May 28, 2010
Mowat Researchers Focus on Immigration Settlement Issues Leading Up to New COIA Negotiations.
Toronto – The Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation at the University of Toronto has released two new studies assessing federal-provincial cooperation on immigration settlement services. Findings will be presented at a panel discussion with lead researchers on Friday, May 28th from 12:00-2:00 p.m at the Faculty Club of the University of Toronto (41 Willcocks Street).
“As the federal and Ontario governments begin to renegotiate the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA), we need to have an informed conversation about immigration settlement services – and how we can do better for newcomers to Canada,” says Matthew Mendelsohn, Director of the Mowat Centre.
“It is clear from the research that the federal government needs to devolve immigrant settlement programming to Ontario – just as it has done in other provinces. COIA has helped many immigrants to Ontario, but the federal government makes it too difficult for many newcomers to access programs,” he adds.
The research paper by Dr. Leslie Seidle analyses the effectiveness of COIA, compared to federal agreements with Manitoba, British Columbia and Quebec. He concludes that COIA was a great achievement for newcomers, but that shortcomings must be addressed in a renewed agreement.
The research paper by professors Myer Siemiatycki and Phil Triadafilopoulos offers a comparative review of immigrant integration practices in the United States, Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom. They find that Canada has been more sophisticated and generous in its support services for newcomers, but that now many countries are devolving immigrant settlement services to provinces and cities, making programs more responsive and effective.
Informed by this research, the Mowat Centre will be making policy recommendations in advance of upcoming renegotiation between the federal and Ontario governments on their immigration agreement.
Lead researchers will be joined at the panel discussion by Professor Naomi Alboim of Queen’s University and Joan Andrews, Public Servant in Residence at the Politics and Public Administration Department of Ryerson University, both former provincial deputy ministers of immigration.
