Migration technologies, smart borders and digital livelihoods take centre stage at the 2026 Bridging Divides Conference
Discussions examined how technologies often presented as efficient or objective can both improve and exacerbate existing systems. Photo by Morillo Potography.
From May 20 to 22, researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and civil society leaders from Canada and internationally gathered at Concordia for the 2026 Bridging Divides Conference, hosted by the Institute for Research on Migration and Society (IRMS).
Across a keynote lecture, workshop, panels, and roundtables, participants explored how AI-driven systems are increasingly being integrated into migration governance, border management, labour recruitment, healthcare access, and social services. A recurring theme throughout the conference was the growing replacement of previously human-led tasks with automated systems that cannot think, interpret, or empathize in the ways people do.
Discussions examined how technologies often presented as efficient or objective can both improve and exacerbate existing systems. While digital tools can expand access to information, service, and employment opportunities, speakers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, including social sciences, engineering, urban planning, and health sciences, also highlighted concerns surrounding surveillance, bias, accountability, and exclusion.
“What I enjoyed the most was the creativity that emerged through the conference,” said Anna Triandafyllidou, Scientific Director of Bridging Divides at Toronto Metropolitan University. “Political scientists engaged with data analysts to investigate the impact of AI powered tools on everyday migration administration. Public health experts engaged with psychologists and sociologists to discuss unequal access to health services and the ways in which technology can make a difference. That is the real strength of Bridging Divides. We are producing excellent research that is also pushing us to think differently about how we conceptualize migration, how we conduct research, and how we share knowledge with the communities and policymakers who can use it.”
Several sessions focused on the integration of AI into migration decision-making processes, raising questions about what Jocelyne Brad, a graduate student at IRMS, described as the “fragmentation of discretion,” referring to the shifting of judgement and responsibility across increasingly complex technological systems. Researchers discussed how the growing use of automated tools can blur accountability while redistributing decision-making power among governments, private technology companies, and digital platforms.
At the same time, the conference emphasized that migrants and refugees are not passive users of technology. Presentations explored how digital tools are being adapted in creative and unexpected ways to build livelihoods, maintain transnational social ties, access healthcare, and navigate unfamiliar institutions. Discussions highlighted both the possibilities and limitations of these technologies, including issues surrounding digital literacy, data fatigue, hyper-connectivity, and unequal access.
Throughout the conference, speakers repeatedly emphasised that technologies are never neutral. Rather they are shaped by political priorities, institutional structures, and broader social inequities, with migrants and refugees often becoming the first populations affected by emerging systems before they expand into wider public life.
Learn more about the Bridging Divides research program.