Driving Canada: A Front Seat View of Immigration through Uber
In 2024, Qissa collaborated with the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 (CMI) for the project, Driving Canada: A Front Seat View of Immigration through Uber, that collected oral histories of immigrants and refugees in Toronto who currently drive or have driven Uber in the past.
By using Uber as an entry point the project sheds light on the underemployment experienced by racialized newcomers to Canada. These interviews were recorded in-person in Toronto, from 25 to 28 of October 2024.
All participants were working professionals when they moved to Canada. None of them were able to find jobs commensurate with their experience.
Upcoming Exhibitions
We’re thrilled to share that Qissa, in partnership with the Toronto Ward Museum, has been awarded the Digital Museums Canada grant for our upcoming project: Driving Canada: A Digital Exhibition!
We’re excited to bring these narratives to life through a digital, interactive exhibition using multimedia elements such as animations, soundscapes, and more. The exhibition will invite users to step into the role of the interviewer, asking questions and hearing stories as they virtually drive through the streets of Toronto.
A core component of this project is our ongoing collaboration with the community members who shared their stories with us. They will join the project as consultants and co-creators from the very beginning, helping to shape both the content and the interactive design of the exhibition.
The exhibition will be free to access on a dedicated website and available in both official languages.
The exhibition will be developed with the support of Digital Museums Canada, an investment program managed by the Canadian Museum of History.
Media Coverage
Gallery
Top row (left to right): Yalgar Singh and Niharika Aggarwal, Rammah Mohammad, Mehakjot SinghG
Botton row (left to right): Mohd Javed Khokar, Haroon Khalid, Anam Zakaria
Photo Credit: Darryl LeBlanc from the project, Driving Canada: A Front Seat View of Immigration through Uber, in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 (CMIP)
CMIP is one of six national museums in Canada. It is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, at Pier 21, a National Historic Site of Canada, where nearly one million immigrants entered Canada between 1928 and 1971. It opened as a Pier 21 Interpretation Centre in 1999, and then became a national museum in 2011, re-opening to the public in 2015 with two core exhibitions, The Canadian Immigration Story and The Pier 21 Story. CMIP has an oral history collection of about 1,300 audio and video oral history interviews.
Visit www.pier21.ca to learn more about the Museum.
