Online Co-National Peer Support Across the Migration Journey: Iranian International Students' Pre- and Post-Arrival Experiences with Telegram in Ottawa

Abstract

This thesis explores the role of an online Telegram-based co-national peer support group in shaping the experiences of Iranian international students during the pre-sojourn and early settlement phases in Ottawa. Using a descriptive phenomenological methodology, the study examines how voluntary, peer-driven interactions across these phases provided participants with crucial emotional, informational, and practical support. Long before arrival, students engaged with the Telegram group to reduce uncertainty, foster familiarity, and build a sense of communal belonging. The group served not only as a space for acquiring lived-experience-based guidance, but also as an emotionally safe and empathetic environment where support was offered freely and without expectation. It also helped students navigate foundational cultural differences while maintaining connections to their Iranian identity - fostering an emerging sense of bicultural orientation. Over time, reliance on the group declined as participants formed in-person networks and gained independence, yet its significance as a community remained. This study adds to the literature by offering empirical and theoretical insights into how co-national digital peer networks provide informational, emotional, and instrumental support to international students during the pre-sojourn and early settlement phases of adaptation.