The opening of the 6th Biennial Immigration Forum welcomes hundreds of attendees from across Canada to discuss the state of immigration, our progress and collective learning from the last two years, and post-pandemic improvements in health equity, economic development, and key areas of municipal jurisdiction. In this session, you will hear from a respected Elder, the city Mayor, and the masters of ceremonies for the Forum.

Speakers

The Honourable Yasir Naqvi will deliver the Forum’s keynote speech. The Ottawa Centre MP, former MPP, and former Chair of OLIP, will draw from his many recent roles to reflect on the lessons learned from COVID-19 and provide insights on the opportunities that lay ahead of us, as OLIP partner and stakeholders engage in improvement plans in community health and wellbeing.

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Dr. Vera Etches will share her unique vantage point as the medical officer of health on what the pandemic has revealed about Ottawa’s weaknesses and strengths. She will convey some of the early plans on improving community outcomes.

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Jamaal Jackson will transport our hearts to empathize with the experience of newcomers in the national capital. He will deliver two poems:

1. The Medicine Poem was first composed by Jamaal in honor of the Welcoming Ottawa Week (WOW), in 2018 and launched at a Mayor’s Breakfast Event to kick start WOW’s popular series of fun and engaging activities designed to convey our genuine welcome and respect to immigrants.
2. The Brighter Days Poem is an ode to those who’ve made it through the pandemic and who had obstacles to face because of their daily conditions.

Entertainment

The pandemic has heighted our consciousness of systemic inequities and strengthened our resolve to improve community outcomes. Panelists at this session will expound on key capabilities under development that can ignite Ottawa’s potential to achieve equitable outcomes, from the application of equity in health system recovery, to collaborative inter-system data capacity development, to effective community participation in collective planning. In this session, we will explore how can we build accessible healthcare strategies and services in Ottawa.

Topics covered

• Applying Equity to Healthcare Planning
• The Necessity of Effective Community Engagement When Identifying and Addressing Challenges
• Inter-System Data Connectivity and the Work of the LIPs to Facilitate Immigrants’ Integration
• Linking Funding Structures and Opportunities to Community Needs

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Moderator

Since its founding in October 2009, OLIP has played a key role in building Ottawa’s capacity to welcome and integrate immigrants and refugees. Much progress has been made since then, but new major challenges have emerged during the pandemic. OLIP will provide an update on the partnership’s recent progress and a sneak preview of what is to come as partners build on collective learnings from the COVID pandemic.

Topic covered

• Progress in Pandemic Context: The Power of Trust & Cross-sectoral Collaborations to Protect our community

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With September’s federal election behind us, a new mandate is in place to govern Canada. IRCC will provide an overview of how the new mandate may impact Ottawa.

Areas of discussion include IRCC’s efforts to support the post-pandemic recovery, facilitate settlement and integration amid the pandemic, the Municipal Nominee Program, Afghan refugee resettlement, and more. In this session, we will explore how the election results can impact federal immigration policies and Ottawa’s efforts to welcome newcomers.

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Municipalities play an increasingly important role in key social policy, investment, and programming areas, ranging from economic development, transportation, housing, infrastructure development, public health, social services, and parks and recreation, arts and culture, and policing. Furthermore, as the government closest to the people, municipalities assume the important role of speaking for the needs of communities with higher levels of government. In this session, panelists will explore several key questions: How is this important role of municipalities being leveraged to accommodate cities that are growing through immigration and to address inequities? What are cities across Canada doing to become more inclusive and equitable for immigrants?

Topics covered

• City of Ottawa’s Anti-Racism Strategy and Plan
• Vancouver’s New Equity Framework & Plans
• City of Toronto’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism: Strategy & Plan – Inclusion & Civic Participation of Francophone Immigrants

Speakers

Moderator

“Caravan”, by Duke Ellington and Juan Tizol, is one of the most recognizable Jazz songs of the 20th century. Written for Ellington’s orchestra in 1936 and featuring a slithering, chromatic melody, the song has become famous through many interpretations by Jazz musicians and its use in television and films around the world. OrKidstra was proud to produce this virtual recording for the End-of-Year Virtual Celebration in June of 2021, allowing OrKidstra students to still “play together” while remaining safely apart.

Entertainment

Pre-existing economic injustices have fueled the devastating impact of the pandemic on immigrant workers. As we rebuild our economy, we are seeing a tight labour market and shortage of workers in many sectors. Panelists in this session will explore the conditions we needed to put in place to ensure that the current labour shortages and the introduction of many supportive policies will make a difference in the economic prospects of immigrants, as we come out of the pandemic. Key questions to be explored by this panel include: how can we correct opportunity gaps and accessibility challenges in the labour market? How can targeted public policy and program interventions create access to quality jobs safer workplaces, adaptability in skills in a changing economy, for immigrants, especially for immigrant women and racialized youth?

Topics covered

• Immigration Policy During the Pandemic: Challenges & Opportunities
• COVID Immigration Flow & Economic Integration Prospects in Post-Pandemic Labour Markets
• Post-pandemic Labour Markets, and the Future of Workers

Speakers

Moderator

To close the 6th Ottawa Immigration Forum, we will have a few words from Hindia Mohamoud, the Director of OLIP on the future of this work as we pave the way for the renewal of OLIP partners’ strategic plan (2022-2027).

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