Remittance Transfers, Digitalisation and the Ghana–Canada Migration Corridor

Migrant remittances constitute a vital financial resource that supports the well-being of recipient households and communities, financing sustainable development in the Global South. Yet, remittance flows are limited by fragmentation in financial systems infrastructure and regulatory frameworks across sending and receiving countries, evidenced by the high transaction costs of remitting to sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, these limitations drive the persistent uptake of often cheaper but less secure informal remittance forms. The rapid expansion of financial technologies, such as mobile money and Web-based platforms that shape the digitalisation of remittance-sending and -receiving processes, has the potential to address some of these challenges. The transformations within remittance ecosystems introduced by new digital financial technologies warrant a detailed assessment of individual migration corridors. This paper presents a case study of the Ghana–Canada migration and remittance corridor, analysing the adoption of digital remittances and identifying existing barriers. This understudied corridor reflects increased migration flows, expanding immigrant communities with strong transnational linkages, and high remittance participation, despite socio-economic integration barriers faced by racialised immigrants in Canada. The rapid growth of Ghana’s mobile money system further illustrates this digitalisation process.