Ian Whitfield

Ian Whitfield covers immigration, refugee resettlement, and multiculturalism for Fine Times Canada. His beat includes federal immigration policy, temporary foreign workers, international student pathways, citizenship backlogs, and the lived experiences of newcomers building lives across the country.

Ian spent four years at CBC News in Toronto covering newcomer communities and immigration policy. His CBC series on Syrian and Afghan refugee families adapting to life in small-town Ontario was widely shared. Before CBC, he worked at the Kitchener-Waterloo Record covering local government and demographics. He interned at the Toronto Star's city desk.

Ian grew up in Kitchener, Ontario, the grandson of English immigrants who came to Canada in the 1950s to work in the manufacturing sector. He studied political science at Wilfrid Laurier University and completed a journalism degree at Toronto Metropolitan University. He speaks English and basic French, volunteers with an ESL tutoring program in Scarborough, and plays in a Sunday morning men's soccer league.