In the Field

The long awaited 2016 census on immigration and the ethno-racial diversity of Canada has been released. The numbers tell an exciting story of a Canada becoming increasingly racially diverse, a provincial nominee program regime that is meeting its overarching goal of destining immigrants (including refugees) away from the three major immigration hubs of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and the promise of younger immigrant and Indigenous populations. The shift in immigration numbers away from Ontario and British Columbia in the five years prior to 2016 also speak to the economic realities of the past decade where (other than the last two to three years) the extractive industries of Alberta and Saskatchewan attracted workers from the rest of Canada, including new immigrants.Farewell speech at OCASI Annual General Meeting by Ibrahim Absiye, President of OCASI.

My fellow members of this Council, associate members and other colleagues, I want to take a few minutes of your time to talk about my feelings today about who we are as a sector. And let me begin with my own personal experience.

It has been a rough period for the estimated 800,000 "Dreamers" in the U.S. — young people who availed themselves of the protections of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program over the past few years. DACA was implemented to give certain young, undocumented migrants, who were brought to the U.S. as minors, temporary protection from deportation action as well as the ability to work legally while in the States.

This August long weekend in Canada was a time for much discussion of what this civic holiday means for different parts of the country. In Ontario, there’s a mishmash of understanding of why we take off the first Monday in the month. For many it’s just a day off. For others (especially Torontonians and those in the Greater Toronto area) its Simcoe day and still for others, especially Ontario’s Black communities, its Emancipation Day, a commemoration of the end of the enslavement of Black people here in Canada* and throughout the Americas (1834).

A Free Workshop on recent changes to Housing, Employment, Immigration and Citizenship law

Organized by the Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic

Date: Friday, November 24, 2017
Time: 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
Location: Steelworkers Hall
25 Cecil Street, Toronto, Ontario

Speakers

Have Clients who are New to Canada who Want to Start a Business?

Scadding Court is hosting two business information sessions for newcomers and refugees on September 13th and 20th to discuss compliance issues, share successful entrepreneur stories, provide mentorship opportunities and prepare vendors to test their business ideas at a Market slated for October 2017.

This short month with the longest day in the year is unfolding with a packed legislative and policy agenda at all levels of government. From the City of Toronto (where OCASI’s offices are located) to Queen’s Park to Parliament Hill, announcements from our elected leaders have been raining down from on high: Most of it good.

Earlier this month the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) released the report Under Suspicion: Research and Consultation Report on Racial Profiling in Ontario. It is chockful of personal examples of how racial profiling tears at the soul of those profiled, reinforces the sense of otherness that many who are racialized experience, and undermines the social cohesion we so desperately need if this Canadian political project of diversity and inclusion is to be a success.

This year OCASI, Its members and allied organizations and groups decided to declare April Refugee Rights Month. The Anniversary of the Singh decision which falls on April 4th is a time to celebrate the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects the fundamental rights of refugees – that in Canada refugees too have a right to life, liberty and security of persons.