A national alliance dedicated to providing an evidence base for newcomer settlement & integration and the promotion of welcoming communities in Canada
The Media Roundup provides links to recent and archived articles, in both English and French, on immigration and diversity appearing in the national and local news. Some international content is also included. Articles are updated weekly.
Resettling Yazidi women and girls in Canada has a unique set of challenges, but one of the biggest is identifying those in most urgent need who are willing to relocate from northern Iraq, says the UN refugee agency’s representative to Canada.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/yazidi-resettlement-canada-un-1.4007422
“I think that she doesn’t understand the immigration system. So for one, almost all immigrants are actually seen already face to face. If you’re coming in as a permanent resident, which is an immigrant, or a refugee, you are screened at the consulate. You’re screened by the humanitarian organizations, you’ve got police checks done for every place you lived for six months or more since you were 18. There’s full scrutiny.”
Premier Brian Pallister has sent a letter to Justin Trudeau calling for more resources as Manitoba Legal Aid feels pressure from the surge in refugee claimants. In the letter obtained by CBC News dated Feb. 21, the premier wrote that the rising number of refugee claimants entering Manitoba is having a significant impact in a number of areas — in particular, on the caseloads of Legal Aid Manitoba, which provides legal assistance from the initiation of the refugee claim to the completion of the process.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/legal-aid-pressures-asylum-seekers-1.4009839
A majority of Canadians believe that refugee claimants illegally crossing the border into Canada from the U.S. are not a threat to the country, according to a new Nanos survey. The survey found that 62 per cent of Canadians don’t believe the border-crossing refugees are a threat. Five per cent said the refugees pose a terrorist threat, while another five per cent saw them as a threat to Canadian jobs. Eighteen per cent said the refugees are both a terrorist threat and a threat to jobs.
Canada’s federal immigration department has acknowledged it resettled fewer LGBT Iranians from Turkey, in order to make space for the late-2015 Syrian airlift. […] Under the previous Harper government, Conservatives gained international praise for the program that brought hundreds of LGBT asylum seekers from Turkey. […] LGBT Iranians in Turkey, and their advocacy groups, say referrals drastically slowed starting in November 2015, as the Syrian program got underway. Six-month delays grew into year-long holds, before the UNHCR started referring the refugees to the US by October 2016.
A unique English program for immigrants and refugees in Metro Vancouver is hoping to expand after finding success with women-only classes where participants can also bring their children.
The focus is not just on language, said teacher Diana Jeffries, but also on supporting mental health. […] Unlike federally funded language programs like Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC), there are no eligibility requirements or tests to join the Pacific Immigrant Resources Society’s community English classes for refugee women.