Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Program News

• New Hildebrand Fellow Christián González Reyes studies how literature informs Central American-Canadian identity in Toronto

• New research by faculty affiliate Karen Chapple finds even sharper drop in Canadian travel to the US

Academic Opportunities
• Call for research proposals: “The Canadian Counter Revolution”

External Events

• Royal Canadian Legion Memorial Day Service

PROGRAM NEWS

New Hildebrand Fellow Christián González Reyes Studies How Literature Informs Central American-Canadian Identity in Toronto

The Canadian Studies Program is pleased to announce that Christián González Reyes has been awarded an Edward E. Hildebrand Research Fellowship for Summer 2026.

Christián (they/he) is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Comparative Literature. Their scholarly work focuses on Central American, Mesoamerican, Mexican, and Central American diasporic literature and visual media. They are interested in how Central America has been conjured in the postwar period, both inside and outside of the Central American Isthmus. Indigenous and Latin American Marxisms inform their work.

Christián’s Hildebrand Fellowship will support their work on Central American-Canadian influence on cultural production in Toronto. Specifically, Christián will examine the work of Salvadoran-Canadian writer Carlos Bucio to think through questions of citizenship, diaspora, and belonging. Christián proposes framing Bucio’s writings in a bidirectional continuum that dialogues between Central American-Canadians and the Central American homelands. Thinking of these transregional and transhistorical dialogues serves as a political reclamation, in which Central America is not solely tied to the Central American Isthmus, but is in movement and is now imagined to include the diaspora in Canada.

Christián holds BAs in Literatures in Spanish (Honors with highest distinction) and Latin American Studies from UC San Diego. They also have an MA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley.

New Research by Faculty Affiliate Karen Chapple Finds Even Sharper Drop in Canadian Travel to the US

A new study published by the University of Toronto and authored by a Canadian Studies faculty affiliate has found that the decrease in Canadians’ travel to the United States has been even more dramatic than previously reported.

The study shows that visits by Canadians to US metro areas declined nearly 42% year over year in the face of political tensions between the two countries, and suggests that an ongoing boycott of the US may have been more effective than previously thought.

The study’s lead author, Karen Chapple, is Director of the School of Cities at the University of Toronto and a professor emerita at UC Berkeley. In an interview with the CBC, Chapple says the sharp drop indicates a “sea change” that is affecting all aspects of Canadians’ travel habits.

Data previously published by Statistics Canada showed a 25% decrease in border crossings by Canadians. However, the University of Toronto study used cell phone data to provide a more granular analysis of where Canadians are visiting in the US, including their movement within the country. For example, Chapple notes that Canadians who do visit the US are limiting their travel and visiting fewer cities per trip.

Warm-weather vacation spots in Florida and the southern US have been hardest hit, with some cities seeing up to a 65% decrease in Canadian visitors. Despite California’s efforts to attract Canadian tourists, San Francisco was the ninth-most affected city, showing a 57% decrease in visits by Canadians.

The data also show that it isn’t only leisure travel that has been affected. Visits to finance and tech hubs across the United States are also down, suggesting that Canadians are also avoiding business travel where possible.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America, the Canadian Institute for Historical Education (CIHE) is seeking a research paper related to how the formation of that country led to or influenced the later formation of Canada. The paper will be published on the CIHE website and widely promoted, and the author will deliver the paper at a meeting of the CIHE open to the public. Possible themes include, but are not limited to: similar or differing approaches to government, colonial matters, Loyalist migration and patterns of settlement, indigenous affairs, leadership and leaders.

This opportunity is open to current or former Canadian academics (including graduate students and retirees) currently or previously associated with a Canadian or American university. A stipend of $20,000 CAD will be payable to the successful applicant.

To learn more, click here.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Royal Canadian Legion Memorial Day Service
Saturday, May 23 | 11:00 am | Colma, CA

Branch 25 of the Royal Canadian Legion, representing the San Francisco Bay Area, invites you to their annual Memorial Day Service. The service will take place at the Royal Canadian Legion plot in the Greenlawn Memorial Park in Colma.

If you are unable to attend in person, you can register to watch the live stream on Zoom here.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

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