People

Isabelle is a seasoned Director with extensive experience in the administration of research grants. She currently serves as the Administrative Director for the Centre for Immigration and Society (CIS) at Concordia University. Over the past 23 years at Concordia, she has held roles including Director of the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall and the D.B. Clarke Theatre, Administrator of the Centre for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology and Advisor for Post-award Research Grants and Contracts with the Associate Dean of Research. 

Before joining Concordia, Isabelle managed the Seagram Symphonia Program at Seagram Canada, a pan-Canadian sponsorship program supporting Canadian orchestras, which garnered several awards throughout her tenure. She also has a background in philanthropy and community service, having worked as an Administrator with the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation and as a Program Coordinator for the Centre des Femmes de Montreal.

Kassandre graduated from the University of Montreal with an MA in Anthropology where her SSHRC funded research focused on religion and youth in diaspora. After working in research for the University of Montréal, l’Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue on questions of immigration and integration in Canada, she worked at the City of Montreal’s Newcomer Office. More recently, Kassandre worked in project management and project evaluation in France and Pakistan. Passionate about questions of displacement and cultural integration, she now works as Coordinator for the Institute for Research on Immigration and Society (IRMS) at Concordia University.

Marie-Jeanne Blain, a social anthropologist graduated from the University of Montreal, has been carrying out research for more than ten years on the inclusion of immigrants and refugees in Quebec, particularly the processes of socio-professional integration. Her research themes focus on the professional aspirations of migrants of different immigration statuses, their support resources, and the implementation of policies and programs in this field. Carrying a dynamic vision of inclusion, she is equally interested in the experiences of migrants themselves, but also in those of speakers or professionals accompanying them as well as decision-makers and employers for example. She favors action research which allows the taking into account of different knowledge and perspectives, which promotes the mobilization of knowledge and guides public action.

Mylène Coderre is an associate researcher at IRMS and holds a PhD in international development from the University of Ottawa (2023). As a research professional, she has contributed to several projects in both academic and institutional settings aimed at documenting the working and immigration conditions of people with precarious status in Canada. Her work focuses, among other things, on the roles of migration and labor intermediaries in migration pathways. 

Maxime Coulombe is a Research Associate at Concordia University and a research associate at IRSM and for Bridging Divides: Immigrant Integration in the 21st Century. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from the Université de Montréal (2023) and held a postdoctoral position at the University of Western Ontario. His research lies at the intersection of political behaviour, social psychology, and comparative politics, with a keen interest in elections, political participation, social norms, and the integration of immigrants into society. Currently, his research program examines public opinion on immigration, the effectiveness of public policies on integration, and immigrants’ political attitudes and behaviors before and after immigration. Visit Maxime's website.

Capucine Coustere’s doctoral thesis in sociology (Université Laval) focuses on the trajectories of young migrants benefiting from both facilitated temporary migration and potential access to permanent settlement within the precarious framework of their temporary residence status. Using a qualitative longitudinal perspective and a life course approach, her research explores how the negotiation of this temporary-permanent mobility regime affects the life course of temporary migrants with work experience in the hospitality sector in the city of Quebec. Her research was funded by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture (FRQSC), and her defense is planned for October 2024. She also contributed to various research projects on temporary migrants in Canada from diverse angles: francophones outside of Quebec, international students, international students’ partners, and hospitality workers. Finally, she holds an MA in political science from the Institut d’études politiques of Strasbourg (France). 

Émile Baril (he/him) holds a PhD in critical human geography from York University. He was a course director at the Université de Montréal and a research collaborator at both Toronto Metropolitan University’s CERC Migration & Integration and the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) in Montreal. He is now a postdoctoral fellow at Concordia’s Institute for Research on Migration and Society (IRMS) within the Bridging Divides project.

Émile Baril’s research explores the intersections of migration, urban labour, and the platform economy. He investigates how digital platforms, particularly platform-based food delivery services, are transforming the labour conditions for migrant workers in cities such as Paris, Toronto, and Montréal. By analyzing the socioeconomic factors that shape migrant workers’ experiences, as well as examining global migration and labour trends, he highlights the complex relationship between these global phenomena and the local and national regulatory frameworks. His work was featured in The Syllabus for Best of Technology, and in the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung’s Future of Work first edition of Wage Against the Machine. His current research project centers around new technologies, migrant labour, and working conditions within the Canadian truck driving industry.

Gwénaëlle André holds a Ph.D. in Education from Simon Fraser University (2024). Her research explores the intersections between immigration and digital literacies. This analysis of digital phenomena invites a critical examination of both individual and collective processes while also considering the modes of existence of digital objects. Her work focuses on individuals from immigrant backgrounds and their use of digital technologies in social, cultural, educational, and political contexts. She has also contributed to various research projects examining the socio-professional integration of students and teachers from visible minority groups in francophone minority settings.

Nadya Zezyulina is a distinguished fellow at Concordia University's research chair on the politics of immigration and a research assistant for the "Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides" project. She earned a bachelor's degree in business management from Samara State University and further pursued her passion for societal issues by obtaining a Psychology degree, with a minor in Immigration Studies, from Concordia University. Nadya is a recipient of a research fellowship Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides awarded by Concordia’s Department of Political Science.

Sivakamy Thayaalan is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University studying sanctuary city policies and the experiences of undocumented migrants in Canada under the supervision of Dr. Mireille Paquet. Previously, she has worked in programmatic roles in international non-profit organizations such as War Child Canada and as a research assistant at York University conducting research on topics related to forced migration and disaster recovery.

Thomas Reynolds is a master's student in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University. Working under Dr. Mireille Paquet, he is studying food insecurity within refugee populations in Canada. Thomas looks forward to integrating his experience working in the food industry into his research, providing a unique perspective. From Portland, Oregon, Thomas obtained his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Oregon, focusing on political theory and legal systems. He is the recipient of the Steven Goldberg Entrance Bursary and Campaign for a New Millennium Student Contribution Graduate Scholarship. In addition to his studies, Thomas works as a Teaching Assistant and a Research Assistant at Concordia University.

Brianna Losinger-Ross is an MA student in the Department of Journalism at Concordia University. Having completed a minor in Immigration Studies during her undergrad, she has always been interested in Quebec and Canadian immigration, with a particular focus on the media’s role in public perception. She is currently working as a research assistant, researching topics related to how immigration is discussed in Canadian parliament and its evolution over time.

Hannah Lazarus, a recent graduate of Concordia University with a Bachelor's in Political Science and a minor in Human Rights, is currently doing Master’s studies in Public Policy and Public Administration at the same institution. Her international experience at Sciences Po Aix in Aix-en-Provence provided valuable insights into political issues from a European perspective. Having worked in a senior position at a Jewish community center for two years, she is looking forward to integrating her communication and collaboration skills in her role as a research assistant.

Juliana Tinoco is an MA student in Political Science at Concordia University, specializing in migration. She holds a BA in International Development from McGill University, with double minors in Sociology and Communications. Her research focuses on integration policies in Canada, with particular attention to the aspirations of economic migrants and how these intersect or clash with government expectations around qualifications, labour, and belonging. She is currently a Research Assistant with the International Research and Migration Studies (IRMS) group, collaborating with postdoctoral fellow Émile Baril on research examining migrant labour and working conditions in the Canadian truck driving industry.

Isabella Fiore is a master's student in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University studying political discourses around immigration in Canadian politics. Isabella obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Ottawa in political science and gender studies; she looks forward to applying her intersectional academic perspective to migration scholarship throughout her graduate studies. Isabella is a recipient of a research fellowship in "Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides", awarded by the Department of Political Science at Concordia University. 

Charles-Olivier L’Homme is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University, where he studies migration diplomacy from an international relations perspective. He holds a dual MA from UQAM and Sciences Po Grenoble, where he specialized in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dynamics. His doctoral research examines Turkey’s use of the Syrian crisis as a leverage tool in its relations with the European Union, under the supervision of Mireille Paquet. He is also a contributor to the CFREF project "Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides."

Alicia Fortier-Leblanc is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Mireille Paquet. Her research examines how the precarious legal status of temporary immigrants shapes their trust in political institutions in Quebec and Canada. She holds a B.A. in Communication and Politics from Université de Montréal and an M.A. in Applied Politics from Université de Sherbrooke, during which she completed an internship at the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie of Quebec on issues of international student mobility. She has also worked as a facilitator in the francization and integration program at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Celia Bensiali (she/her) is a PhD student in Political Science at Concordia University. Her research examines how sanctuary cities in Canada and Europe design inclusive policies and mobilize transnational networks to advance rights and social inclusion amid increasingly restrictive migration regimes. 

Celia’s broader work explores the evolving architectures of urban governance, territorial justice, and the multilevel dynamics of policy implementation. Her doctoral project builds on extensive professional and research experience bridging academia and public administration. Before starting her PhD, she worked at the City of Montreal’s Service for Diversity and Social Inclusion, where she contributed to initiatives addressing housing insecurity and the inclusion of unhoused populations. She also collaborated as both researcher and coordinator within the international network TRYSPACES, leading interdisciplinary teams on youth and migrant participation in urban public life. 

Her work combines an intersectional and critical approach at the crossroads of political science, urban studies, and migration policy. She is the recipient of the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship (2025–2028), the Bridging Divides Fellowship (2024–2025), the ERIQA Research Grant (2024–2025), as well as the Concordia University Merit Scholarship (2024–2025). 

Jocelyne Brad is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University studying explainable AI and its implementation in immigration policy under the supervision of Dr. Mireille Paquet. She holds a BA from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she studied International Relations and French and Francophone studies. Alongside her studies, she works as a Research Assistant exploring explainability in immigration policy and digital platform transformation and works as a Teaching Assistant.

Benjamin Astorga is an Honours student in Pure and Applied Mathematics at Concordia University and a national level gymnast training at the Olympic Training Centre. His Honors project focused on studying a generalization of derivates, called proximal sub-gradients. He has also founded a gymnastics software start-up called Gym Art, focused on bringing accessibility to the sport. It has tools ranging from automatically calculating the start value of a gymnastics routine, to reducing the time to organize a gymnastics event from hours to seconds and mathematically ensure the quality of experience of the athletes, coaches and judges. 

Estefania Perez completed a MA degree in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University, studying immigrant influencers' role in shaping migration choices under the supervision of Dr. Mireille Paquet.