Legislation & Public Policies

New Fact Sheets Show Growing Racial Disparities in Canada

Media Release

March 21, 2019 / Toronto - Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change (COP-COC) is releasing today a new set of fact sheets showing racial disparities in education & learning, employment, food & water security, health & child welfare, housing & homelessness, income & social assistance, immigration & newcomer settlement, justice & policing, and poverty, to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Section 91 Questions and Answers from IRCC

Questions and Answers on the provision of immigration and citizenship information and advice by NGOs/SPOs (in relation to section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and section 21.1 of the Citizenship Act)

Click here for the document in PDF format.

- This document was provided by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to the Canadian Council for Refugees in March 2019.

International Migrants Day 2018 - OCASI Statement

December 18, 2018 / Toronto – Today, on International Migrants Day, OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants celebrates the struggles, accomplishments and contributions of the thousands of migrant workers and migrants in Canada.

We remind ourselves that all migrants have basic rights in Canada, and these rights must be respected and all migrants treated with dignity.

Respect the Rights of Children and Youth

November 22, 2018 / Toronto – OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants is deeply concerned about the Ontario government’s decision to eliminate the position of the Ontario Child Advocate.

Children and youth in this province will no longer have an independent, non-partisan voice that puts their rights and well-being first. Ontario joins Prince Edward Island and the North West Territories as the only jurisdictions in Canada without an independent voice for children and youth.

Ontario Workers Deserve Respect and Dignity: OCASI Statement on Bill 47

November 20, 2018 / Toronto - OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants calls on the government of Ontario to treat workers with respect and dignity by withdrawing Bill 47 and restoring proactive workplace inspections for compliance with the Employment Standards Act.

OCASI is the umbrella organization for immigrant and refugee serving agencies in Ontario and the collective voice for the sector, with 234 member agencies located in communities across the province.

Advancing Decent Work

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.

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