In our recent CharityVillage Connects podcast episode, Growing Pains: How Canada’s Population Boom Affects Nonprofits, we interviewed a variety of settlement and nonprofit experts from across the country to find out how a boom in Canada’s population and changes to immigration policy are impacting the nonprofit sector and the communities they serve.
We were very pleased, as part of this podcast episode, to speak with Aleks Dughman (J.D., LL.M.) (They/Them), Co-Executive Director of Rainbow Refugee. Aleks is a transgender Palestinian born and raised in Santiago, Chile. As a Chilean lawyer with an LL.M. from the University of Toronto, Aleks specializes in human rights, reproductive and sexual health law, LGBTQI+ rights, and refugee rights, and serves as the Co-Executive Director of Rainbow Refugee.
We asked Aleks, has Rainbow Refugee seen an increase in demand for its services?
Aleks Dughman: Absolutely, and not only last year, but in the past few years, we have experienced a progressive rise in service demand. This increase is driven by the global surge of anti-LGBTQI sentiments, shifting immigration policies, and the growing number of LGBTQI asylum seekers arriving here in Canada. As a volunteer-based organization, in the past we used to support around 90 people per year that were asylum seekers and did around 25 to 30 private sponsorship of refugees, and now we’re supporting over 700 or 800 asylum seekers per year. So, you see that the numbers have gone up exponentially. And we’re sponsoring around 60 to 70 people per year through the private sponsorship program. So, definitely we’ve seen a rise, for many reasons that we can experience here. And now, of course, with the new Trump administration, we’re also seeing a rise of people reaching out from the US.
Aleks expanded on the impacts of the Trump administration policies, including rollbacks of DEI initiatives, during this interview that was recorded on February 5, 2025.
My thoughts around this are very preliminary because we’re just seeing it, but of course we’re scared. What we see down south in our neighbors is a scary environment where trans and LGBTQI people in general, but also people of color in the US, are really struggling right now in understanding how they’re going to feel protected or how they can exercise their rights or their constitutional rights. It has had implications for asylum seekers and refugees in the US and, of course, it’s going to have implications in Canada as that develops. And also the rise of anti-LGBTQI sentiments in the US has ripple effects in Canada. So it may shape policies, funding, and public discourse. And that can also create an increased sense of unsafety and violence to our communities. And so, for instance, more restrictive asylum policies or executive orders from the US administration, of course, influences and has an impact in the Canadian asylum policy.
Already happening is an increased mass deportation and visa cancellations in the US. And we’re very concerned about how many LGBTQI people are being sent back to death and risk of violence. Like I mentioned before, the spillover effect on the Canadian discourse as the US policy shifts, we see emboldened anti-LGBTQI rhetoric and policies. And we saw even last year some marches against trans people and policies going around in provinces that affect the youth. And so, all the rollbacks in policies in the US definitely have an effect in Canada. And we have already seen that the federal government is committing $1.3 billion to border surveillance and expanding RCMP presence, drone use, and CVSA personnel.
And so, for us, that is very problematic because we would think that those funds would be better used in injecting the refugee protection system with better support, with more processing plans, with having more people engaging in the conversations and in settlement. And instead of that, we’re turning that funding towards more surveillance, possibly deportations, and just to appease the rhetoric that is happening now from our neighbors. Yeah, we’re deeply concerned about what’s happening and the effects that will have in Canada for sure.
Aleks went on to offer their thoughts on immigration policy changes here at home, in Canada.
I mean, we saw the announcement on the cuts in the immigration levels plan and that meant that many resettlement spots that we had in previous years are being cut. So, less people are going to be able to arrive through the resettlement program because there are cuts to the levels plan. But it also means that asylum seekers who have reached protection here in Canada will have longer wait times to be able to become permanent residents. And when you’re not a permanent resident, you have to continuously be applying for a work permit, for a study permit. It’s really an unstable situation with regards to that.
We are also fearful that there’s going to be more restrictions on the Inland Asylum claims. So, as it is expanded that less people will be able to arrive to Canada to be able to then claim asylum. And effectively with the expansion of the Safe Third Agreement with the US and closing the border completely between the US and Canada, that means that there’s less pathways for people to arrive to actually seek protection. And then the backlogs and delays in refugee processing as well. So, we are very much aware of what could happen.
Now we are non-partisan and of course we’re willing to work with anyone who is currently in government, but we do see that there are some tendencies to blame newcomers and LGBTQI people for what is going on here in Canada and at the same time we don’t have much hope that that is going to change in the future. So we’re bracing for what may happen and we are trying to get together as a coalition in having these conversations and how we can address government to advocate for the rights of LGBTQI refugees.
Finally, Aleks also offered some advice on how other organizations might consider positively engaging with newcomer communities and LGBTI refugees, specifically.
Aleks Dughman: I think engaging with newcomer communities is essential and it has been essential to our organization. I would say 90% of our staff team and many of our volunteers are newcomers to Canada. They have come through Rainbow Refugee Assistance Partnership. They are LGBTQI refugees, so they have an immense wealth of knowledge in understanding the challenges and also in providing the supports. So, I would say engaging with newcomer communities is essential. I think already settlement organizations do that, but it would be good to expand on that. But it requires trust, cultural competency, and inclusivity, meaning you have to engage and at the same time you have to provide a safe space for people to be able to engage and be part of your communities, be part of your organization.
Investing in training and capacity building for your staff and your volunteers, that is one thing that can happen. Creating leadership pathways. Hiring refugees and newcomers, and particularly hiring LGBTQI refugees in your organizations, will transform the way your organizations provide those services. Develop employment opportunities. This is very important, for settlement supports, that people have access to employment. Engage volunteers from newcomer communities and also, many of them are very successful once they have settled in Canada and want to give back, so there may be sources of funding from newcomer communities as well. Offering mentorship and professional development, those are all things [that can be done]. But the main thing I want to emphasize is creating communities of belonging. So we don’t want to other the newcomer or the LGBTQI newcomer. We want the LGBTQI newcomer to feel that they are part of the system and the society that they are helping create and co-create, that they’re part of the organizations that are providing support.
Aleks left us with some final thoughts, an important reminder in our current times.
Aleks Dughman: One of the things that we have learned at Rainbow Refugee and that I have learned in my own personal journey has been how to do this work from a solidarity perspective more than a charity perspective. And this is a shift in paradigm around NGOs because when you do it from a solidarity perspective, you are not only thinking that the need is on the other side, you’re not othering the person who’s needing the support. You’re not thinking that you have all the answers and then the other person is in need and you’re here to provide them with the answers, but you are co-creating those answers.
People have so much to teach us about their cultures, about their practices, about how we can support each other in community. So many cultures have so many rich practices around community building. I think it’s important that we also place ourselves in empowering the newcomer and refugee in providing the tools so they can continue their life plans, and that was interrupted by fleeing persecution, and that they’re able to contribute in the best ways that they can to their own development and the development of our society.
I would say if we can maybe research and inquire, what are the differences between coming from a solidarity perspective and a charity perspective and shift that paradigm, I think it will make for stronger communities and for communities of belonging to also be able to shift the paradigm and contribute to our societies in better ways.
Want to hear more from Aleks Dughman? Listen to their full interview in the video below.
Listen to Aleks Dughman and other sector experts discuss how organizations are being impacted by population growth in our new podcast episode. Click here to listen.