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What Is WCI?

The Welcoming Communities Initiative (WCI)

The Welcoming Communities Initiative (WCI) is a three-year community engagement project of CASSA, funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. WCI works within a framework of access, equity and inclusion, and aims to:

  • Identify the different settlement needs and issues in various municipalities across Ontario
  • Bridge social, cultural and economic differences that will enhance civic engagement
  • Engage different stakeholders to implement a suitable model which creates an inclusive
  • and welcoming environment for immigrants and newcomers
  • Utilize various communication mechanisms to facilitate effective information exchange
  • Faster partnerships between stakeholders to ensure equitable representation in the civic
  • processes

There are several components of WCI, several of which are ongoing:

  1. On-the-ground projects in smaller municipalities; 2009-2010 projects are in Peterborough and Waterloo
  2. Work on access to trades – In April 2009, a report “Access to Trades for Newcomers in Ontario” was released by CASSA; a task force was also created
  3. Website to provide support to service providers and smaller municipalities on issues of settlement
  4. Communication tools promoting immigrant engagement
  5. Work in York Region on equity including the campaign and an Equity Council
  6. Evaluation

Smart Settlement Model

Smart Settlement

“Immigrants that are engaged in community building are much more likely to develop a stake in their new community and a strong sense of belonging – community equity.”

PROMPT Discussion paper, p22

WCI is informed by the Smart Settlement Model, which came out of a 2005 discussion paper commissioned by the Policy Roundtable Mobilizing Professions and Trades (PROMPT), an advocacy initiative formerly located at CASSA. The discussion paper, entitled “Smart Settlement: Current Dispersion Policies and a Community Engagement Model for Sustainable Immigrant Settlement in Ontario’s Smaller Communities” proposes a policy framework and a model for immigrant settlement in smaller communities that is sustainability-focused. In the model, immigrants are viewed as partners in community building (i.e. seeing immigrants as more than economic units simply providing labour), and three key building blocks to promote sustainable immigrant settlement (leadership, social and human capital) are encouraged.

Download the executive summary of the discussion paper.