After the Influx: Canadians Respond to World Refugee Year, 1959–60.

This article examines the activities and impact of World Refugee Year (WRY), declared by the United Nations for 1959–60, focusing on Canada's response. It highlights how Canadian civil society—comprising religious groups, ethnic associations, grassroots organizations, and individuals—played a central role in fundraising, public education, and refugee sponsorship amid a reluctant federal government. While some WRY efforts reflected colonialist attitudes and racial biases, the campaign fostered growing empathy among Canadians toward refugees worldwide and helped lay groundwork for later humanitarian immigration reforms, including private refugee sponsorship. The article also discusses government policies during WRY, such as admitting refugees with tuberculosis, and the broader social and political context influencing Canada's refugee reception in the postwar era.