (SMA) planning exercise. Focusing on the self-generated strategic mandates of five universities (McMaster, Ottawa, Queen's, Toronto, and Western), we asked how universities responded to this exercise of strategic visioning? The answer to this question is important because the SMA process is unique in Ontario, and universities' responses revealed aspects of their self-understanding. We adopted an organizational theory approach to understand the structure and nature of universities as organizations and explored how they might confront pressures for change. Analysis of the universities' own proposed strategic mandates found elements of both conformity and striking differentiation, even within this sample of five research-intensive university SMAs. Directions for further work on this planning exercise and on higher education reform more generally are discussed.

The advent of user-generated content, crowdsourcing and other forms of lay data generation have led to opposing arguments about the quality and reliability of data in the geoweb. The main focus of this chapter is an ‘experiment' to test the quality, validity and lay monitoring of volunteered geographic information (VGI) data. Given the growing importance of VGI, in particular its very different sources and potential uses, it is important that we also consider how this movement affects the ways in which we re-envision the pedagogy of geographic education. Accordingly, a sub-theme of this paper focuses on the manner in which the VGI experiment is undertaken: the experiment is run with students as a means of complementing their otherwise technical GIS training with primary research that exposes them to the wider social issues and debates relating to geographic data. We discuss the implications of this research project both for observers of the development of VGI and the pedagogy of GIS teaching and learning.

Transitioning to renewable energy has become a global phenomenon. Attempts to explain development patterns are often fragmented, focusing on specific rationale for (un)successful deployment or the perspective of specific stakeholders. We recognize the importance for holistic insights for successful and effective environmental policy-making and planning in the context of renewable energy development. Using wind energy as an example, this paper provides methodological toolkits for utilizing content analysis (CA) to gain more holistic insights on renewable energy deployment and policy outcomes. Building on existing literature, past and ongoing research, three variations of CA are presented for understanding stakeholder conflicts surrounding wind energy development as well as public perceptions and responses to the technology across space and over time. Although newspapers are used as an example, these methodological protocols could be applied to diverse forms of data such as interviews, policy documents, reports, public meetings and letters of appeal.

The housing outcomes of immigrants in Canada vary mainly along ethnicity. However, many other factors including place of birth, length of stay in Canada, labour market outcomes, and discrimination among others also play a role. Although general patterns are observable at broad ethnic group levels, vast intra-group differences exist—with housing outcomes potentially being influenced by specific group behaviours such as transnational (housing) activities. This study investigates the relationship between homeownership in Canada and Ghanaian immigrant transnational housing investment. Logistic regression models are fitted on survey data collected among Ghanaian immigrants resident in the Greater Toronto Area. The results show an association between homeownership status in Canada and transnational housing investment. Interestingly, we found that immigrants with on-going housing projects in Ghana were more likely to own a house in Canada. Theoretically the findings demonstrate the importance of including a transnational perspective in immigrant housing integration research. The findings show that it is possible to simultaneously engage in transnational activities and remain integrated in the society of destination areas. This has wider implications for the transnationalism-integration debate within immigrant receiving nations across the world. Recognition of transnationalism as a possible conduit for enhancing integration in destination societies should result in eschewing alarmist perspectives which have been relied on to formulate anti-immigration policies.

The province of Ontario has shown great commitment towards the development of renewable energy and, specifically, wind power. Fuelled by the Green Energy Act (GEA) of 2009, the Province has emerged as Canada’s leader in wind energy development (WED). Nonetheless, Ontario’s WED trajectory is characterized by social conflicts, particularly around environmental health. Utilizing the Social Amplification of Risk Framework, this paper presents an eight-year longitudinal media content analysis conducted to understand the role Ontario’s media may be playing in both reflecting and shaping public perceptions of wind turbine health risks. We find that before and after the GEA, instances of health risk amplification were far greater than attenuations in both quantity and quality. Discourses that amplified turbine health risks often simultaneously highlighted injustices in the WED process, especially after the GEA. Based on these findings, we suggest that Ontario’s media may be amplifying perceptions of wind turbine health risks within the public domain. We conclude with policy recommendations around public engagement for more just WED.

Housing First (HF) is now an internationally promoted community housing model for long-term homeless individuals who have mental health difficulties including substance abuse issues. This study aimed to understand the perspectives and experiences of service providers and residents associated with the London CAReS program, an HF program currently operating in the city of London, Ontario, Canada. London CAReS was designed to transition homeless individuals off the street and into housing with consumer-driven supports. This empirical analysis is a response to the need to capture the perspectives and experiences of service providers and residents associated with HF projects, particularly as they reflect areas of policy intervention. Analysis of semi-structured qualitative interviews with five service providers suggests that London CAReS is a more effective approach to housing homeless individuals than previous Treatment First services. Service providers noted that key strengths of the project are access to stable housing, availability of ongoing support, community integration, and the opportunity to build sustained relationships with participants. Similarly, 65 residents interviewed for this study expressed a high level of satisfaction with the program. In contrast to the system that had “previously failed them,” residents noted that the CAReS program provided improvement in their health status, access to independent apartment, continuous support from London CAReS workers, choices in services, and the opportunity to build trusting relationships with support staff. Despite the positive experiences of service providers and residents, the interviews revealed several critical implementation challenges. The study points to relevant areas of policy intervention.