Types of Migration

Active learning helps students grasp migration types because these concepts can feel abstract until connected to real places and people. Hands-on tasks like sorting cards or role-playing make the legal and human dimensions of migration concrete and memorable for Grade 9 learners.

• Grade 9
• Geography
• 4 activities
• 35 min–50 min

Learning Objectives

1. Classify scenarios of human movement into categories of voluntary, forced, internal, and international migration.
2. Compare and contrast the legal definitions and motivations of refugees versus economic migrants.
3. Explain the process of chain migration and its effect on the spatial distribution of immigrant populations.
4. Analyze geographic patterns of internal migration within Canada, identifying key push and pull factors.

Jigsaw

⏱ 35 min·Small Groups

Card Sort: Migration Categories

Prepare cards with real migrant stories. In small groups, students sort them into voluntary, forced, internal, or international piles, then justify choices with evidence from stories. Discuss as a class to refine categories.

Prepare & details

Differentiate between a refugee and an economic migrant in the eyes of international law.

Facilitation Tip: For the Card Sort, circulate while students work and ask them to explain why they placed any card in the forced migration category to uncover hidden assumptions.

Setup: Flexible seating for regrouping

Materials: Expert group reading packets, Note-taking template, Summary graphic organizer

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Jigsaw

⏱ 45 min·Pairs

Map Analysis: Canadian Internal Migration

Provide Statistics Canada maps showing flows between provinces. Pairs plot push-pull factors on overlays, like job loss in Newfoundland driving moves to Ontario. Share findings in a gallery walk.

Prepare & details

Explain the concept of chain migration and its impact on settlement patterns.

Facilitation Tip: In the Map Analysis, have students compare two provinces with different population changes and assign each a push or pull factor from their notes to build evidence-based reasoning.

Setup: Flexible seating for regrouping

Materials: Expert group reading packets, Note-taking template, Summary graphic organizer

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Jigsaw

⏱ 50 min·Small Groups

Role-Play: Refugee vs. Economic Migrant

Assign roles based on UN definitions. Small groups debate access to services in Canada, using legal criteria. Vote and reflect on geographic implications for settlement.

Prepare & details

Analyze the geographic patterns of internal migration within a specific country.

Facilitation Tip: During the Role-Play, assign observers to note whether classmates’ arguments about migrant status align with legal definitions or personal opinions.

Setup: Flexible seating for regrouping

Materials: Expert group reading packets, Note-taking template, Summary graphic organizer

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Jigsaw

⏱ 40 min·Whole Class

Chain Migration Simulation

Students draw family networks on paper. Whole class simulates sponsorship over generations, tracking settlement clusters. Compare to Toronto's immigrant neighborhoods.

Prepare & details

Differentiate between a refugee and an economic migrant in the eyes of international law.

Facilitation Tip: For the Chain Migration Simulation, set a clear 10-minute timer to keep energy high and ensure the debrief focuses on settlement patterns rather than storytelling.

Setup: Flexible seating for regrouping

Materials: Expert group reading packets, Note-taking template, Summary graphic organizer

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Teaching This Topic

Experienced teachers approach migration by using local data first to make global concepts feel relevant. Avoid starting with dense legal definitions; instead, let students encounter the definitions through scenarios and simulations. Research suggests that students retain distinctions between refugee and economic migrant categories best when they debate real cases in role-play before formalizing definitions.

What to Expect

Successful learning looks like students accurately classifying migration scenarios by type and explaining their reasoning. They should also recognize the difference between refugee status under international law and economic migration, and trace patterns in Canadian internal migration using geographic data.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Card Sort: Migration Categories, watch for students who place all international moves in the forced migration category.

What to Teach Instead

Invite students to read the scenarios aloud and ask the group whether fleeing war or seeking a better job is the stated reason, then re-categorize based on the evidence in the texts rather than assumptions.

Common Misconception

During Map Analysis: Canadian Internal Migration, watch for students who overlook internal migration entirely and focus only on international borders.

What to Teach Instead

Prompt students to calculate the percentage of population change in Ontario and Saskatchewan, then ask which provinces had net gains and losses, making visible that internal moves often exceed cross-border flows.

Common Misconception

During Chain Migration Simulation, watch for students who describe chain migration as harmful or disruptive to communities.

What to Teach Instead

After the simulation, have students compare their settlement maps to the initial empty grid and ask them to identify one way support networks helped newcomers integrate.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

After Card Sort: Migration Categories, provide three short scenarios and ask students to label each as voluntary, forced, internal, or international migration and justify one classification.

Discussion Prompt

After Role-Play: Refugee vs. Economic Migrant, pose the question: 'Under international law, what is the primary difference in the reason for leaving one's home country between a refugee and an economic migrant?' Use student responses to clarify legal distinctions or misconceptions.

Quick Check

During Map Analysis: Canadian Internal Migration, display a map of Canada showing population changes by province. Ask students to identify one region with significant in-migration and one with out-migration, then hypothesize the primary migration type and push/pull factors involved.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge: Ask students to research and add two new migration scenarios to the Card Sort that challenge common assumptions about who migrates and why.
• Scaffolding: Provide sentence starters for the exit ticket, such as 'This scenario shows _____ migration because _____.'
• Deeper exploration: Have students design a podcast episode interviewing a hypothetical migrant from one of the scenarios, scripted to include legal status, push/pull factors, and settlement experience.

Key Vocabulary

Voluntary Migration	Movement undertaken freely by choice, typically in search of better opportunities such as employment, education, or quality of life.
Forced Migration	Movement compelled by external factors, including conflict, persecution, natural disasters, or environmental degradation, where individuals have no choice but to leave their homes.
Internal Migration	Movement of people within the borders of a single country, often from rural to urban areas or between different regions.
International Migration	Movement of people across the borders of one country into another, involving crossing international boundaries.
Refugee	A person who has fled their country due to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and is unable or unwilling to return.
Chain Migration	The process where migrants from a particular country tend to settle in areas where their family or friends have already established themselves, often leading to concentrated ethnic enclaves.