Establishing new patterns of population distribution for new immigrants has increasingly become a goal of federal, provincial and territorial governments in Canada.

The objective is to change settlement patterns for newcomers to Canada, benefiting both immigrants themselves and the communities they move to. New immigrants have already begun to find that locating in smaller communities is more in their financial best interest than the more common trend of locating in one of the country’s major metropolitan areas.

Figures from Statistics Canada clearly demonstrate that immigrants living in smaller urban centres—even rural areas—are achieving economic success much faster that those who traditionally locate in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver or other large cities... [ read more ]

George Gritziotis prefers not to look at challenges as problems. In fact, as executive director of Canada’s Construction Sector Council (CSC), he sees almost unlimited opportunities ahead from the almost exponential growth in demand for skilled workers to meet the needs of the country’s construction industry.

Those opportunities can involve some of the most valuable untapped potential labour sources in Canada, from skilled immigrants and women to young working-age aboriginals and the industry’s already existing workforce of older employees...[ read more ]

Last month’s long-awaited report from two Quebec academics on minority-versus-majority rights in the province has significance for all of Canada, some observers believe.

“There is no threat to francophone Quebec,” Commissioner Gérard Bouchard told reporters the day after release of the report which dealt with accommodation of minorities in Quebec. “There is nothing to indicate that Quebec has a bigger problem with racism or xenophobia than anywhere else.”

Among the first to comment on the report from the provincially-appointed commission, co-chaired by sociologist Bouchard and philosopher Charles Taylor, was Toronto Star columnist Haroon Siddiqui. “Addressed to Quebecers, the Bouchard-Taylor message is relevant to all Canadians,” he wrote, pointing out its significance to Ontarians in particular, “given the province’s divisive debates on sharia law, funding for religious schools and now (reciting of) The Lord’s Prayer at the Legislature.”...  [ read more ]

To say St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto wrote the book on mentoring internationally trained professionals is no exaggeration. It’s a statement of fact. When Sylvia Halliday, vice president of human resources, says, “We’ve been successful in tapping the internationally trained professional market,” that’s an understatement.

Gender identity is probably the most obscure human rights issue as it is not an enumerated ground all on its own. It is legally protected under ‘Sex’ in the Human Rights Code of Ontario. This includes transsexual, transgender, and intersex persons, cross-dressers, and others whose gender identity or expression is or is seen to be at variance with their birth-identified sex.

Recently Casino Rama denied a trans woman access to the women’s washroom. It felt that providing this woman a single use handicapped washroom was an adequate accommodation of her needs. Casino Rama states it had a complaint from a female patron who said, “There is a man in the woman’s washroom.” The trans woman has filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission... [ read more ]

Developing

• Provide training programs and periods that help create awareness of the organizational and expected norms and practices across all employees, including skilled immigrants.
• Invest in a customized business English or social styles course that employees can take within the workplace.
• Develop an internal mentoring program to support new employees, including skilled immigrants, in their adjustment to the workplace. Consider hosting a social styles workshop as a way to help new employees understand how their communication styles may be perceived by colleague... [ read more ]

In your organization concerns have arisen about the clear absence of women in several key areas. The leadership has announced a diversity initiative geared to addressing this situation. As a change agent, however, you know that the absence of women in key areas is symptomatic of a deeper systemic problem of exclusion. The organization has three choices:

1. Leave the gender-based initiative in place: this is where the need has been identified
2. Make a pitch to include other dimensions of diversity simultaneously
3. Use the gender-based initiative as a lead-in for others, once the original problem has been cleared.