Toronto North September 2013 WELCOMES Toronto North LIP (TNLIP) is a community-based, multi-sectoral planning table working to enhance the settlement and employment experiences and outcomes of immigrants and newcomers in Toronto North communities. TNLIP has developed a Settlement Strategy and Action Plan for the region and is in the process of implementing the plan. Read the Strategy at: torontonorthlip.ca For a list of members, to learn how to get involved, or for more information on Toronto North LIP, visit: torontonorthlip.ca email: [email protected] Newcomer Leadership Table Members of Toronto North LIP’s Project Management Group represent the work of the Toronto North quadrant at quarterly meetings of the Toronto Newcomer Leadership Table (NLT). The NLT is a group of city-wide stakeholders who steward and support the implementation of Toronto’s All-Council meeting On September 25, Toronto North LIP brought members of all three Council workgroups together for an All Council meeting. Much like an organization’s Annual General Meeting, this is an open meeting for TNLIP partners, their colleagues and others in Toronto North communities who are interested to hear about the work taking place at the TN LIP Council table. The session included updates from the Project Management Group on structural change at TN Toronto North Welcomes is the bi-monthly e-Newsletter of the Toronto North Local Immigration Partnership. It includes resources, information and ideas relevant to your work serving newcomers and offers reflections on working collaboratively to build welcoming communities Preparing for Canadian Citizenship In Canada, the process to become a Canadian citizen is a long one with many steps. Key milestones in this process include completing a residency requirement, submitting an application, satisfying language requirements, and proving knowledge of Canada and Canadian culture by taking the Canadian Citizenship Test. This process has also been changing over the last few years. In particular, the Canadian Citizenship Test became harder in 2012 and the benchmark for passing was raised from 50% to 60% at that time. Around the Toronto North LIP table, partners from community legal clinics began reporting a growing number of people who had failed the test and who were seeking legal advice. Taking a cue from this trend, partners at the Toronto North LIP kicked into gear and identified areas of action that could help reverse this trend. The first area of work was to look at courses and other tools that helped people to prepare to take the Citizenship Test course. What LIP partners found was that the supply of such courses was limited in Toronto North; when they were offered, it was often on an ad-hoc basis and with little guarantee of ongoing availability. Five partners came together to grow the availability of Citizenship Test Preparation Courses in Toronto North. Particular emphasis was placed on supporting those candidates for citizenship with barriers like language, literacy or other challenges to passing a test. Two partners with experience already delivering a preparation course provided mentorship and program development support to three other agencies that had formerly never offered the course. North York Community House and Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office operated as mentors and supporters for three other agencies, Working Women Community Centre, Working Skills Centre, and Community MicroSkills Development Centre, who adapted their existing programs and supports to deliver the course in a variety of ways. Some were offered in the day, others in the evening, some in group-learning and peer-facilitated formats, others in teacher-lead formats. Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office also offered an additional half-day training on the materials, intake and outreach and evaluation methods to the other four agencies. The group has been coming together to deliver the course and to-date they have served over 150 clients through five sites and are getting set to run another round of intake. The group has also brought a program evaluator on board to analyze and develop a program model. Through this, the group was “Taking a cue from this trend, partners at the Toronto North LIP kicked into gear and identified areas of action that could help reverse this trend. “ Over the coming months, Toronto North LIP will be hosting events of importance to your work. Mark your calendars! Oct. 30 9:00 – 3:00 Faith and Welcoming Communities Forum An open forum bringing stake holders from settlement organiza- tions and faith groups together to explore opportunities in collabo- ration. Nov. 27 9:30 – 1:00 Frontline Staff Networking Event Access, Vulnerability and Rights Open to anyone serving new comers in Toronto North in a frontline capacity, this event will allow opportunities for networking, exchange, and professional development. Life and work happens and you may have missed these events. Luckily, Toronto North LIP makes information on past events readily available. You won’t want to miss another! World Refugee Day June 2013 TN LIP helped to organise a Walk a Mile in a Refugee’s shoes as a part of World Re- -fugee Day. For more information and great pictures from the event, please click here. Immigration and Refugee Rights June 2013 A comprehensive review of immigration policy changes with a special detailed account of the changes to the refugee system. Presentation available here. Self-employment and newcomers June 2013 New research lead by North York Community House looks into the status and nature of self-employment in migrant communities. The report, the findings of which were presented to TN LIP Council, can be found here. Immigrant-friendly Cities June 2013 New research from Public Interest examines the ways in which municipalities around the world are enhancing their participation in the settlement and integration of new comers. The presentation that was delivered to TN LIP Council can be found here. HRCO “Canadian Experience Barrier” September 2013 The Human Rights Commission of Ontario (HRCO) has a new policy that makes it illegal to require “Canadian Experience” during the hiring process. A presentation on the new policy was made to TNLIP and can be found here. To remove your name from the distribution of this newsletter or to make suggestions on content or format, contact [email protected].
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 14:41:35 +0000
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