- This event has passed.
#ImmigrantsWork: A Collective Approach to Co-Designing Solutions for Immigrant Inclusion
October 29, 2024
Closing the talent gap and ensuring skilled immigrants and refugees successfully transition from arrival to settlement and employment is critical to economic competitiveness and social cohesion. Communities that put the unique experiences and needs of newcomers at the centre, taking a collaborative approach that brings together settlement agencies, municipal governments, workforce development stakeholders and industry/employer-facing organizations/employers, are better positioned to welcome newcomers and reap the benefits of immigration.
In 2020, World Education Services launched #ImmigrantsWork, a collective action initiative that seeks to activating employers for immigrant employment in local communities in Canada. The initiative mobilizes employers with community stakeholders in co-design activities that lead up to the identification and development of locale-specific solutions that take roots in the communities in the long run. Following a successful pilot that witnessed the launch of Employer Playbook: Strategies for Immigrant Inclusion in Canadian Workplaces, a digitized and localized employer resource that covers practical strategies to bolster immigrant inclusion throughout recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and integrating of immigrant talent, the initiative is now in Phase 2 with five partner communities joined from across Canada.
The panel will explore lessons learned from the #ImmigrantsWork initiative. Panelists will discuss the core conditions that made the initiative successful, and challenges faced in the process. Participants in this session will be invited to share insights on how to develop a roadmap for communities wishing to develop lasting collective action solutions to issues around immigrant and refugee socio-economic integration.
Speakers:
- Jodi Bucholtz, Manager, Local Immigration Partnership, Lanark & Renfrew
- David Yan, Senior Manager, Employer Solutions, WES
- Daniel Cervan-Gil, Associate Director, Employer Initiatives, WES
