The Social Construction of Age and ‘Best Interests’ Discourses: An Intersectional Analysis of Canadian Immigration and Refugee Policy for Children

Abstract

Abstract Canada has received worldwide recognition for its implementation of the Canada Chairperson’s Guideline 3: Child Refugee Claimants. This informal immigration rights policy, statutorily authorized by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, instructs immigration officials to provide special considerations to accompanied and unaccompanied child migrants. Our analysis examines the language of Guideline 3 to understand how the social construction of age influences the provision of protections. Our findings demonstrate that, although chronological age is prominently featured throughout Guideline 3, other factors known to impact the social construction of age, such as gender and cultural background, are only superficially discussed. The homogenized discourse of children within Guideline 3 illustrates the protection of an idealized conception of childhood, which does not accurately reflect the heterogeneity of migrant and asylum-seeking children. The implications of such an idealized notion of childhood in informal immigration rights policies delineates children worthy of protections, and children who are excluded.