August 1, is emancipation day, a day when African Canadians along with others of the African diaspora throughout the Americas (including the Caribbean) and Europe, reflect and pay homage to the ancestors who resisted and survived their enslavement as an African people, so that we can be here… so that I can be here.
Brampton Multicultural Community Centre has won the 2019 Top Settlement Agency Award. This award is organized across Canada by RBC and the Canadian Immigrant Magazine to recognize the amazing work agencies do to help newcomers settle and succeed. BMC was established in 1987 to serve and work with newcomers to facilitate their settlement and integration in Canada.
OCASI will soon share details about the Professional Development Conference for frontline workers and managers in OCASI member agencies, and for Ontario’s immigrant and refugee-serving sector in general. Visit our website often or sign up for updates at www.ocasi.org
OCASI Employees Unionized
On June 25 2019 the staff at OCASI voted to unionize. Unifor was certified as the union representing the employees.
OCASI Access & Equity Regional Champion at the ECLYPSE Youth Centre in Peel Region has organized the Centre’s first ever Under The Stars Pride Prom Event in Brampton on August 24th, 2019! This event is open to youth and allies of the LGBTQ+ Community as well as any individuals who identify with having an in/visible disability.
OCASI had a strong presence at the International Metropolis Conference 2019 held on June 24 to 28 in Ottawa – Gatineau. We acknowledge with gratitude financial support from World Education Services (WES) that made it possible for OCASI staff and member agencies to attend the Conference.
“This week I had to pull some data from OCMS and I felt very glad in that moment that we had OCMS as our internal database. OCMS affords our agency the ability to organize all program data in one database... With OCMS, our clients are entered only once as contacts but then added to various programs streamlining the data entry process.”
Canadians should take pride in protecting people fleeing from countries where their safety and human rights are at risk. Refugees share culture, strengthen communities, and help build our economy. Canadians value compassion, equality and safety for all, these values should be the foundation of sound refugee policy. Check out this new social media campaign by Canadian Council for Refugees and allies.
WES Gateway Program by World Education Services can help those who fled their home country with limited proof of educational achievements. The program can validate and assess the education of individuals displaced by political unrest, conflict, and natural disasters even when verifiable documents are not available. It is currently limited to education acquired in one of 7 countries.
Are you a youth-led or youth-serving organization looking to improve outcomes for young people in your community? Are you looking to use the Collective Impact approach to help you get there? Apply for a Youth CI grant. Deadline August 23, 2019. Access the online application portal here. If you have any questions contact info@youthci.ca
The Democratic Engagement Exchange housed at Ryerson University's Faculty of Arts wants to build a vibrant and inclusive democracy where everyone living in Canada can contribute to building healthy communities and finding solutions to our most pressing challenges. The Exchange is running a "VOTE 2019" campaign to empower local organizations to promote democratic engagement in their communities.
A few weeks ago Daniel Hiebert from University of British Columbia presented newly uploaded Toronto data on the Superdiversity website. The website uses Census and immigration data to provide vizualization of layers of superdiversity and tools to examine connections between different types of diversity, and then explore the relationship between diversity and socio-economic outcomes.
Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre, TAIBU Community Health Centre and partners invite you to Amazwi Abantu, Voices of the People – A Knowledge Exchange Event. The event is focused on poverty and equity and learning about the lived experiences and realities of those impacted most. Thursday August 8, 2019 to Saturday August 10, 2019 at Hamilton Convention Centre.
It’s time for child care for all. We can solve Canada’s child care crisis. Pledge your support, and help make quality, affordable child care available for every family who wants it..
Steps to Justice now has information for refugee claimants about getting legal help.
La version française sera disponible ultérieurement. Visitez : www.justicepasapas.ca
NEW REPORT | Social Inclusion in Toronto
Toronto Public Health and Wellesley Institute undertook a two-part exploratory project to identify how to further promote social inclusion in Toronto. Promoting Health and Well-Being through Social Inclusion in Toronto is a new report that identifies 3 priority areas & 10 actions to strengthen social infrastructure and create change at a broader systemic level.
