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The Border Policy Research Institute
The Border Policy Research Institute (BPRI) at Western Washington University is a multidisciplinary institute that undertakes research to inform policy-makers on matters related to the Canada–United States border, particularly in the Cascadia region.
Priority focus areas include:
- Border management
- Economic relationships
- Cross-border mobility
- Cross-border collaboration
Western Washington University established the BPRI in 2005 after September 11th transformed border relations and security. The BPRI continues to promote research, academic programs, and public programming on critical policy issues affecting border crossings between British Columbia and Washington State. We work closely with cognate programs at the university and collaborate with many public and private entities throughout the region.
BIG Talk – It’s more than just the zipcode: It’s about how one’s access to reproductive services is impacted by various levels of border walls
When: Tuesday September 26th!
12:00PM to 1:30PM PST.
Where: In Person: CFGS C168 (Sedgewick building, University of Victoria) or Zoom.
Register in advance for this meeting here.
Registration is free but required.
Please join to listen to BPRI's Dr. Bissonette for her presentation of her analysis of Latinas’ perceptions and experiences of access to reproductive health services in two border states (California and Texas). Based on extensive fieldwork (observation, survey and interviews), it demonstrates how immigration status and ethnicity influences how public health policies are lived along the border.
Blaine area businesses experience range of impacts from fewer border crossings
This June rang in the first summer without restrictions on the U.S./Canada border with the lifting of mandatory proof of Covid-19 vaccination for those entering the U.S. Years of travel restrictions left a mark on some of the businesses closest to the border. Without Covid-era requirements in place, no two business recoveries have looked the same.
BIG Podcast – US/Canada Border and Cross-Border Cascadia Region
The objective of this podcast is to better understand both the Cascadia cross-border region and the US/Canada border in this specific region of the Pacific Northwest. The Cascadia region is a plurinational and cross-border region between mountains and ocean, between Canada and the United States, inhabited by Indigenous Peoples since time immemorial, and animated by very dynamic political and economic networks. BIG_Lab sat down with Laurie Trautman to learn more about the strengths of this region, soft diplomacy, and current and upcoming challenges, including the importance of thinking regionally and transcending jurisdictional boundaries for better cross-border integration.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube!
Meet BPRI's New Post-Doctoral Fellow
BPRI welcomes our new post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Andréanne Bissonnette, who recently obtained her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Quebec in Montreal. Dr. Bissonnette joins a binational research team engaged in a 2-year study of the equity of Canada – US border measures during the pandemic.