Supporting Newcomers to Canada Peer Learning Event Draws Capacity Crowd

imagineCALGARY’s Collaborative Action Committee hosted its Whole Community Approach to Supporting Newcomers Peer Learning Event on August 18th. The event drew a capacity crowd, with 51 participants representing 21 organizations across the community.

Presentations by the Ismaili Council and the Chinese Professionals and Entrepreneurs Association opened the event and drew attention to challenges posed to immigrant-serving organizations with reaching and supporting newcomers. However, both presenting organizations also placed emphasis on key successes with engaging immigrants, and they shared the key elements of their strategies, which included having a strong, focused network of committed people as well as a willingness to reach out and collaborate with other organizations in the community.

Concurrent breakout discussions among all participants followed, the objectives of which were to build awareness of the different immigrant services and training opportunities already available in the community and, in turn, foster opportunities for participants to consider joint initiatives or projects on which to collaborate with others and build capacity. To facilitate such opportunities, conversations focused on core services being offered as well as perceived gaps in addressing the unmet needs of a rapidly growing immigrant community.

Participants recognized that this is a sizable task, in part due to the volume and complexity of immigrant needs. Still, optimism was apparent in the tone and messages of speakers. People felt invigorated. For some, the event opened the door to participating in and learning from a network of immigrant-serving agencies and training providers; for others, this was an opportunity to broaden networks and forge new partnerships.

All the signs of emerging collaborative initiatives were apparent by the event’s end. Participants had exchanged business cards, identified areas of common interest and expressed a willingness to work jointly to address immigrant needs more holistically.

In the near future, imagineCALGARY’s Collaborative Action Committee will follow-up with participants by asking them to participate in a survey. This will provide an opportunity to collect details on any new collaborative projects that have been undertaken since the peer learning event, as well as to assess the value of the event and its model.

If you were an event participant, watch for a link to the survey in your e-mail soon.