Position Papers & Backgrounders

IRCC Questions:

Strengthening our Canadian fabric

• How many newcomers should we welcome to Canada in 2017 and beyond?
• How can we best support newcomers to ensure they become successful members of our communities?
• Do we have the balance right among the immigration programs or streams? If not, what priorities should form the foundation of Canada's immigration planning?

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[La version française se trouve plus loin]

Call for Regularization of Immigration Status in Canada

A countless number of residents are without immigration status in Canada. The Canadian immigration and refugee system has clearly failed the many people who have become or been made to be undocumented, for a multitude of reasons.

OCASI - Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants submitted a Brief to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities for its review of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

OCASI made the following key observations and recommendations in the Brief:

Key Observations

OCASI Comments on Bill C-6 - Citizenship Bill

Debbie Douglas, OCASI Executive Director appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration to make a presentation and answer questions about our submission on Bill C-6 - An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act.

Toronto, March 1, 2016 – OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants welcomes the statement to media by Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, that the government plans to reform the federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) following a review by the House of Commons Standing Committee.

Open Letter to Prime Minister on Racial and Gender Equality in the Senate of Canada

December 29, 2015

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa Ontario K1A0A6

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,

OCASI made ten recommendations to the Ontario government in the Council's 2016 Pre-Budget Submission.

10 OCASI RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ONTARIO BUDGET 2016

OCASI responded to the Gender Wage Gap Strategy Consultation undertaken by the Government of Ontario by highlighting the exclusion experienced by racialized immigrant and refugee women, and making six recommendations for systemic change.

OCASI made the following recommendations: