Author information

Today is Labour Day. A good day to reflect on wages, salaries, and working conditions in the Immigrant and Refugee-serving Sector. Where are we at? The bottom line is that front line sector work is underpaid and undervalued. That's well documented in years of research. In this post I'm going to focus on what we know about salaries from sector salary surveys.

Please consider revising your job postings to include a salary or salary range. There are many reasons to do this, not the least of which include diversity, equity, and inclusion, which I know you are committed to. Please have a policy to always disclose salary, as not doing so perpetuates racial and gender wage gaps.

We'll do what we always do, which is to be resilient and innovative in the face of uncertainty and adversity and lack of leadership when it comes to digital. I hope to play a small role in working with the sector on all of that, but it's up to all of us to share, learn, work, and build together.

I believe that any research or project models, reports, toolkits, etc., that are created as a result of government funding should be shared for reuse. And it’s not at all a new idea or approach.

I'm excited to announce a content partnership for the Knowledge Mobilization for Settlement website. Starting today, I'll be sharing regular posts from the previously internal WES Weekly Roundup.

In this session with the Peel Newcomer Strategy Group, I was invited to speak about how organizations can advance the collective conversation on hybrid and digital service improvements regionally and where we might see opportunities to align with recent recommendations of the National Steering Committee on Technology (NSCT) focused on the Canadian settlement sector.

High-quality and inclusive settlement services means that newcomers are at the centre of the design and delivery of settlement services, and can quickly, easily, and inclusively access services online and in-person.

Mobilizing knowledge means that all SPOs are funded, supported, and encouraged to participate in formal and informal information sharing mechanisms to build, share, and replicate sector knowledge.

Enabling innovation means that Service Provider Organizations' (SPOs’) skills, commitment, and desire to innovate are supported with a shared innovation mindset, enhanced data skills and use, and continued funding.