North York Community House (NYCH) has released a new report titled DIY: Immigrant Entrepreneurs are Doing it for Themselves. Results of this study show that more immigrants to Toronto are starting their own small businesses for many reasons, including as a response to an unfavourable job market, to supplement a low-income, and to work flexibly according to their own schedule.
Developed by OCASI; OrgWise - Organizational Standards is an online system that benchmarks best practices and builds organizational capacity within the immigrant and refugee-serving sector in Ontario. OrgWise starts with a voluntary self-assessment that measures the health of organizations then links users to the hub of accessible capacity building resources and training. The OrgWise self-assessment tool is a first step to good risk management practices and a means to champion activities, address organizational development issues, and celebrate successes.
Designed with organizational capacity-building in mind, OCASI's facilitator-led workshops train staff and managers to create Positive Spaces within their organizations, and to work respectfully and effectively with LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, two-spirit, queer, and/or questioning) newcomers and refugees. Each workshop is four hours long, for a total of 16 hours of training, and can be offered anywhere in Ontario.
On July 15, 2013, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) launched its new policy Removing Canadian Experience as a Barrier to Employment. The policy aims to clarify the existing code grounds where discrimination is prohibited in employment. The Commission boldly states in the policy that requiring Canadian experience as a condition of employment is discriminatory on its face and the onus is on employers to prove that there is a legitimate and necessary reason for such a requirement. This is significant.
The Agency of the Future Project, which began life as a partnership between Pathways to Prosperity and OCASI, focuses on developing a new business model for settlement agencies, one that is better attuned to emerging opportunities and constraints, as well as the sector's comparative strengths.