Overview > Project background information
In 2005, OCASI concluded a community-based research on the role of immigrant and refugee-serving organizations in fostering community leadership and participation. The report from this research was entitled "When Services Are Not Enough". The purpose of the research project was to gain a better understanding of what community leadership is, how it manifests itself in society, and to explore and document the role of immigrant service organizations in promoting community leadership development that fosters participation and inclusion at different sites of civil society.
One relevant finding from the research was that immigrant and refugee-serving are spaces and places where communities receive the tools they require to empower themselves, they are agents of social change and a location where participation is valued, recognized and encouraged as sites of social organization and mobilization. The report states:
"There must be recognition that such organizations are more than service providers. This must begin with a change in language that names such organizations as more than a vehicle for delivering services as currently implied in a producer- consumer relationship. In order for this to be realized, such organizations must be supported in the work that they do that is not simply settlement service related or service provision related. There must be support for innovation in program development and delivery, advocacy, community organizing and initiatives that address the needs of communities as articulated by the communities themselves."
In the 2003 paper Immigrant Settlement and Social Inclusion in Canada, Ratna Omidvar and Ted Richmond argue that for true inclusion to occur, the newcomer settlement sector must be reformed. In essence, Omidvar and Richmond state that immigrants and refugees must be full participants in the decision-making process in the development of economic, political, social, and cultural policies and institutional mechanisms. Full participation begins with the development of new concepts and values of diversity, and the implementation of new forms and methods of civic engagement and participation.
Project Overview
Community-based organizations, in particular immigrant and refugee-serving organizations are ideally placed to provide information and resources to its communities, to facilitate community engagement and participation and to foster community development initiatives. Is in these immigrant-service organizations where many immigrants and refugees are encouraged to move from being clients to being active volunteers and participants in those activities.
Results from the Environment Scan Survey demonstrate that the immigrant service sector have a variety of programs and services in areas of community development, civic participation and engagement and social inclusion a well as volunteer capacity building programs. However, many of them indicated that financial as well as other systemic and organizational barriers hinder the development and implementation of such programs. The need for organizational change and training for managers and front-line workers was also highlighted. Click here for a summary of Newcomer and Organizational Barriers to Engagement, produced through literature review, consultation with key informants and survey analysis.
Recommendations from the "When Services Are Not Enough" research also indicated that there must be support for innovation in program development and delivery, advocacy, community organizing and initiatives that address the needs of communities as articulated by the communities themselves as well as that there is no single standard model that will effectively support community leadership development in a diverse society.
Through the OCASI Promoting Newcomer Integration and Social Inclusion Project, partners are sharing several promising practices and resources that address some of these recommendations, findings from the Survey, as well as some of the identified barriers at the individual and organizational level.
OCASI also identified several programs and resources developed by other community organizations that can be useful to immigrant service organizations.
Another resource developed by OCASI is the Facilitator Guide to Encourage Newcomer Voluntarism - PDF format (369 KB, 55 pages). The purpose of this Guide is to provide staff and volunteers who work with newcomers with a practical and easy to use resource to assist them to introduce newcomers to opportunities to become engaged in civic and community participation through voluntarism (download Power Point slides for the related workshop - PDF format (100 KB, 16 pages).
The use and implementation of these practices, resources and tools will enable organizations to:
- Assist newcomers in their process of settlement and integration by providing them with information of and access to citizenship engagement opportunities including volunteerism
- Assist immigrants to become involved in their communities and the larger Canadian society by sponsoring community development initiatives.
- Promote immigrants' awareness of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, including human rights, tolerance and respect for diversity, as well as support them to exercise these rights and responsibilities through active community participation.