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.
CBC – Tailor Immigrant and Refugee Mental Health Services for Culture, Language, Report Urges
Canada must match its multicultural, open-door immigration policy with tailored mental health services or face inflated costs for crisis care down the road, warns a new report being released today. The sweeping study by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, obtained by CBC News, finds that immigrants generally arrive with better mental health than the Canadian-born population — something referred to as the “healthy immigrant effect.”
The Globe and Mail – Young Syrian Refugees in Vancouver Worried About Housing, Education
Young Syrian refugees who came to the Vancouver region in the past year say they’re concerned about the high cost of housing and the difficulty navigating a complex education system – two issues they say governments should address. Their recommendations, included in a report released Tuesday by the non-profit Immigrant Services Society of B.C., come as the province readies for an additional 1,200 Syrian refugees by the end of the year, on top of the more than 2,500 who have settled in the province in less than 12 months.
Radio-Canada – Accueil des réfugiés syriens : le gouvernement du N.-B. espère plus d’aide du fédéral
En entrevue à CBC, le ministre de l’Éducation postsecondaire, de la Formation et du Travail, Donald Arseneault, a déclaré que les efforts du gouvernement provincial dans la formation linguistique des immigrants ont eu un effet direct sur le développement de la main d’oeuvre syrienne.
Toronto Star – Temp Agency Work Trapping Immigrant Women in “Modern Day Slavery”
Precarious work and temp agencies are trapping immigrant women in Toronto in a cycle of poor pay and illness, creating a “public health crisis” with long-term implications for the region’s economy and health-care system, a new report warns. Documenting the experience of new Canadians in the GTA, some of whom were refugees, the study found that many were forced to resort to temp agency work that exploited their “vulnerability as refugee claimants who desperately need to survive as well as take care of family members overseas.” Some working mothers took home just $3 an hour after child-care costs and pay deductions from their temp agency.
Vancouver Sun – Surrey will be Canada’s First City of Refuge
Soon, Surrey will be a safe haven for those who are persecuted because of their creative endeavours. On Monday, it was announced that the city is Canada’s first International City of Refuge, which means that Surrey will offer temporary sanctuary to writers and artists, giving them an escape and a platform to continue their work. Working with the Norway-based International City of Refuge Network, a candidate will be chosen to settle in Surrey for two years. Funds will be raised to support the writer or artist and their family during that time.
In the middle of the night in early October, Ku Klux Klan flyers stuffed into Ziploc bags landed on the doorsteps of a few dozen homes in two British Columbia towns. Similar flyers were dropped in a neighbouring community over the summer. In recent weeks, anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh posters also cropped up on two university campuses in Alberta. It is unclear who was behind the incidents. Police are investigating. These events contrast with Canada’s image as an open, multicultural society, and one that recently opened its doors to more than 30,000 Syrian refugees.
