Policy

OCASI - Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants submitted a Brief to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities for its review of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

OCASI made the following key observations and recommendations in the Brief:

Key Observations

OCASI letter to Toronto Star, sent on May 15, 2015

OCASI would like to commend Ontario Superior Court Justice Frederick Myers for his recent ruling on police carding in favor of a Sudanese immigrant who was profiled and assaulted by police for exercising his right. The ruling is a first step in the right direction and underscores what a growing number of people in Toronto believes must happen - the end of carding and other racial profiling activities in the name of 'public safety'.

OCASI Executive Director Debbie Douglas appeared as a witness before the Standing Committee on Justice Policy on 16 April 2015 to make a submission on Bill 49 - Ontario Immigration Act, 2015.

The OCASI submission makes several recommendations to strengthen the Bill, including: prioritize permanent immigration over temporary migration; expanding Provincial Nominee Program selection to include low-skilled workers; and strengthen protection of employment and labour protection for migrant workers.

Urban HEART stands for "Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool."

OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants as well as other sector umbrella organizations across Canada were given the opportunity to provide a written submission to CIC NHQ with further input and suggestions on Canada's settlement policy following the conclusion of the National Settlement Conference Vision 2020.

Thank you for applying to host a webcast viewing of the conference!

You will be contacted soon about your application.

Remember, depending on demand, everyone that applies may not receive a virtual "seat" directly,
but we will be working to ensure everyone will have access to a viewing location.

The Minimum Wage Advisory Panel in Ontario has begun public consultations on the minimum wage. Consultations are to be completed by October 18, 2013.

The purpose of the consultations is to receive input and comments on issues raised in a consultation paper that was released on July 17, 2013. The Advisory Panel is seeking input through 9 specific questions detailed in the consultation paper.

08 May 2013/Toronto – OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants is deeply concerned that the Statistics Canada Voluntary Household Survey released today does not capture the full reality of Canada's populations, such as racialized residents, and foreign-born individuals.

The Voluntary Household Survey notes that foreign-born residents were one-fifth, or 20.6% of the Canadian population in 2011. It notes that recent immigrants (2006-2011) represented 3.5% of the total population and 17.2% of the foreign-born population.

OCASI is proud to announce the launch of our School of Social Justice (SSJ) in the Spring of 2013! We are now accepting applications until February 8th.  

In response to drastic cuts to the Interim Federal Health (IFH) program in Canada, 2012 was marked by historic mobilizations where health care workers and allies took to the streets, occupied Conservative MP offices,