New BrunswickThe Fredericton Public Library is hosting the Refuge Canada Tent exhibit. It aims to teach visitors about the journey refugees take to get to Canada.Refuge Canada Tent exhibit will be at the library until Sept. 28Oliver Pearson · CBC News · Posted: Aug 30, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoThe Refuge Canada Tent is three metres by 4.5 metres, which is the size of a UN tent that two refugee families could live in. The exhibit is at the Fredericton Public Library until Sept. 28. (Aniekan Etuhube/CBC)If you ever wanted a glimpse into a refugee’s journey to Canada, now is your chance.The Fredericton Public Library, in partnership with the City of Fredericton, is hosting an exhibit called the Refuge Canada Tent.The travelling exhibit, which is the size of a UN tent a refugee family would live in, was created by the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.The museum hopes the exhibit will answer questions people have about Canada’s refugee population like: is it easy to get refugee status? Do all refugees live in tents?”I hope it makes people more critical. I hope it makes people more curious to learn about the people in their lives and ask questions,” said Sara England, the exhibition co-ordinator.England also hopes it makes people more empathetic toward those who “have to make incredibly difficult decisions.”Visitors will walk into the three-by-4.5-metre space filled with visuals and interactive podiums that answer common questions about refugees and their journeys.The refugee time frame for the exhibit is the 20th century until today. For example, there are stories about refugees from Sudan, Rwanda and Haiti.WATCH | Take a tour of the Refuge Canada Tent exhibit in the Fredericton library:Fredericton library hosts exhibit about the refugee journeyThe Fredericton Public Library is hosting an exhibit that gives visitors a glimpse into a refugee’s journey to Canada. The Refuge Canada Tent exhibit, created by the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, will be at the library until Sept. 28. The library has seen quite an interest from the 300 to 400 people that come through their doors each day — even refugees.”I’ve seen big smiles on people’s faces, especially the photography is really good on the exhibit and really when people see themselves represented, they almost always smile. So that’s really wonderful to see,” said Rose Morton, who works with adult and young-adult services at the library.Morton has gone through the exhibit herself and in just minutes she gained more understanding and empathy for those that have left their homes in hopes of getting to Canada.Hillary Nguyen is the community inclusion liaison for the City of Fredericton. She said the exhibit aligns with the recommendations of the city’s anti-racism task force. (Oliver Pearson/CBC)She thinks the exhibit, which is at the library until Sept. 28, helps welcome the many refugees that use the library’s services.”It helps our refugee citizens who have had refugee experiences maybe feel that we see them and that we’re trying to understand them better. And it helps those of us like myself who don’t have a refugee experience to think about it and to think about it on a personal level,” said Morton.Information Morning – FrederictonTravelling exhibit on the refugee experienceThe Refuge Canada Tent exhibit by the Canadian Museum of Immigration has arrived in Fredericton. Colleen Kitts-Goguen spoke to Sara England, one of its curators, about how it shines a on light refugee experiences in Canada.Hillary Nguyen is the community inclusion liaison for the city and said the exhibit aligns with the recommendations of Fredericton’s anti-racism task force findings.The recommendation says the city should “actively facilitate, support, and promote opportunities for building relationships and increasing the visibility of all ethnocultural communities, ensuring representation that reflects the demographic composition of the city’s population.”Rose Morton works on adult and young-adult programming at the Fredericton library. She said the public has been enjoying the Refuge Canada Tent exhibit. (Oliver Pearson/CBC)She hopes the exhibit will be a reminder to empathize with the experiences of others around you.”I think this is a very safe space and platform for people to learn more about factual events and people and things that people actually had gone through that maybe you didn’t think about.”Nguyen said that since the 1990s, the city has a reputation for welcoming refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine.In 2015, Fredericton was one of 36 cities that took in Syrian refugees.This poster in the Refuge Canada Tent exhibit illustrates the journey six people took to get to Canada. (Oliver Pearson/CBC)According to the UN, 123 million people were forcibly displaced from their homes in 2024.”A key message in the exhibition is that no one wants to be a refugee, but anyone can become one,” said England.The exhibit was created in 2020 and is a smaller version of a larger exhibit. The Refuge Canada Tent has been to dozens of communities across Canada since 2021 and will make its next New Brunswick stop in Hartland in October.ABOUT THE AUTHOROliver Pearson is a reporter at CBC New Brunswick. He can be reached at oliver.pearson@cbc.caWith files from Information Morning
Experience refugee journey through travelling exhibit at Fredericton library
