January 2017
OCASI wrote to newly sworn-in federal government Ministers Ahmed Hussen, Patty Hadju and Maryam Monsef to congratulate them on their new Cabinet appointments and to introduce the Council and our priorities. Follow the links to read the OCASI letters to the Ministers.

Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Who we are and purpose of the survey

Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic is a community based legal clinic that provides free legal services to low income, non-English speaking clients from the Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian communities in the Greater Toronto Area.

Are you funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and/or Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration (MCI)?

OCASI is accepting applications for In-House Group Training under the Professional Education and Training Project (PET).

PET has lots of funds waiting to help you meet your professional development needs – funding to assist you with delivering in-house group training topics for all your staff!

NOTE:  We have increased the maximum funds from $2000 to $2,500 for this fiscal year!

November has been filled with surprises so far. Here it is mid-month and at the time of this writing we are enjoying weather that reminds us of early Fall. The leaves are mostly gone but the memory of the glorious reds, yellows, oranges and browns are fresh in our minds and remind us of why we treasure our country and its changing seasons.

In the last few weeks, we lost two stalwarts of the sector – Kay Blair and Fred Franklin. Both were extraordinary leaders in the social justice work of the sector, Kay with a focus on immigrant settlement, and women economic and social empowerment; and Fred on refugee protection and detention issues for all those imprisoned, refugees or not.

A Professional Development/Training Opportunity for Community Service Providers and legal clinic caseworkers

At this workshop, find out about the residency requirements for accessing various government benefits, including Ontario Health Insurance Program (OHIP), Old Age Security (OAS), Canada Child Benefit (CCB), and Toronto subsidized housing. Let’s explore what role community service providers could play to assist their clients.

Mental Health: A Training Series for Frontline Workers Serving Immigrants and Refugees

This OCASI project is part of ongoing work and dialogue within the sector to create effective service provision.

The goal of the Mental Health: A Training Series for Community Workers Serving Immigrants and Refugees project is to provide:

a) face to face interactive workshops; and