Analyzing Vulnerability in Canadian Refugee Resettlement

This paper seeks to address how states use ‘vulnerability’ to select a small percentage of refugees from the millions worldwide for resettlement programs. Across asylum and resettlement contexts, vulnerability functions as a mechanism for categorization and prioritization. In asylum systems, it helps identify individuals requiring procedural accommodation or enhanced protection, whereas in resettlement, it assumes a more consequential role: distinguishing among millions of recognized refugees competing for a limited number of resettlement spaces. However, the very concept that underpins this prioritization, “vulnerability”, remains fluid, contested, and deeply shaped by institutional discretion. While vulnerability is invoked to justify procedural accommodation and enhanced protection, its changing definition and application significantly influence who ultimately gains access to one of the rarest durable solutions. This study examines how vulnerability is defined and operationalized within UNHCR and Canada’s refugee resettlement system, and the extent to which these definitions reflect evolving policy priorities and discretionary decision-making. Drawing on legal frameworks, policy instruments, and secondary literature, vulnerability is framed not merely as a humanitarian descriptor but as a governing tool embedded within selection processes. The aim is to clarify how vulnerability functions as both a selection criterion and a site of political interpretation in both UNHCR and Canadian resettlement practices. The paper argues that vulnerability operates at the intersection of protection and selectivity. While it enables targeted assistance for those facing acute risk, its ambiguity and discretionary application risk producing ‘hierarchies of deservingness’ (Reynolds and Hyndman, 2026). Ensuring fairness and coherence in refugee resettlement requires greater transparency and conceptual clarity in how vulnerability is defined, interpreted, and operationalized.