Position Papers & Backgrounders

Colour of Poverty - Colour of Change ( July 11, 2016 ) - The Government of Ontario has committed to creating an Anti-Racism Directorate (ARD). It is now engaging in a series of community dialogues with the public to provide feedback on the ARD’s mandate, and identify priority areas of the directorate’s work, to apply an anti-racism perspective to all government policies, practices, programs and services.

Colour of Poverty - Colour of Change on Tuesday October 4, 2016, launched a legislative framework that it has proposed to the Ontario Government, in order to support and strengthen the mandate of the Anti-Racism Directorate (ARD). Read below for the proposed draft legislation, or scroll down for the document in PDF format.

An Act respecting Anti-Racism in Ontario

Preamble

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,