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*In April 2022, the university announced our new name of Toronto Metropolitan University, which will be implemented in a phased approach. Learn more about our next chapter.*

RCIS Digital Series, Session 1 – Refugee Resettlement and Integration in Canada: Lived Experience, Lessons Learned, and Promising Practices

Date
October 27, 2020
Time
10:00 AM EDT - 12:00 PM EDT
Open To
Students, Faculty, Public
Contact
rcis@torontomu.ca


Refugee Resettlement & Integration Series – 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’s approach to refugee resettlement and integration. The series aimed to engage stakeholders to consider Canada’s approach to refugee resettlement and identify changes to policy and practice that will make Canada more inclusive and responsive to refugees’ 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.

  • 0:03 (external link)  – Welcome by Saad El Hakmi, series co-coordinator and PhD student in Policy Studies at Ryerson University
  • 1:30 (external link)  – 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
  • 11:08 (external link)  – 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.
  • 46:55 (external link)  – Presentation by Enrique Paraco, Immigration Development Officer in the City of Greater Sudbury
  • 1:09:02 (external link) ​ – Presentation by Sara Asalya, Community Organizer, Public Speaker, and Top 25 Canadian Immigrant
  • 1:35:49 (external link) ​ – 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 Métis 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.