ImmigrantChildren.ca Archive

Category: Research

  • Poll on demographic data and visible minorities

    The Globe and Mail and CTV commissioned a poll through the Strategic Council on demographic data and visible minorities/immigrants. Dated April 14/08.
    Some of the findings:
    Question: Is accepting new immigrants of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds a defining and enriching part of our Canadian identity?

    • 30% agreed that “Accommodating so many new Canadians of such diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds means we have less in common as Canadians and that this weakens our sense of national identity”
    • 61% agreed that “Having all this diversity is actually a defining and enriching part of our Canadian identity and strengthen our sense of national identity”.

    Question: Do Canadians feel new immigrants hold on to their customs and traditions for too long?

    • 45% agreed that “New Canadians hold on to their customs and traditions for too long when they come to Canada”.
    • 47% agreed that “New Canadians integrate into Canadian life at a natural and acceptable pace”.

    & other findings:

    • 28% strongly agree that Canadians make too many accommodations to visible minorities in Canada
    • 22% strongly disagree that Canadians make too many accommodations to visible minorities in Canada

    See more at the Strategic Council website.

  • War, immigration and trauma: Sick Kids Hospital conference

    The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto is hosting a two-day conference May 16-17/08 on the theme of War, Immigration and Trauma. Features speakers are:
    Dr. Cecile Rousseau, Head, Transcultural Child Psychiatry Clinic, Montreal Children’s Hospital, on “Trauma as a Transformation Process” and Olara A. Otunnu, UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, on “Protecting our Children from the Scourge of War”.
    Also featured will be 3 expert panels:
    • Child Development: Interactions with Armed Conflict and Migration
    • Therapeutic Interventions: Talking with Children, Talking with Parents
    • Moving to the Next Level: Implications for Policy & Practice.
    For more information, see the conference website or contact Cathy Ditizio, Conference Administrator at: cathy.ditizio@sickkids.ca.

  • George Brown College Summer Institute: Preparing professionals to lead change in the early years

    The annual summer institute, held by George Brown College and the Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development is scheduled this year for June 4/08 and will be held in Toronto. At each summer institute, George Brown College honours an individual for their contribution to the early childhood field. This year, the Summer Institute honours Aster Fessahaie, a 2002 recipient of the Skills for Change New Pioneers Award. See the George Brown College website for more info, or view the PDF georgebrown.

  • Entre deux mers * Between two seas: Bridging children and communities, BC conference

    The Early Childhood Educators of BC, the Canadian Child Care Federation, Ryerson University and the University of Victoria School of Child and Youth Care are sponsoring a conference in Richmond, BC May 29-31/08. Entre Deux Mers * Between Two Seas: Bridging Children and Communities includes many workshops, keynotes and sessions on topics related to immigrant and refugee children and families, including:
    The Ethics of Enacting Children’s Right to Citizenship, with Kylie Smith, research fellow at the Centre for Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
    Refugee Preschool Children as Cultural Mediators, with Darcey M. Dachyshyn, University of Alberta.

    Bridging Children and Communities through Integration of Diversity Training and Teacher Education, with Valerie Rhomberg,  .

    Working with Newcomer Children and Families: The Research and the Realities, with Penny Coates, Office of Early Childhood Development, Learning, and Care, Daljit Gill-Badesha, DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society and Gany Wawa Tut, a Southern Sudanese refugee and parent in Surrey.

    Skilled Dialogue Strategies for Responding to Cultural Diversity, with Cathy Robb, Affiliated Services for Children and Youth.

    Looking Back and Looking Forward: A Pan-Canadian Perspective on Diversity Theory and Practice in Early Childhood, with Gyda Chud, Vancouver Community College, Maryann Bird, formerly of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, and Debra Mayer, SpeciaLink.

    Faces of Diversity: Supporting Children in Early Childhood Programs, with Becky Kelley, Bow Valley Community College.
    Visit the ECEBC website for the conference brochure with registration details and more.

  • Father involvement conference

    The University of Guelph‘s Father Involvement Research Alliance (FIRA) is hosting a conference Oct 22-24/08 in Toronto.
    The FIRA has several areas of focus, including immigrant fathers.
    The theme for the conference is diversity, visibility, community. Regretably, the call for proposals has past.

  • World directory of minorities and indigeneous peoples

    Minority Groups International (MGI) is an international non-governmental organization that works with over 100 partners in 60 countries to ensure minority voices are heard and rights are won and maintained. MGI has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
    MGI has released a country-by-country profile of the history and contemporary situations of the world’s minorities and indigenous peoples, entitled the State of the World’s Minorities. Each country profile includes information about the environment, history, governance, and current state of minority and indigeneous peoples.
    A brief excerpt about Canada:

    “Canada is often described as ‘a country of immigrants’, perhaps implying that it is by definition both a diverse and tolerant country. However, members of certain ethnic groups and most First Nations people face widespread discrimination and endure poorer-than-average living standards in Canada. … As a general rule, the relative position of minorities is determined by factors such as the darkness of skin colour, popular pressures, political expedience and economic conditions. Language is also a dividing line, especially between the English-speaking majority and French Canadian minority. Many English-speakers in the French-majority province of Quebec consider themselves disempowered”.

    Lots of interesting information and data here, and searchable on-line. Visit the Minority Rights Group International website.

  • Migration through a child's eyes: Project of the (US) Working Group on Childhood & Migration

    Visit this site to view drawings by Mexican children who have parents living in the United States. The drawings are about the child’s perceptions of citizenship, transnationalism and immigration and were collected as part of a research project of the Working Group on Childhood and Migration.

  • Immigrant parents' settlement experiences and contributions to children's health

    Immigrant Parents’ Settlement Experiences and Contributions to Children’s Health: Analysis, Knowledge Transfer and Exchange (2006-2007) has been posted in PDF on the CERIS website.
    The study looks at the impact of adults’ immigration and settlement experiences on children’s overall health. Among the findings was that child health was positively related to how welcome the child’s parents felt in their new communities.
    Authors are: L. Simich (PI), H. Hamilton, H. Fenta, (Co-Investigators); L. Marshall, Research Analyst.

  • Prairie Metropolis Centre research grants

    The Prairie Metropolis Centre (PMC) is accepting applications for research grants for 2008-2009 from its PMC research affiliates. The PMC Family, Children and Youth Domain is described as follows:

    “Immigration is a decision that is often taken not simply by an individual but by families. It is an investment in the future, both for the immigrant and for the host society, and often it is the outcomes of the children of immigrants and refugees or newcomer children themselves that are considered to be the best indicators of the success of an immigration or refugee program. Similarly, the outcomes achieved by all minorities – whether children, youth, families or individuals – are strong indicators of broad societal inclusion. This policy research priority will examine the consequences of migration to Canada for families, children and youth and will develop proposals for enhancing their success in the future”.

    Deadline is April 30, 2008. For more information, see the PMC website.

  • Transnational families

    The Nanny Economy is the title of a National Post item in the Saturday edition (February 23/08). From the story:

    “More than 6,000 Filipinas arrive in Canada under the federal government’s live-in caregiver program. They make up more than one in five female immigrants to Canada and more than nine out of 10 of the live-in caregiver program’s participants”.

    The story outlines the issues in the live-in caregiver program, which brings many women to Canada to care for Canadian children, while leaving their own children behind.
    For more on transnational families, see Bernhard, J., Landolt, P. & Goldring, L. (2005). Transnational, multi-local motherhood: Experiences of separation and reunification among Latin American families in Canada. Joint Centre of Excellence for Research in Immigration Studies (CERIS), Working Paper No. 40, or for a summary see Policy Matters No. 24, January 2006 at the CERIS website.
    Also see INTERCEDE for the Rights of Domestic Workers, Caregivers and Newcomers. INTERCEDE is a non-profit community-based organization that works to “support the integration, promote the rights and provide service needs of domestic workers, caregivers, temporary or migrant workers, their families”.