Meet OCASI 40th Anniversary Award Recipients
OCASI celebrated people and organizations in Ontario who make a difference in the immigrant and refugee serving sector at a Gala held on November 6, 2018.
November 2018
It has been a very busy last few weeks as we prepared for and welcomed over two hundred sector leaders to our biennial Executive leadership conference; and marked forty years of OCASI’s policy advocacy, activism and sector development with a successful gala. It was a time of celebration, of congratulatory remarks, and acknowledgement of the resiliency of the sector and the impact it has had on the lives of tens of thousands of refugees, (im)migrants and Canadians. We laughed, we danced and we debated and we learned.
It was a side gathering of the rebels in the crowd during the Canadian federal government’s first gathering of service agencies, academics and government workers on immigration and settlement services. The year was 1977 or thereabouts. This small group of rabble rousers, many working in the fields of community development and organizing, cross-cultural education and communication, women’s rights and the Canadian version of the civil rights movement found each other.
Designed to recognize the efforts and work made by an OCASI Member Agency. This award recognizes an organization for its work in advancing the immigrant and refugee serving sector agenda through cross-sectoral collaborations and innovative practices and who have taken an active role in their commitment to equity and social justice to improve the lives of newcomers to Ontario.
Almost 30% of Ontario residents were born outside Canada. Immigrants, refugees, migrant workers and international students are critical to Ontario’s economic growth, and make Ontario communities strong.
Municipal leaders have an important role to play in building strong communities that welcome everyone, and that build on the full potential of refugees, immigrants and migrants.
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