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RCIS Digital Series, Session 1 鈥� Refugee Resettlement and Integration in Canada: Lived Experience, Lessons Learned, and Promising Practices
- Date
- October 27, 2020
- Time
- 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ET
- Open To
- Students, Faculty, Public
- Contact
- rcis@torontomu.ca
Refugee Resettlement & Integration Series 鈥� Session 1
Between October 2020 and February 2021, the Ryerson Centre for Immigration and Settlement (RCIS) hosted a six-part digital series focused on Canada鈥檚 approach to refugee resettlement and integration. The series aimed to engage stakeholders to consider Canada鈥檚 approach to refugee resettlement and identify changes to policy and practice that will make Canada more inclusive and responsive to refugees鈥� needs. Over the course of the six sessions, refugees, settlement workers and service providers, policymakers, researchers, and students were brought together to share insights and lessons learned from lived experience, settlement practice, and research.
The first session of the series featured four speakers discussing settlement and integration needs, challenges impacting service delivery, and the role of government. Jacky Tuinstra Harrison and Helton Achaye shared their experiences providing direct services to refugees, including the development of a program assisting refugee claimants to prepare for refugee hearings; Enrique Paraco spoke to the challenges of refugee settlement in Northern communities and the response from the City of Greater Sudbury; and Sara Asalya discussed barriers facing refugees, the limitations of the settlement sector, and empowering approaches to integration. The session was moderated by Saad El Hakmi, a PhD student in the Policy Studies program at Ryerson University.
- 鈥� 鈥� Welcome by Saad El Hakmi, series co-coordinator and PhD student in Policy Studies at Ryerson University
- 鈥� 鈥� Introduction by Dr. Usha George, Director of the Ryerson Centre for Immigration and Settlement (RCIS) and Professor in the School of Social Work at Ryerson University
- 鈥� 鈥� Presentation by Jacky Tuinstra Harrison, Executive Director of Matthew House, and Helton Achaye, former colleague of Matthew House and Managing Director of Front Immigration Services, Inc.
- 鈥� 鈥� Presentation by Enrique Paraco, Immigration Development Officer in the City of Greater Sudbury
- 鈥� 鈥� Presentation by Sara Asalya, Community Organizer, Public Speaker, and Top 25 Canadian Immigrant
- 鈥� 鈥� Discussion
This series was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
Series coordinators: Saad El Hakmi and Sohail Shahidnia
Series director: Dr. Usha George
Series producer: Tearney McDermott
TMCIS occupies space in the traditional and unceded territory of nations including the Anishnaabeg, the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, and territory which is also now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and M茅tis peoples. This territory is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, as well as the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas.