The Syrian refugee crisis is not over and the global refugee situation continues to worsen. What can we learn from Canada’s response to date?

Naomi Alboim is a Distinguished Fellow at the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University where her focus is Canadian immigration and refugee policy. Ms. Alboim is an active public policy consultant and has advised governments and NGOs across Canada, in Europe, the Caribbean, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya and South Korea. Previously, Ms. Alboim worked at senior levels in the Canadian federal and Ontario provincial governments for twenty-five years, including eight years as Deputy Minister in three different portfolios. Her areas of responsibility included immigration, human rights, labour market training, workplace standards, culture, as well as women’s, seniors’, disability and indigenous issues.

She has been engaged in leadership roles in refugee policy and programs since 1979, as a senior civil servant, academic, co-founder of a civil society organization, advocate, consultant, and lead hand of a private refugee sponsorship group.

Ms. Alboim is a recipient of Queen Elizabeth II’s Gold and Diamond Jubilee  Medals and is a member of the Order of Ontario.