The Trudeau government has just announced that all who are resident in Canada with irregular immigration status can now submit a one-page application online requesting permanent residence. Those who are refused refugee claimants, undocumented, visitors with visas about to expire- all regardless of disability or health status or engagement with carceral systems (police, jails, prisons) are welcome.
A new report by Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) finds middle management is one group that makes or breaks efforts to build immigrant-inclusive teams in the workplace. Workplace inclusion starts with executive leadership, but it is the everyday choices and actions of middle managers that pave the way for immigrant professionals to reach their full potential.
“Solidarity between immigrants, refugee and Indigenous peoples: A focus on Gender-Based Violence” is a self-directed course for settlement workers to understand the shared history, present-day experiences, and information on GBV relevant to the Original peoples of this land in order to build solidarity amongst Indigenous and migrant peoples.
Opportunity: Centering the voices and experiences of service providers in our sector!
OCASI is participating in the Leading Social Justice Fellowship, a partnership between United Way Greater Toronto and U of T School of Cities. We are organizing arts-based workshops to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on women service providers in the settlement sector. Interested in participating?
OCASI hosted community engagement sessions to identify priorities for non-status, refugee and immigrant (NSRI) women across Canada for the National Action Plan (NAP) to Address GBV. We are now working with our partners on an advocacy campaign and sector report to reflect the needs and demands of NSRI women and the organizations that support them.
This article outlines the many of the services and benefits made possible through taxes. Newcomers might be eligible for benefit and credit payments even if they just arrived and have no income in Canada. Newcomers can also watch a CRA video available in 12 different languages.
OCASI-Positive Spaces Initiative is excited to launch new online courses and updated website this spring. The online courses include 3 new modules to complement and build on the existing ones. Find them on Learn at Work. With the updated website and new online courses we will further build organizational capacity to better serve LGBTQIA+ immigrants, refugees, and newcomers. Stay Tuned!
Online Learning at OCASI
Check out these self-directed online professional development training programs for Settlement practitioners:
Training for Employment Support Services (TESS) course with new content reflecting legislative, social, political, and economic changes since 2017 will launch on June 1, 2021.
Foundations of Settlement Work, Level 1 & Level 2 are offered in English and French. Register today!
Power At Your Fingertips
Need to streamline client information for your agency? Generate reports quickly and easily? Meet last-minute funder changes in reporting? Discover how by watching the OCMS video or sign up for a webinar. OCASI Client Management System was developed by the sector for the sector, and is exclusively user-fee supported. Contact Elena Trapeznikova elena@ocasi.org
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SECTOR HAPPENINGS
Take The Survey: Blackness in Canada Project
Participate in a landmark national survey to capture any experience of racism and discrimination on various racialized groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey is by the Blackness in Canada Project, which investigates the Black Canadian population as a national ethnoracial identity to determine promising approaches to alleviate anti-Black racism.
Ressources de communication relatives à la COVID-19
Trouvez des ressources en plusieurs langues pour aider les efforts de communication relatifs à la COVID-19 à l’échelle locale, y compris des informations sur les vaccins COVID-19, des infographies et plus encore.
COVID-19 & Vaccine Information - Multiple Languages
Find resources in multiple languages to help local communication efforts in responding to COVID-19, including information about COVID-19 vaccines, infographics and more.
City of Toronto has produced a variety of different resources on COVID-19 Vaccines in 31 different languages. They are free to download. Scroll down to the end of the page to find a video in ASL on YouTube.
In response to the major challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has created, a group of organizations have come together to put forward recommendations to strengthen the nonprofit sector, linking the health of the sector to the pursuit of an equitable recovery.
The Prosperity Project™ is developing 5 important initiatives to ensure women are not forgotten during the pandemic – and are not left behind when we recover. These range from helping non-profit organizations that focus on women meet funding challenges to undertaking research to understand how COVID-19 is affecting family life, work/life integration and women’s responsibilities at home.
Read the Spring 2021 BMRC Research Digest featuring an introduction to the research project, “Sanctuary cities in Canada: practices, needs and policies”. Read the digest in English.
The report by the Canadian Arab Institute (CAI), aims to provide information and data about the barriers and challenges to social engagement and volunteerism amongst Arab seniors in Canada, and to suggest ways that groups and organizations can engage them.
Do Better: 2SLGBTQ+ Youth Recommendations for Change in Ontario
This report draws from LGBT YouthLine’s Needs Assessment, “We’re Here: 2SLGBTQ+ Youth across Ontario Assert Needs and Experiences,” where almost 1,200 2SLGBTQ+ youth from across Ontario shared their experiences, dreams, and demands for change.
The Black Health Equity Working Group has developed a governance framework for health data collected from Black communities in Ontario. The objective was to address concerns from Black communities about the continued extraction of data from them without the return of tangible benefits.
“Breaking the Cycle of Abuse and Closing the Housing Gap: Second Stage Shelters in Canada” examines the spectrum of supports for survivors of IPV and how second stage shelters address and close housing gaps and break the cycle of abuse.
“Building understanding: The first report of the National Advisory Council on Poverty (2020)” was released in January 2021. It is a progress report for 2020 and continues Canada’s discussion on poverty by bringing forward the voices of individuals with lived expertise of poverty.
