Canadian research institutions seek to secure a competitive spot in the global knowledge economy by taking steps towards internationalization. Yet from 2015 through 2018, Canada’s issuance of temporary residence visas (TRVs) declined, most markedly for travellers seeking entry from the 54 countries of the continent of Africa.

This research involves development of a web application that would enable stakeholders to keep track of African scholars requiring visas whom they invite to Canada. The idea is to generate data on the number of persons with scholarly profiles who are being denied Temporary Resident Visas to enter Canada for the purpose for which they are invited.

This study will raise awareness of the ways that factors such as country of origin, race, economic status, language and gender inform Canadian internationalization of higher learning, influence Canadian immigration policy and shape flows of foreign scholars to Canada.