This thesis evaluates the art involved in the process of constructing borders. I review the governmental processes involved with Canadian border policies as they facilitate the welcomed and the rejected. I ask: how do citizenship and immigration policies operate to maintain and reproduce borders, separating Canadian citizens inside the state from ‘foreigners’ outside. This thesis considers borders not only as repressive instruments for exclusion but also in a productive sense as they create citizens, national identities and populations. The thesis focuses on one central assemblage of border technologies: immigrant medical examinations. By reviewing citizenship and immigration policies, laws and practices since confederation, as well as contemporary legislation, policies and interview data, this thesis argues that these examinations are founded on principles of exclusion. While current policy directions suggest using these medical examinations for inclusive practices, I argue that such inclusive practices still reify the exclusive expectations of the state for citizens to be healthy and productive in the present and in the future.

This thesis evaluates the art involved in the process of constructing borders. I review the governmental processes involved with Canadian border policies as they facilitate the welcomed and the rejected. I ask: how do citizenship and immigration policies operate to maintain and reproduce borders, separating Canadian citizens inside the state from ‘foreigners’ outside. This thesis considers borders not only as repressive instruments for exclusion but also in a productive sense as they create citizens, national identities and populations. The thesis focuses on one central assemblage of border technologies: immigrant medical examinations. By reviewing citizenship and immigration policies, laws and practices since confederation, as well as contemporary legislation, policies and interview data, this thesis argues that these examinations are founded on principles of exclusion. While current policy directions suggest using these medical examinations for inclusive practices, I argue that such inclusive practices still reify the exclusive expectations of the state for citizens to be healthy and productive in the present and in the future.