The day began with the news that the statue of Egerton Ryerson, often lauded as the father of education, but more recently and more accurately known as a key architect of (Indian) Residential Schools, outside Ryerson University was torn down. The sculptured head was detached and dropped into the Toronto Harbour. A symbolic move, but one that resonated with many whose families experienced the violence of the residential school system.
WoodGreen Community Services & JobStart To Integrate
The two organizations will offer employment and workforce-development services programming jointly under the WoodGreen banner starting on July 1, 2021. The move will allow for the development and delivery of stronger employment, settlement, and workforce-development programs to more clients across Toronto.
OCASI is shocked and outraged by the mass murder of a Muslim family in London, Ontario on Sunday June 6, 2021. It was a deliberate act of hate, Islamophobia and terrorism.
OCASI mourns the children found in unmarked burial sites at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. Our hearts are heavy at the profound loss of 215 young lives cut short, to the families, communities, Indigenous Peoples and the country.
OCASI is excited to announce the launch of our Positive Spaces Initiative (PSI) quarterly newsletter. Distributed 4 times a year, the Newsletter will include PSI News, Sector Updates, and a Featured Resource relevant to LGBTQIA+ newcomers and the immigrant and refugee-serving sector. Look for our first issue on June 28, 2021.
This final report from Allies for Refugee Integration (ARI) explores the findings and recommendations from our pilots tested across Ontario to improve settlement-sponsor collaboration in support of privately sponsored refugees. ARI is in the final stage of a SDI IRCC funded project led by OCASI and Refugee 613.
Community Legal Clinic lawyers presented information, answered questions and discussed gaps at a May 18, 2021 OCASI Town Hall on the New Pathways to Permanent Residence. The New Pathways is a temporary public policy by IRCC that began accepting applications on May 1, 2021.
An OCMS user tells us, "OCMS is a great tool. For case management of our clients, it is extremely helpful. All of the client's information is located on this system... Workers can then see everything that has been done for the client. Furthermore, action plans and follow-ups can be done more easily..."
Want your content on the community to be highlighted? Let the SettleNet.org team know before the 3rd Thursday of each month when the newsletter is sent.
SECTOR HAPPENINGS
Justice for Workers Teach-In
On June 12, 2021 11am - 2:30pm join the first teach-in for the Justice for Workers campaign. Learn about the movement for decent work, workers' rights and how to organize to win. Organized by Workers Action Centre.
Canadian Council for Refugees Working Group Meetings
Do you want to be part of efforts to promote rights for refugees? Want to participate in in-depth discussions on pressing issues affecting refugees and immigrants in Canada? Looking for an opportunity to share information and strategies with others from across Canada? Participate in the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) Spring Working Group Meetings on June 14-17, 2021
On June 20th, Father’s Day / World Refugee Day, gather wherever you are with friends, family, co-workers and comrades for permanent resident status for all migrants, including refugees, students, workers & undocumented people. Most racialized undocumented people are shut out of permanent resident status, have no rights or services, and live under threat of deportation. Join / Organize an Action!
Toronto City Council adopted the new strategy on June 8. The new strategy responds to significant developments since 2013, when the first strategy was adopted, including increase in newcomer arrivals and impact of COVID-19.
Rethinking vaccine confidence: Supporting uptake through equitable community responses on June 21, 2021 12:00–1:30 p.m. (ET) by National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health. Panelists will share challenges, lessons and strategies to improve vaccine uptake and ensure accessible, equitable and community-informed vaccine roll-out. Webinar will include experiences from Indigenous, Black communities, people experiencing homelessness and precarious housing.
The Generation Equality Forum will be the largest global feminist gathering since 1995: governments, international organizations, civil society, the private sector and young people will come together to drive gender equality forward. It is a multi-actor and intergenerational gathering: encourages all participation; held virtually from June 30 to July 2. Register before 27 June 2021 at 23:59 (GMT+2).
The new Women’s Employment Readiness (WER) Pilot Program by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) will fund organizations to test and provide pre-employment and skill development supports for women who face multiple barriers. Review the Applicant Guide and Funding Page. Deadline June 30, 2021.
Intersectoral Action Fund
The Fund by Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) will support communities to build capacity for intersectoral action on social determinants of health. Proposals can include new intersectoral initiatives to address gaps or respond to challenges exposed by COVID-19, or build on or advance existing initiatives, to expand reach or impact. Deadline July 12, 2021, 3 pm EST.
Two new funding opportunities are available in Canada: one on employer practices to support economic integration of immigrants and refugees deadline June 30, 2021; another, a general call for proposals on ideas aligned with the Fund’s overall grant making priorities deadline August 2, 2021. Apply through the WES Mariam Assefa Fund’s new online application portal.
“From Silos to Solutions: Toward Sustainable and Equitable Hybrid Service Delivery in the Immigrant & Refugee-Serving Sector in Canada” was released in April 2021 by the Settlement Sector and Technology Task Group. The Task Group was established by IRCC to discover, examine, and learn about the settlement sector’s needs to fully transition to a digital and a hybrid service delivery model.
This edition of the Sector Monitor by Imagine Canada details how charities have been adapting to the ongoing challenges of the pandemic. It looks at impact on demand for services, organizational capacity, areas of organizational focus, availability of financial and human resources, and impact of governmental supports.
Wellesley Institute revisits the topic of racial inequity, investigating whether associations between racial composition, vaccination rates, and COVID -19 infection rates have changed over time. It follows an earlier publication that reported that areas in Ontario with higher rates of COVID-19 had lower rates of vaccination, and that this pattern was greatest in the City of Toronto.
By Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), the project tracks and visualizes the massive and extraordinary expansions of police power in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and unequal patterns of enforcement. Read more for raw data and a new report COVID-19 and Law Enforcement in Canada: The Second Wave from May 13, 2021.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration reports on the results of its study on how the pandemic has affected Canadian immigration. It touches on issues pertaining to the three classes of Canadian immigration: economic, family, and refugee.
