ImmigrantChildren.ca Archive

Category: Ontario

ON

  • Settlement workers in schools

    Settlement Workers in the Schools (SWIS) is a partnership of Ontario school boards, the settlement sector and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Ten SWIS programs operate in Ontario.
    School is one of the first public institutions that children and families encounter. A program like SWIS has an ideal opportunity to support immigrant integration by introducing newcomers to their new community and connecting families with information, resources and support as they navigate the school system.
    This fall, SWIS will again be delivering Newcomer Orientation Week in 60 schools across Ontario, including a French language counterpart, SONA. New this year, a middle-school program, WIN (Welcome and Information for Newcomers) will be piloted in 16 schools in Ottawa, Peel, Toronto and Windsor. For more information on SWIS, including their latest newsletter, see atwork.settlement.org.
    Coming soon to immigrantchildren.ca ~ full contact information for all SWIS sites.

  • Ontario gov't consultation on live-in caregivers and other 'temporary' workers

    The Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL) has released a consultation paper on temporary foreign workers and is inviting comment from interested stakeholders.
    The paper, entitled A Consultation Paper on Foreign and Resident Employment Recruitment in Ontario, addresses live-in caregivers. From the Minister of Labour, The Honourable Peter Fonseca:

    “…I have personally attended community roundtables for caregivers, where I have heard disturbing stories about the treatment of people who come to this country hoping for a better life for themselves and their families, yet fail to realize their dream or pay too high a price … live-in caregivers, come to Ontario through programs designed and administered by the federal government. In my discussions with caregivers and those who advocate for them, it has become clear that these programs create situations where vulnerable workers are ripe for exploitation. While Ontario will continue to help improve the working conditions of vulnerable workers, the federal government must do its part and address the flaws in the LCP and other programs”.

    To submit comments, fax the MOL at 416.314.5855 to the attention of “Foreign and Resident Employment Recruitment”, mail to Foreign and Resident Employment Recruitment, 400 University Ave., 12th floor, Toronto ON M7A 1T7 or email recruitmentconsultations@ontario.ca. Deadline is August 21/09.
    Related resource: Are you a caregiver in the Federal live-in caregiver program? information sheet.

  • Will work for (because of) art

    A Regent Park (Toronto) arts program ED saw that staff didn’t reflect the cultural community it served; that children had limited notions of what art/craft is; and that immigrant artisan women were seeking employment and created the Artisan Training and Employment Project.
    Now in its third year, the Artisan Training and Employment Project brings together newcomer artisan women with the children of Regent Park, Toronto, in an arts program that supports employment training for immigrant women – and expands for children the notion of what art is. A win-win. The project provides part-time work, employment and training to newcomer women through the ArtHeart, Community Art Centre.
    The project reports success in the women finding work after the program. For more info see the power point presentation posted at the CERIS site.

  • "Peel Immigration Papers"

    In May, CERIS (The Joint Centre of Excellence for Research in Immigration Studies and Ontario Metropolis Centre) held a seminar based on research conducted in several areas, culminating in the Peel Immigration Papers. The papers include issues related to children and families. They are:

    • Meeting the human service needs of immigrants. Speaker: Sarah V. Wayland, Wayland Consulting.
    • Meeting the needs of immigrants throughout the life cycle. Speaker: Ilene Hyman, UT.
    • From generation to generation. Speaker: Michelle P. Goldberg, OISE/UT.

    Wayland’s presentation provides an overview of the issues and makes recommendations for optimal service delivery. Hyman’s presentatiaon (developed with Judith K. Bernhard and Ellen Tate) closely examines the importance of early childhood education in their overview of the issues and in their recommendations. Finally, Goldberg’s presentation (developed with Sarah V. Wayland) examines supports to families and communities in the areas of: Academic supports; Emotional and social supports; Mitigating the effects of poverty; and Building community social capital. We hope that the full papers – from which these presentations were based – are also made available online.

  • New Visa requirement for Mexico impacts children

    The Globe and Mail is reporting that a number of children, registered to attend a summer camp in Ontario, are now being turned away, due to the new regulations requiring visas for Mexicans.
    From today’s G&M story (July 20/09):

    “The government introduced (the) restrictions in response to the burgeoning number of refugee claims made by Mexicans who show up on Canadian soil. Citizenship and Immigration Canada said this week the number of claims has tripled to more than 9,400 since 2005.
    (Camp Director) Mr. Diamond said the families who’ve sent their children to Camp Manitou pay nearly $5,000 for the privilege, so they are not your typical refugee claimants”.

    Refugee claimants as campers. Who knew?

  • Ottawa's child settlement program

    The Ottawa Social Planning Council released “Immigrants’ Economic Integration: Successes and Challenges” last week. The report examines the social and economic integration of newcomers to Ottawa and includes discussion of the settlement needs of children. From an article in today’s Ottawa Citizen:

    A young person who moves here from another country faces a whole spectrum of things on top of the usual trials of growing up, says Hamdi Mohamed, executive director of the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO).
    “They live in a community that is really struggling, in a family that is struggling, where the father, the mother, the other siblings are all going through their own settlement experiences,” says Mohamed. “On top of that, the father may have three jobs, the mother may be working as well, so the problems are there, but the role models are not available.”
    Mohamed says immigrant children struggle in particular with multiple identities. They are new Canadians who often have strong ties to their homeland, something the Canadian-born may tell them is disloyal….
    “The reality of these children is they’re told ‘You must fit in this box or you don’t belong.’ And yet they know they have multiple identities, but they don’t yet know that there are beautiful things about that,” says Mohamed.

    In response, OCISO has launched a program that may be piloted in schools and other community locations to assist immigrant children and youth with issues in integration and also in maintaining home language, culture and practices. Other ISOs in the Ottawa area are on board. Read the full article here.
    Related resource: See OSPCs 2007 paper “Is Everybody Here? Inclusion and Exclusion Ottawa of Families with Young Children in the Ottawa Area”.

  • Early learning report for blending child care and kindergarten

    Charles Pascal has completed his two-year long investigation into early learning in Ontario. His report calls for a blending of child care and kindergarten. Read about Pascal, his approach to the work, and dowload a copy of the report, Our Best Future: Early Learning in Ontario, at the Ministry of Children and Youth website.
    There is no substantial discussion on immigrant, refugee or newcomer children, but “diversity” appears several times throughout the report:

    In Chapter 1, “Our best future is one in which all children are … respectful of the diversity of their peers” (p. 7).
    In the section discussing schools as the hub of the community, Pascal admits that “Concerns have been voiced that some schools are often unwelcoming to parents, dismissive of the expertise of community partners, and insensitive to the opportunities that diversity can provide for all students” (p. 17).
    In the section on programming, there is a review of the ELECT principles, which include “Respect for diversity, inclusion and equity are prerequisites for optimal development and learning” (p. 26).
    Also in the section on programming, and about ELECT, there is mention that any curricula should “reflect Ontario’s diversity” (p. 29).
    The parental engagement discussion in the report calls on educators to “be thoughtful about who is involved in the process. Many parents commented that existing policies on parent engagement in schools and early childhood programs did not give enough consideration to the splendid diversity in Ontario. Are we truly involving parents if some educators and school leaders, as I have been advised, avoid the Muslim mother because she wears a hijab, or are confused about how to approach same-sex parents or the many configurations of blended families?” (p. 31).
    In the recommendations section: “We must learn from each other. There are excellent examples of critical elements of the new system, across this province – teachers and ECEs working together, school-home based child care, school leaders who know how to engage parents and embrace diversity” (p. 49).
    And, finally, a critical success factor in implementing the new system are: “ECEs with excellent child development knowledge, skills and experience already in place, passion for diversity…”(p. 49).

  • George Brown College summer institute 2009

    Many workshops at the annual George Brown College Summer Institute this year (held in Toronto) address issues of diversity, including:

    Listening to Families: Presenting findings from a research project that demonstrates effective strategies for service providers in meeting the values and priorities of diverse families. Presented by Dr. Mehru Ali, Ryerson University.

    See the web page at George Brown for the full details of the 2009 Summer Institute.

  • The early years study ~ 10 years later

    The landmark Early Years Study, subtitled The Real Brain Drain, was released on April 20, 1999.
    See also a “very brief history” of the Early Years Study posted on the Health Nexus Santé (formerly the Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse) blog in March 2005, including links to the follow-up report The Early Years Study: Three Years Later, recounting how the early years initiative was rolled out in Ontario via the Ontario Early Years Centres.
    Fraser Mustard and the Council on Early Child Development continue to work to raise awareness of and support for an early childhood learning and care program for all children and their families across Canada as the first tier to the formal school system.
    See the upcoming conference sponsored by the Council on Early Child Development May 13-15 in New Brunswick, Putting Science into Action: Equity from the Start Through Early Child Development.
    How responsive have the Ontario Early Years Centres been to immigrant and refugee families and young children?

  • TVO and HIPPY partner for immigrant children's literacy and language development

    Announced yesterday, TVO and HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) will partner to develop and deliver literacy programming for newcomer children. From the press release:

    Phase I of the partnership, currently underway, involves the integration of new TVO resources for early learners into HIPPY’s in-home training programs for parents.HIPPY home visitors will now be using special epidsodes of Gisèle’s Book Club, helping kids and parents discover together the joys of reading and diversity as well as the complete Gisèle’s Big Backyard Get Ready for School DVD and CD-ROM, which helps demystify the transition from preschool to kindergarten.
    For phase II TVO is creating a user-friendly online community set to launch in the Fall of 2009. The site will focus on two key areas of need: delivering skill-based literacy tools that parents can use with their children and addressing the challenges and opportunities related to instilling a sense of cultural identity in New Canadian children as they prepare for Ontario’s school system. Web content will include panel discussions on cultural identity; video profiles of New Canadians telling their stories; instructional videos on How to Read with Your Child … as well as a variety of interactive opportunities, research articles and multi-lingual resources.