Abstract
As immigration to Canada increases, so, too, do the complexities associated with serving various groups of newcomers, including immigrants, refugees, temporary foreign workers and international students. A range of stakeholder groups, such as grassroots community organisations, immigrant service provider organisations and academic researchers, have developed knowledge about how to best serve newcomers as they integrate into life in Canada. To date, there have been few opportunities for members of these and other stakeholder groups to work together to ensure that the needs of newcomers are being efficiently met. In this article, we describe a multi-step process of reciprocal knowledge engagement involving diverse stakeholders and led by the Newcomer Research Network at the University of Calgary. This engagement has the ultimate goal of developing a knowledge mobilisation hub focused on building capacity in community-engaged research with newcomers. In order to understand how we will reach this goal, this article outlines the efforts, priorities, challenges and important lessons learned that occurred as part of the multi-step process undertaken to establish a knowledge exchange with newcomer communities at its core.
Highlights
In 2019, Canada posted the highest population growth of all G7 countries, and this growth was primarily due to immigration (Statistics Canada 2019)
A range of stakeholder groups, such as grassroots community organisations, immigrant service provider organisations and academic researchers, have developed knowledge about how to best serve newcomers as they integrate into life in Canada
The number of newcomers to Alberta – including immigrants, refugees, temporary foreign workers and international students – nearly tripled between 2001 and 2016, with 17.1 per cent of new immigrants in Canada residing in the province (Statistics Canada 2016)
Summary
In 2019, Canada posted the highest population growth of all G7 countries, and this growth was primarily due to immigration (Statistics Canada 2019). Within the Canadian context, local immigrant service provider organisations (SPOs), funded by the federal government’s Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, are a fundamental component within a decentralised model for newcomer settlement and integration. They ensure service provision and provide, for example, language training, job placement and community engagement opportunities (Neudorf 2016). In their study of 53 SPOs in Alberta, Salami et al (2019) demonstrate the important role played by these organisations in compensating for the lack of diversity in local community organisations where newcomers live. Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, Vol 13, No 1, relationships among stakeholders that authentically brings together diverse knowledge and experiences
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