Welcoming Communities The extent to which a society can integrate/include immigrants, refugees and minorities depends on a number of societal conditions, some of which can be effectively altered by government policy. This policy research priority will examine what public policy instruments can enhance the capacity of Canada, its cities and communities to receive and integrate immigrants, refugees, and minorities and will seek empirically-determined best practices that can be adapted for use in other contexts.

Welcoming Communities: The Role Of Host Communities In Attracting, Integrating, And Retaining Newcomers And Minorities
This policy research priority examines what public policy instruments can enhance the capacity of Canada, its cities and communities to receive and integrate immigrants, refugees and minorities. Affiliated researchers, graduate students, and community partners in this domain seek to undertake and use research to determine best practices that can be adapted for use in other contexts. Researchers in this domain are currently planning studies of the attitudes of specific sectors, the training and hiring of foreign professionals, and the role that youth activists can play in influencing a community’s absorptive capacity. Other questions around employment opportunities, the availability of appropriate housing, schooling, and social services will be key to studying each community’s ability to attract, integrate and retain newcomers and minorities. We will need to study what can be done to attract more immigrants to settle in various regions, and what tools may be used to increase the capacity of communities to welcome and integrate immigrants and minorities, both in linguistic minority communities and in rural areas. Of particular interest is the role of schools in creating a sense of community, and exploring how schools may best improve the experiences of refugee and immigrant children.
Darren Lund, University of Calgary, Domain Leader

Read abstracts and access Final Reports for PMC research funded in this domain.

List of PMC Affiliated Researcher in this domain