Our Refugee Determination system is in crisis with significant backlogs. Our affordable housing crisis continues and the two together have created a perfect storm. We are seeing it manifested on the streets and in the emergency shelters of large urban centres in Ontario like Ottawa and the Greater Toronto (Peel, York, Durham) and Hamilton region.
The Street Fleet is ACCES Employment’s mobile service designed to deliver job search and employment services directly to communities across the GTA, especially in underserved or high-need areas. The retrofit van allows ACCES staff to deliver on-site job search workshops in the community and provides a unique opportunity for employers to discover talent and meet their hiring needs.
Early Bird Deadline OCASI Professional Development Conference 2025
Solidarity in Vision and Action, October 22-23, 2025 at the Pan Pacific Hotel, Toronto, ON.
To see the full list of sessions, speakers, and to register, please visit the conference site. The early bird registration deadline ends September 12. If you have any questions, please email our conference team at conference@ocasi.org.
Date limite de préinscription – Colloque de perfectionnement professionnel d’OCASI 2025
Solidarité dans la vision et l’action, 22-23 octobre 2025, Hôtel Pan Pacific, Toronto (Ontario). Pour consulter la liste complète des séances et des conférencier·ère·s, et pour vous inscrire, veuillez visiter le site du colloque. La date limite de préinscription est le 12 septembre. Pour toute question, veuillez écrire à notre équipe du colloque à l’adresse : conference@ocasi.org.
OCASI Annual General Meeting 2025
Wednesday, October 22, 2025, 3:45 - 5:30 PM
Pan Pacific Toronto, 900 York Mills Road, Toronto
Keynote Speaker: The Honourable Charmaine A. Williams
Associate Minister of Women's Social and Economic Opportunity
Join our OCASI team as a strategic, equity-driven leader for the role of Director of Programs & Services. This senior position oversees operations, strategy, and sector-wide partnerships to ensure impactful programs for immigrant and refugee communities. Deadline to apply - October 21, 2025.
Want to grow your skills in the settlement and social service field? LearnAtWork.ca, offered by OCASI, provides free online training on topics like trauma-informed care, anti-racism, and accessibility. Courses are self-paced, open year-round, and available across Canada.
Seeking a reliable solution for managing your agency's clients? Look no further than OCMS! Dive into our OCMS video to witness the power of our system. With pride in our work and the success of our clients, we invite you to join our ever-expanding community. Reach out to us today at ocmssupport@ocasi.org to get started!
SECTOR HAPPENINGS
Investors for Racial Equity
UARR and SHARE are partners in the Investors for Racial Equity (IRE) Project. Through research, advocacy, and education, they equip institutional investors to use their power and leverage to tackle systemic racism. IRE has released two resources: the Asset Manager Evaluation Tool and Advancing Racial Equity: A Guide for Asset Managers.
Professional Advisors Needed for Mental Health Toolkit for Newcomer Youth Advisory Table
The Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health (PCMCH) and the Centre d’Établissement de Soutien et d’Orientation Communautaire (CÉSOC) are seeking individuals to form an Advisory Table to guide the development of a multilingual, culturally responsive mental health toolkit for newcomer youth in Ontario.
In light of recent measles outbreaks in Ontario and broader concerns about child and maternal immunizations, SickKids is pleased to offer the Immunization InfoLine, a free source of information for all things related to immunization. This service is available in any language, and anyone in Ontario can easily book an appointment online.
Sept 18, 2025, 1:00-3:30 PM EST. Facing Barriers, Building Equity Webinar Series - on Income, Employment & Business Realities for IBPOC Communities in Canada today. Read more and register »
September 23, 2025 9:30AM - 3:00 PM ADT. Halifax Roundtable. Join us for solutions-focused conversations & collaborative action planning for equity and racial justice! Online option and French interpretation available. Read more and register »
Prochains événements par RCEJR
Le 18 septembre 2025, de 13h00 à 15h30 EST. Série de webinaires du RCEJR : Faire face aux obstacles, construire l'équité. Sur revenu, emploi et affaires - un aperçu des réalités vécues par les communautés IBPOC au Canada. Lisez plus et inscrivez-vous »
Le 23 septembre 2025 9 h 30 à 15 h HAA. Table ronde à Halifax. Joignez-vous à nous pour des conversations axées sur les solutions et la planification d'actions concertées en faveur de l'équité et la justice raciale! Option en ligne et interprétation en français disponibles. Lisez plus et inscrivez-vous »
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) - Free Virtual Events
Join NCTR’s daily Lunch and Learn webinars – an immersive experience to UN-learn the myths of colonial history in Canada. All sessions will have simultaneous English-French, and ASL interpretation. Hosted virtually on Zoom and livestreamed on YouTube on September 22 – 26, 2025.
Centre national pour la vérité et la réconciliation (CNVR) - Programmes virtuels gratuits
Vous êtes invités à rejoindre leurs dîners-causeries quotidiens diffusés en ligne – une expérience immersive pour désapprendre les mythes qui entourent l’histoire coloniale au Canada. Toutes les séances auront une interprétation simultanée anglais-français et ASL. Organisés virtuellement par le biais d’un webinaire Zoom et diffusés sur YouTube le 22 september - 26 septembre.
On Saturday, September 20th, we’re drawing the line— for People. For Peace. For the Planet.
From rallies to strikes, marches to gatherings, this September 20th, communities will mobilize across the country and demand that Prime Minister Carney and the Canadian government pick a side: injustice, violence, and climate destruction— or a just and safe future for all of us.
Webinar: Behind Closed Doors: Domestic Violence & Your Parenting Rights
This Family Law Education for Women (FLEW) webinar is organized by METRAC. It will cover topics on safety and legal response that survivors have, including safely taking their children with them when they leave. Online via Zoom on September 24, 2025.
National Newcomer Collective for Truth and Reconciliation (NNCTR) is holding a virtual meet and greet for the immigrant and refugee-serving sector to learn how to advance Truth & Reconciliation in the Settlement Sector. The Ontario gathering will be held on September 17, 2025 10 am EST. Register by September 12!
Canada led on AI but now risks falling behind. Can the government scale up adoption and strike a balance between regulation and commercialization before foreign competition overtakes us? Join a discussion with Canada’s first AI Minister, Evan Solomon, co-hosted with Martin Regg Cohn and Hossein Rahnama. Friday, September 19, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM EDT.
From Insights to Action: Cybersecurity for Nonprofits, Stronger Together
Join a two-part webinar series designed specifically for nonprofit professionals, organized by the Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience . A panel discussion will be followed by a live cyber incident simulation —experience the pressure, make decisions, and learn how to respond in real time. October 1st from 12PM - 1PM EST.
Most refugee hearings in Canada are now held virtually and will be for the foreseeable future. The Virtual Hearings Circle (VHC) project at Toronto Metropolitan University brought together twelve participants for a day-long discussion to better understand certain potential risks. You can read their observations in “Virtual Hearings Circle: Report 2025”.
Underserved: Ontario’s employment services are failing those in greatest need
Ontario’s new Integrated Employment Services (IES) system promises to help all job seekers find sustainable employment. But new data analysis reveals a troubling reality: The system is systematically failing social assistance recipients and other equity-deserving groups. A new policy brief from Maytree Foundation.
Adoption Ready? The AI Exposure of Jobs and Skills in Canada's Public Sector Workforce
As the speed of AI innovation and the urgency for adoption pick up, we face a critical choice: will we lead this AI transformation thoughtfully, or will it lead us? Read a new report from the Future Skills Centre focusing on how Canada’s nonprofit and social impact sectors can harness the transformative power of AI.
Understanding the Experiences of African Asylum Seekers in Peel, York Region and Toronto
This research study by United Way Greater Toronto seeks to better understand how African refugee asylum seekers were connecting to and interacting with systems of support in Peel, York Region and Toronto. The research was led by a joint research team from the United Way and the Centre for Community Based Research (CCBR).
The Public Health Agency of Canada has released a new data tool where users can explore data from a study on youth and young adults aged 12 to 25 living in Canada, from 2015 to 2022. The tool presents data on 4 mental health outcomes, and allows comparisons by immigrant status and other demographic factors.
Soumettez votre application pour le Programme Nouveaux Horizons pour les aînés- Projets communautaires, jusqu’à 25 000 $. Lisez le formulaire en ligne et le guide du demandeur sur le site Web d’Emploi et Développement social Canada (EDSC). La date limite pour présenter une demande sera le 17 septembre 2025 à 15 h, heure avancée de l’Est.
Submit your application to NHSP community-based projects, up to $25,000 by September 17, 2025, at 3:00 PM EST. View the online application and applicant guide on the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) website.
Early Bird Deadline OCASI Professional Development Conference 2025
Canada’s First AI Minister at TMU Democracy Forum
From Insights to Action: Cybersecurity for Nonprofits, Stronger Together
