Issue 13: Syrian Refugee Resettlement and the Role of Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs) in Ontario, Canada

During the peak of the Syrian refugee “crisis” in 2015 and early 2016, the Canadian Federal Government responded with a push to drastically increase the number of Syrian refugees it planned to resettle. The resulting Syrian Refugee Resettlement Initiative (SRRI) put to the test Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs), a form of place-based policy that had been in place since 2008 where communities collaborate in the support, development and execution of local immigration and refugee resettlement plans. This issue of Policy Points discusses a study of three LIPs (Hamilton, Ottawa, and Waterloo Region) and their response to the SRRI. The research provides three policy insights relevant to refugee and immigrant community resettlement. Bringing the community into the fold through multi stakeholder tables such as LIPs can coordinate local responses to the resettlement of refugees (policy insight 1). LIPs must be embedded in the local community and include leaders and personnel able to build and enhance local stakeholder networks (policy insight 2). Finally, it is key to involve LIPs in communication channels during mass resettlement events (policy insight 3). Policy action under points 2 and 3 will in turn enable LIPs to effectively support refugee resettlement at the local level. The experience of the three Ontario LIPs in this study is relevant to existing and potential new LIPs, but it also offers a unique place-based policy approach to engaging local communities in resettlement at other locations and scales

Issue 13: Syrian Refugee Resettlement and the Role of Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs) in Ontario, Canada

During the peak of the Syrian refugee “crisis” in 2015 and early 2016, the Canadian Federal Government responded with a push to drastically increase the number of Syrian refugees it planned to resettle. The resulting Syrian Refugee Resettlement Initiative (SRRI) put to the test Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs), a form of place-based policy that had been in place since 2008 where communities collaborate in the support, development and execution of local immigration and refugee resettlement plans. This issue of Policy Points discusses a study of three LIPs (Hamilton, Ottawa, and Waterloo Region) and their response to the SRRI. The research provides three policy insights relevant to refugee and immigrant community resettlement. Bringing the community into the fold through multi stakeholder tables such as LIPs can coordinate local responses to the resettlement of refugees (policy insight 1). LIPs must be embedded in the local community and include leaders and personnel able to build and enhance local stakeholder networks (policy insight 2). Finally, it is key to involve LIPs in communication channels during mass resettlement events (policy insight 3). Policy action under points 2 and 3 will in turn enable LIPs to effectively support refugee resettlement at the local level. The experience of the three Ontario LIPs in this study is relevant to existing and potential new LIPs, but it also offers a unique place-based policy approach to engaging local communities in resettlement at other locations and scales

Exploring the margin, the borders between Regent Park and Cabbagetown

grantor: University of TorontoThis thesis explores the meaning and the usefulness of the spatial metaphor 'margin' in urban social geography. I analyze a downtown neighborhood of Toronto in light of the modernist, postmodernist and border interpretations of the margin. My study of the contrasting yet juxtaposed communities of Regent Park (a public housing project) and of Cabbagetown (a gentrified area) leads me to conclude that the margin is a multiple, flexible space where groups with unequal power meet, come into conflict and negotiate. Through this research, I examine the links between power relations, the production of space and the politics of representation. Drawing on government reports, newspaper articles, and personal interviews, I investigate the urban planning policies that have shaped the neighborhood since the late 1940's, the shifts in the media image of each community, and the struggles of their respective populations.M.A

The Role of Nonprofit Sector Networks as Mechanisms for Immigrant Political Participation

Issues of immigrant political incorporation and transnational politics have drawn increased interest among migration scholars. This paper contributes to debates in this field by examining the role of networks, partnerships and collaborations of immigrant community organizations as mechanisms for immigrant political participation both locally and transnationally. These issues are addressed through an ethnographic study of the Hispanic Development Council, an umbrella advocacy organization representing settlement agencies serving Latin American immigrants in Toronto, Canada. Analysis of HDC’s three sets of networks (at the community, city and transnational levels) from a geographic and relational approach demonstrates the potentials and limits of nonprofit sector partnerships as mechanisms and concrete spaces for immigrant mobilization, empowerment, and social action in a context of neoliberal governance. It is argued that a combination of partnerships with a range of both state and non-state actors and at multiple scales can be significant in enabling nonprofit organizations to advance the interests of immigrant, minority and disadvantaged communities

The Role of Nonprofit Sector Networks as Mechanisms for Immigrant Political Participation

Issues of immigrant political incorporation and transnational politics have drawn increased interest among migration scholars. This paper contributes to debates in this field by examining the role of networks, partnerships and collaborations of immigrant community organizations as mechanisms for immigrant political participation both locally and transnationally. These issues are addressed through an ethnographic study of the Hispanic Development Council, an umbrella advocacy organization representing settlement agencies serving Latin American immigrants in Toronto, Canada. Analysis of HDC’s three sets of networks (at the community, city and transnational levels) from a geographic and relational approach demonstrates the potentials and limits of nonprofit sector partnerships as mechanisms and concrete spaces for immigrant mobilization, empowerment, and social action in a context of neoliberal governance. It is argued that a combination of partnerships with a range of both state and non-state actors and at multiple scales can be significant in enabling nonprofit organizations to advance the interests of immigrant, minority and disadvantaged communities.</p

The Canadian Hispanic Day Parade, or how Latin American immigrants practise (sub)urban citizenship in Toronto

In this paper I explore immigrants’ notions and practices of citizenship, and how these contribute to the citizenship debate. In order to achieve this, I examine Latin American immigrants’ struggle for belonging in Toronto by looking at the Canadian Hispanic Day Parade. This multicultural celebration of ethnic diversity takes place in a marginalized suburban neighbourhood of the city, and I argue that Latin Americans use it to affirm the existence of a Latin American identity and community in Toronto. But, while the parade serves to contest dominant representations of immigrants, visible minorities, and the disadvantaged, it also reveals how forms of community mobilization can internalize neoliberal social relations and even promote a neoliberal agenda. The aim of the paper is to reflect upon the political potential of ethnic celebrations, as well as the constraints and complexities of immigrant citizenship practice within the contemporary context of Canadian multiculturalism and neoliberalism.

Imaginaires géographiques de la francophonie minoritaire canadienne chez des immigrants et des réfugiés d’expression française

Le rôle des représentations sociales et spatiales dans les processus d’inclusion et d’exclusion constitue un terrain d’étude privilégié pour comprendre les relations de pouvoir entre groupes dominants et dominés. Le but de cet article est de poser un regard nouveau sur cette question en adoptant le concept d’imaginaires géographiques pour examiner les représentations que des immigrants et des réfugiés d’expression française se font des communautés francophones en situation minoritaire (CFSM) au Canada. Pour ce faire, nous présentons les résultats d’une étude de cas instrumentale sur les expériences d’immigrants francophones dans deux villes comportant des CFSM en Ontario : London et Ottawa. Notre analyse met en lumière les dynamiques sociospatiales de la francophonie minoritaire canadienne telles qu’elles sont perçues par les immigrants francophones et leur rôle dans la négociation de leur appartenance.The role of social and spatial representations in processes of inclusion and exclusion forms a privileged field of study for understanding power relations between dominant and dominated groups. The purpose of this article is to take an innovative approach to examine this issue by adopting the concept of geographical imaginations to investigate the representations of Francophone minority communities (FMCs) in Canada by French-speaking immigrants and refugees. To this end, we present the results of an instrumental case study on the experiences of French-speaking immigrants in two cities with FMCs in Ontario: London and Ottawa. Our analysis highlights the sociospatial dynamics of the Canadian minority Francophonie as perceived by French-speaking immigrants and their role of these dynamics in the negotiation of their belonging

Expériences de réinstallation des réfugiés syriens à Gatineau au Québec

Le Québec a accueilli un nombre important de réfugiés syriens depuis 2015. Ces derniers ont été réinstallés grâce au parrainage de l’État et du secteur privé, deux types de parrainage comportant des modes d’accompagnement qui leur sont propres. Alors que les réfugiés parrainés par le secteur privé rejoignent leur parrain là où ils résident, ceux parrainés par l’État sont largement réinstallés hors des grands centres en vertu d’une politique de régionalisation de l’immigration. Nous étudions le cas d’une ville de taille petite, Gatineau, en mettant en lumière le rôle du contexte local dans les expériences d’établissement des réfugiés parrainés par l’État et le secteur privé en lien avec l’apprentissage de la langue et l’intégration en emploi.Quebec resettled a significant number of Syrian refugees since 2015 through state and private sector sponsorship, two types of refugee sponsorship each of which provides distinct forms of support. While privately sponsored refugees join their sponsor where they reside, those who are state sponsored are largely resettled outside of large urban centers under a policy of regionalization of immigration. We examine the case of a small city, Gatineau, highlighting the role of the local context in the resettlement experiences of government and private-sector sponsored refugees in relation to language training and job integration.Quebec ha acogido a un número significativo de refugiados sirios desde 2015. Han sido reasentados mediante el patrocinio del sector estatal y privado, dos tipos de patrocinio con sus propios modos de apoyo. Mientras que los refugiados patrocinados de manera privada se unen a su patrocinador donde residen, los patrocinados por el estado son reasentados en gran parte de los principales centros bajo una política de regionalización de la inmigración. Estudiamos el caso de una pequeña, Gatineau, destacando el papel del contexto local en las experiencias de asentamiento de refugiados patrocinados por el estado y el sector privado en relación con el aprendizaje de idiomas e integración en el empleo