Rethinking Sanctuary: The Canadian Context, 1983–20031

The first comprehensive study of sanctuary in Canada identifies 36 sanctuary incidents since 1983. Through 46 personal interviews with sanctuary providers and examination of some 1,600 documents, sanctuary in the Canadian context is revealed to be less a national religious movement or network and more an array of temporary local incidents occurring largely independent of one another and of the now expired U.S. sanctuary movement. These sanctuary incidents have resulted as much from local community as church‐based efforts, have mostly yielded positive outcomes for migrants involved, and are increasing in prevalence. Implications of these findings for understanding sanctuary are discussed.