Published on: December 7, 2023
This November 2023 AlphaPlus webinar focused on an exploration of Metro Toronto Movement for Literacy's smartphone learning modules, and how organizations like LAMP Adult Learning, and Literacy Council York Simcoe (LCYS) are using them. Presenters explored how they use the modules in the literacy field and what other programs are doing when it comes to using smartphones with their learners.
Published on: December 6, 2023
This session was part of AMSSA's 2023 BC/Yukon Summit: Collectively Envisioning the Future of Settlement and Integration. The presenter provided an overview of relevant IRCC data and reports for the BC and Yukon settlement and integration sector, including findings from recent outcomes research and other data collection, evaluations of programs such as SWIS and LINC, and the uptake of settlement services in BC and Yukon.
Published on: December 6, 2023
This session was part of AMSSA's 2023 BC/Yukon Summit: Collectively Envisioning the Future of Settlement and Integration. Panelists discussed how a hybrid in-person/digital service delivery model can help organizations in the settlement and integration sector to create accessible, flexible and more choices for clients to access the services that they need. Knowing and understanding what is needed for digital transformation in the settlement and Integration sector would help the organizations in the sector to move towards the future of digitization of the sector.
Published on: November 20, 2023
You probably already know that IRCC has launched their national Call for Proposals. My advice is to start diving in now, and to quickly look at the upcoming IRCC information webinar sessions, because they start this week. There are some significant changes this year, so be sure to read the How to use the funding guidelines page.
Published on: November 16, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Gaza evacuees in Canada will need mental-health, housing supports: refugee council, Ontario to ban employers from requiring Canadian work experience in job postings, Labour Market Outcomes of Immigrants in Ontario and its Major Cities.
Published on: November 10, 2023
Following the first Settlement Outcomes Highlights Report published in 2021, this report represents the second publication by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that provides a high-level analysis and summary of the newcomer settlement experience for clients of IRCC’s Settlement Program.
Published on: November 9, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: The Leaky Bucket A Study of Immigrant Retention Trends in Canada, The conversation around immigration in Canada is shifting, As migrants take deadly risks for better lives, Canada and the U.S. must do much more.
Published on: November 8, 2023
This October 2023 AMSSA webinar focused on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can unlock new opportunities for organizations and staff to automatize and sustain data and processes more efficiently. In this AMSSATalk a panel of experts explored and discussed the potential impact that AI can have on the sector.
Published on: November 4, 2023
In this July 2023 Ontario Nonprofit Network session, participants learned how to internally “sell” the need for technology within your nonprofit and highlight the expected benefits it will bring.
Published on: November 4, 2023
In this October 2023 AlphaPlus session, presenters spoke about the software they use and the benefits/changes they have noticed. This included the owner of a Canadian company providing texting software (including a custom phone number to display when sending a text) to help answer questions about texting tools.
Published on: November 3, 2023
At the 2023 Metropolis Identities conference IRCC presented some findings and promising practices from their funding Service Delivery Improvement (SDI) groups from 2017 and 2020. You can review their conference presentation in this post.
Published on: November 2, 2023
This presentation includes insights into the priorities for the Call for Proposals (CFP) 2024, the advancements and changes from the previous CFP, and outlines the approach for the upcoming launch in mid-November of this year.
Published on: November 1, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Immigration Minister announces measures to combat fraud against international students, Federal government freezes immigration targets, plans for 500,000 permanent residents in 2026, Public support for immigration falls sharply amid affordability concerns.
Published on: October 26, 2023
In this document, IRCC provides an overview of the immigration landscape leading up to their 2024 national Call for Proposals (which should be coming out in November I'm hearing). You can see the full document in the post, which is from their recent National Settlement and Integration Council meeting held in Ottawa.
Published on: October 25, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Pilot program launches to streamline work permit processing for Canadian employers recruiting in the Philippines, Canada’s change to its Roxham Road deal is called a ‘shameful downgrading’, Processing Applications for Permanent Residence - IRCC, Newcomers need more support to succeed in the Canadian job market.
Published on: October 11, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: AFTER THE SHOCKS: Preventing long-term labour market scarring for youth, Temporary immigration is 'minoritizing' French in Quebec, says PQ, Poll finds non-white Canadians reject Ottawa-approved 'BIPOC, racialized' label.
Published on: October 5, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Enhancing the Labour Market Outcomes of Immigrants to Canada, The Canada-India diplomatic crisis: Will the flow of Indian students, Shared Gains: Immigrant-Origin Students in U.S. Colleges.
Published on: September 27, 2023
At #ElliiCon2023 the focus was on Humanity & Technology in ELT: Striking a Balance in the Age of AI. Ellii and leading English language experts came together for a free, two-day virtual conference to explore the intersection of technology and traditional teaching. Presenters explored how to maintain human connections with language students in the age of AI while incorporating practical tech tools that can free up more time for crucial aspects of learning.
Published on: September 20, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Poll finds more than half of Canadians want fewer immigrants than Ottawa’s target, Hidden Talent: Unlocking the Employment Potential of Newcomer Youth in the Toronto Region, Canada on pace to build fewer — not more — homes by 2030 target: CMHC.
Published on: September 13, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Ottawa mulls fast-tracking international study permits for ‘trusted’ universities, colleges, UN envoy links temporary foreign worker program to ’contemporary forms of slavery’, Newcomers still being turned away from main shelter system, city confirms, Stopping immigration won’t fix Canada’s housing Crisis, and more.
Published on: September 12, 2023
If most Canadian businesses haven't adopted AI in their work, should you worry if you haven't yet?
Published on: September 12, 2023
How is artificial intelligence being used in governing migration? What are the risks and opportunities that the emerging technology raises for both the state and the individual crossing a country’s borders?
Published on: September 12, 2023
In this April 2023 Pathways to Prosperity webinar, panelists shared information about knowledge mobilization platforms already in existence to help equip participants with the tools and strategies they need to stay in the know.
Published on: September 6, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: This Canadian province wants to pick immigrants based on their nation. Is that fair, or a ‘slippery slope’?, We're welcoming record numbers of international students. Here's how they got caught up in the housing crisis, StatsCan to change how it counts non-permanent residents, ‘Just treat us like humans’: Temporary foreign workers in BC ride for rights, protections, and more.
Published on: August 31, 2023
Earlier this year, Jennifer Chan and I surveyed the Canadian immigrant and refugee-serving sector to find out how you are doing, both individually and organizationally. In today's post, we asked front-line workers and organizational leaders to agree/disagree with some statements.
Published on: August 31, 2023
This 2-day CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University workshop brought together leaders in the settlement sector that have adopted Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their communications and service delivery practices in order to deliver programs to targeted audiences.
Published on: August 31, 2023
In February and March 2023 IRCC ran sector consultations "to outline and seek feedback on departmental priorities for CFP 2024, in addition to asking partners what’s currently working well in the settlement and resettlement sectors, as well as key opportunities for improving services for clients." Like me, you may not have heard that these consultations occurred. Like me, you may have not seen the report. So here it is.
Published on: August 30, 2023
In this episode of the Technology in Human Services podcast I chat with Lucia Harrison, CEO of the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre about her experiences transitioning to hybrid services and a hybrid workplace that includes a 4-day work week. The effort, and it took a great effort, resulted in a 95% satisfaction rate from staff, particularly when it came to improved work-life balance. All organizations are going through this change, trying to figure it out, trying to find the right mix. Lucia has many lessons to share. Lessons you can implement in your organization.
Published on: August 30, 2023
In this episode of the Technology and Human Services podcast I’m speaking with Sampada Kukade from Skills for Change, a Toronto based settlement and employment organization that is no stranger to technology innovation. However, what you’ll find in this conversation, and what I find infinitely useful is that even organizations who are large and growing such as Skills for Change still need support in their digital transformation. And as part of their support, Skills for Change joined a pilot project called Charity Growth Academy run by CanadaHelps, which has been providing organizations, nonprofits, specifically, and charities with support around their digital transformation.
Published on: August 30, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Internationally educated health care professionals in Canada: Sociodemographic characteristics and occupational distribution, Refugees in limbo because of growing use of tool to strip permanent residency, Quebec rejects cap on student visas floated by Ottawa to address housing crisis, More Canadian agricultural producers denounce 'mass' foreign worker application rejections, and more.
Published on: August 23, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Federal government should look at cap on student visas, Housing Minister Sean Fraser says, Canada: rejected students offered new places, Study: Canadian postsecondary education and labour market outcomes of 2010 economic immigrants to Canada, Two years after Kabul's fall, Ottawa considering expansion of Afghan immigration program, A tale of two refugee systems in Canada, and more.
Published on: August 18, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Temporary Foreign Program’s new Recognized Employer Pilot, Hundreds of international students scrambling after Ontario college revokes acceptance letters, Two years on, what has happened to Afghan evacuees?, An Evaluation of Policy Responses to Refugee Resettlement in Rural Canada, and more.
Published on: August 17, 2023
In this Pathways to Prosperity webinar from the P2P 2022 National Conference presenters from ACCES Employment cover a series of approaches and tools that increase interactivity and outcomes in remote and hybrid service delivery models in their work.
Published on: August 14, 2023
When it comes to technology choices for your organization, there are many, in pretty much every category. Some of those choices will be made by client preference. Things like WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, Text/SMS are good examples. We use them because Newcomers prefer receiving information and interacting on those platforms. Others will be made by what's working for everyone and what is cost effective. But do you have a Plan B for those choices?
Published on: August 11, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Balancing Canada’s Pop in Population, Investing in the Future: Higher Ed Should Give Greater Focus to Growing Immigrant-Origin Student Population, Canada announces the first-ever Express Entry invitations for newcomers with experience in the trades, and more.
Published on: August 8, 2023
Earlier this year, Jennifer Chan and I surveyed the Canadian immigrant and refugee-serving sector to find out how you are doing, both individually and organizationally. This was a follow-up from our 2020 survey. In the coming weeks I'll be posting our survey results, which we'll then compile into a report of sorts, and share the raw data. In today's post, How do you feel your organization is doing when it comes to transitioning to a hybrid service delivery model?
Published on: August 2, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: The Provincial Nominee Program: Its expansion in Canada, Understanding under-representation in Canada's labour market: An analysis of definitions and approaches, More and more asylum seekers are coming to Canada. Is it enough to stem a global tide of refugees?, Canada doubles resettlement spaces for human rights defenders, Navigating the housing crisis: A comparison of international students and other newcomers in a mid-sized Canadian city, and more.
Published on: August 2, 2023
Hosted on July 27, 2023, this Switchboard training session on creating rapid community assessments (RCA) with refugees was delivered by Dr. Mary Bunn, PhD, LCSW; Ramsha Sohail, MPhil; and, Dr. Karin Wachter, PhD, MEd. RCAs help collect community insights and views on a certain issue and calculate the major needs of the target community. That means the approach is useful for technology, digital literacy, digital inclusion assessments as well.
Published on: August 1, 2023
Kareem El-Assal, Director of Policy & Digital Strategy at CanadaVisa - Cohen Immigration Law, provides insights on how technology can boost immigration to smaller communities across Canada.
Published on: August 1, 2023
In this May 2023 TESL Ontario session, John Allan of the Avenue project provides an overview of the potential promise and limitations of AI tools in ESL work. I've also included more videos and articles John has shared about AI and ChatGPT specifically.
Published on: August 1, 2023
In this TESL Exchange session from July 2023, Jonny Kalambay provides an overview of his site roshi.ai, which allows ESL instructors to create lesson material from videos or articles online with just a few clicks.
Published on: August 1, 2023
In this newsletter update I provide links to a number of upcoming events related to digital transformation, along with tech-related news and reports, and some immigration and diversity-related stories.
Published on: July 31, 2023
In this July 2023 Scottish Council for Voluntary Organizations' webinar Digital Inclusion Development Officer Jason Railton delves into Essential Digital Skills, and how they can be used to support people online. The webinar shows you how you can use the Essential Digital Skills Toolkit and the SCVO check-up tool to support learners to upskill and make sure that they're ready for the future.
Published on: July 26, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Alberta, and the rest of Canada, are woefully unprepared for the coming immigration boom, What’s the Right Number of Newcomers to Welcome to Canada?, Canada Announces New $212m Funding for Interim Housing Assistance Program for Refugees, Paying it forward: A P.E.I. program helps newcomers build community and get established, and more.
Published on: July 19, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Ottawa removes education requirement for Hong Kongers pursuing permanent residency in Canada, Experts weigh in on Professional Engineers Ontario’s removal of Canadian experience requirement for licensing, Canada launches pathway to reunite families and support Ukrainians, Building Meaningful Refugee Participation into Protection Policymaking, and more.
Published on: July 17, 2023
In this edition I continue to bring you my mixed bag of current and ongoing frustration with the lack of information and transparency on leadership in digital transformation along with innovation and leadership in our sector.
Published on: July 17, 2023
You may have read what I’ve written about Wired: Evaluation Settlement Online (WESO) before. In this post I’m going to explain why you, a manager at an Immigrant and Refugee-serving organization, should learn about, take the WESO training, and implement the WESO toolkit.
Published on: July 15, 2023
In a session with an Immigrant and Refugee-serving organization yesterday I shared a couple of slides that I tend to share in many presentations. It's a summary of IRCC's priorities from December 2021. I realized that I've never shared the entire presentation, so here it is for you to access and review. With some of my thoughts, of course.
Published on: July 12, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Ontario to require temporary foreign worker agencies, recruiters to be licensed starting Jan. 1, Canada announces First-Ever Express Entry invitations for French-speaking newcomers, Settling In: Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2023, What Canada gets right (and wrong) in economic pathways for displaced talent, Canada is getting bigger. Are we setting the country and its newest citizens up for success?, and more.
Published on: July 12, 2023
The next IRCC national call for proposals is coming. It might be later this year. It might be next year. Funding could roll out as soon as 2024. It might be in 2025. I'm starting to hear rumblings of sector consultations. This call for proposals is crucial. It will indicate how serious IRCC is about sector digital transformation and hybrid services. So what we can we learn from past consultations?
Published on: July 11, 2023
It's been a while since I posted a podcast episode. Editing this one reminded me how incredibly insightful, experienced, and committed you all are in the Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector.
Published on: July 11, 2023
This NetHope event explored data from the report, key themes and takeaways for INGO leaders, digital teams and stakeholders in the donor and policy ecosystem. Presenters shared their reflections on cybersecurity challenges and discussed steps needed to address the growing challenge facing digital humanitarian and development actors.
Published on: July 7, 2023
Two years ago I moderated a panel focused on measuring virtual service delivery for the Peel Newcomer Strategy Group. We asked the question: How do I know my transition to virtual service delivery is effective? It was a great discussion with many resources shared. This year I'm happy to share a better answer.
Published on: July 6, 2023
I recently attended an IRCC consultation focused on “Client Service Excellence.” The background paper they shared referenced below is here (and embedded down below). I haven't been asked to not share it, so I'm sharing it here with my thoughts.
Published on: July 6, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Immigrants’ sense of belonging to Canada by province of residence, Minister Fraser launches Canada’s first-ever Tech Talent Strategy at Collision 2023, Canada announces new immigration stream specific to health workers, Improving Stakeholder Coordination in Refugee Resettlement, As Canada welcomes historic numbers of immigrants, how can communities be more welcoming? and more.
Published on: July 6, 2023
In this post I'm providing some background information about how the evaluation toolkit was created and why you should connect with the WESO team soon to learn more about and implement it in your organization.
Published on: June 29, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Non-permanent residents in Canada: Portrait of a growing population from the 2021, B.C. international students are the new temporary foreign workers, stuck without work in their fields: survey, Blaming immigration for the country's housing crisis disguises the real problem, analysts say, Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2022, All Canadian permanent residence applicants must now submit biometrics, Montreal refugee advocacy groups, migrants begin 3-day protest march to Roxham Road, and more.
Published on: June 28, 2023
How can we move past paralysis and anxiety to joy and innovation when it comes to cybersecurity in the nonprofit sector? In this conversation, Jason Shim (CCNDR) and Omar Yaqub (IslamicFamily) explore a model cybersecurity policy for nonprofits and share practical steps you can implement to support your team.
Published on: June 27, 2023
I realized that while many of the articles, research reports, and Good Ideas I share in the newsletter lead back here, not all do. And, maybe having weekly summary of posts on this site might make sense. Granted, it only took me 92 editions of my newsletter to realize that, but such is life. From now on I'm going to post my newsletters here. I hope you find it useful.
Published on: June 24, 2023
I was watching a video about Apple’s new Vision Pro, their Virtual Reality headset. The video talked about questions you might typically ask when creating a new product or technology. Specifically, what problem is this product trying to solve? Combined with tech stewardship questions such as can we build the solution, should we build it, how do we do it responsibly, I thought it would be useful to go through these questions when it comes to technology and the Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector.
Published on: June 23, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Canada wastes the skills of its immigrants, and the economy suffers as a result, Women International Students: The Invisible Workforce, Safe Third Country Agreement is constitutional, Supreme Court rules, Visualising the global flow of 35 million refugees, Immigration: End the bait and switch. Keep Canada’s promise to migrants of a better life, and more.
Published on: June 13, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: What’s the right number of immigrants for Canada?, Canada opens new economic immigration streams for skilled refugees and other displaced people, Free replacement documents for Canadians and special measures for people affected by severe wildfires, Ukrainians sheltering in Canada hit hard by tuition fees, and more.
Published on: June 6, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Canada launches new immigration program to fill ‘in-demand’ jobs, Do university-educated immigrants recover economically from a slow start?, The Education-Immigration Nexus: Situating Canadian Higher Education as Institutions of Immigrant Recruitment, Mapping of complementary labour and education pathways for people in need of protection, and more.
Published on: May 30, 2023
In this useful overview, WholeWhale, a U.S.-based a certified B Corp digital agency that leverages web data and technology to increase impact, provides a number of practical tools you can start investigating and using in your work.
Published on: May 29, 2023
Being ready for digital maturity, hybrid services, service evaluation, and the growth of AI tools and processes means understanding your organization's state of data maturity. The UK-based Data Maturity Framework by DataKind and Data Orchard is a self-assessment tool to help charities better understand and alleviate the challenges of incorporating data into their efforts.
Published on: May 24, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: National Scorecard on Canada’s Growth and Prosperity, Quality of Work of Canada’s Contingent Workforce, ‘Game changer’: Ontario engineers remove Canadian work experience requirement for immigrants, They worked with Canada. But Ottawa denies it owes these Afghans quick help, and more.
Published on: May 24, 2023
Digital transformation remains a daunting process. And it's been recently compounded with the AI tipping point. AI is now something on everyone's radar because of the rise of Generative AI, highlighted by ChatGPT and resulting massive investments and accelerated timelines releasing competitor products and technologies. I'm sharing some interesting resources I thought you might find useful.
Published on: May 16, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Investing in settlement services for newcomers, Best Practices in Supporting International Students Enrolled in Toronto-area Colleges, New national PLAR framework will support lifelong learning and help individuals enter the workforce faster, Canada on Track to Host Largest Afghan Resettlement Program, and more.
Published on: May 9, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Working (and Learning) Online: Improving Remote Work-integrated Learning Experiences for Students and Employers, Triple-glass effect and language barriers erode Canadian charm, say experts, Canada waives fees for family members of Canadians who fled Sudan, and more.
Published on: May 2, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: What Role Can Immigration Play in Addressing Current and Future Labor Shortages? Tentative agreement reached for 120,000 public servants, Canada developing new immigration policy to attract French-speaking people, teachers, Canada to support Sudanese residents with new immigration measures, and more.
Published on: April 26, 2023
This March 2023 Wellesley Institute Community Knowledge Program webinar focused on innovative approaches to knowledge translation. From digital communication strategies, photovoice, and community engagement, learn how to share research findings and information in unique ways.
Published on: April 23, 2023
In this Skills for Change February 2023 Spotlight Series discussion, panelists explore the rise of the Digital Economy and the movement for Digital Equity.
Published on: April 21, 2023
If your organization handles personally identifiable information of any kind, you have likely heard of a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) – a risk assessment framework used to identify and mitigate privacy risks. But do you know who needs to complete one, and who needs a PIA to avoid serious damage to their organization? This May 2022 HelpSeeker session has useful information for you.
Published on: April 20, 2023
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be helpful when used well, but they are dangerous when used irresponsibly. AI ethics is the field that aims to understand and manage the opportunities and risks of using AI. This April 2023 talk by Ravit Dotan introduces the audience to prominent AI risks, the current state of AI ethics, the landscape of AI regulation worldwide, and what organizations should do to develop and use AI responsibly.
Published on: April 20, 2023
In this December 2022 TechSoup webinar, nonprofits shared how they use QuestionPro to collect data as well as how they are using those results in their daily decision-making.
Published on: April 20, 2023
How are technology and data are being used to enable innovative immigration systems? To ensure that Alberta continues to grow as an economic engine in Western Canada through COVID-19, the development of innovative immigration systems is critically important. This 2020 Civic Tech Calgary session provides an overview of Immigrant Services Calgary's new system for streamlining services for newcomers among multiple service providers in Alberta called Gateway Canada.
Published on: April 20, 2023
A lot of energy is being poured into diversity and inclusion efforts across the Canadian tech ecosystem. While this is commendable, newcomers generally still encounter barriers preventing them from integrating seamlessly into tech careers, startups and funding opportunities. What would it look like if we could build communities that not only welcome people from diverse backgrounds but also intentionally invite them?
Published on: April 20, 2023
Artificial Intelligence is on everyone's radar right now. How to ensure we're rolling out ethical AI? What's the best way to regulate it? As I've written about recently, it's not at all a new discussion. In this session from May 2021, Ontario public servant presenters share information about Ontario's consultations to inform a Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) framework.
Published on: April 20, 2023
I follow Civic Tech Toronto and they have excellent guest speakers. The sessions are recorded and available. In this post I am embedding a number of interesting sessions they've recently run focused on ChatGPT and Large Language AI Models.
Published on: April 17, 2023
There's a marketplace you probably have noticed since ChatGPT released their API of websites and tools that have popped up that are quickly giving people access to build their own chat bot, and things like that. In this video, I try out an Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot powered by ChatGPT. I saw someone use this in another forum and thought I would I would play with it. It went off the rails after my second question, contradicting itself and the information it was trained on.
Published on: April 6, 2023
I get a morning email from Lexology, a free legal news service. It's incredibly useful. Today, it was Key legal considerations with generative AI. The first line grabbed me and I had an aha moment: "Mass media attention following Open AI’s release of ChatGPT has pushed the subject of artificial intelligence (AI) back into the limelight."
Published on: April 4, 2023
I was asked to contribute to a Future of Good article evaluating the recent federal budget. My high-level evaluation in is the article, but I thought about it a lot when I replied. I'm posting my entire response here.
Published on: April 4, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: How does Budget 2023 impact Canadian immigration? How Lethbridge, Alta., found a solution to its family doctor shortage, Ottawa may have to adjust future help for Ukrainian refugees: immigration minister, Refugee Rights Advocates Express Concern Over New US-Canada Border Deal, and more.
Published on: April 4, 2023
The Ask Your PDF AI site allows you to "Upload your PDFs, and instantly transform them into conversational partners that are just as knowledgeable as the content they're based on. Engage with your documents like never before, and extract valuable insights with ease." So I tried it with a document/report I was part of writing. Ummm, it's really good.
Published on: April 1, 2023
Pre-arrival settlement services were funded by the Federal Government in 2005. It took them a while to shift to digital service delivery. Now that is the norm. This report looks at the published data on outcomes and provides recommendations to the sector.
Published on: April 1, 2023
As part of the two-year, national research project funded by the WES Mariam Assefa Fund entitled “Envisioning the Future of the Immigrant-Serving Sector,” ACS-Metropolis Institute, the Mhor Collective Scotland, and GEO Nova Scotia partnered together to pilot and tailor the delivery of the Digital Champions program for the Canadian settlement sector, a holistic “train the trainer” approach to delivering peer to peer support for newcomers to advance digital literacy.
Published on: April 1, 2023
Digital transformation is more than the tech or software used to deliver services: it’s approaching current models for service delivery in ways enabled by technology. This makes digital transformation a human process as well as a technical one, requiring human support to implement. A settlement sector organization in Nova Scotia, ISANS, is addressing the human element of digital transformation in their support of staff and clients.
Published on: April 1, 2023
What has the settlement sector learned from the COVID-19 pandemic? What knowledge do we want to carry into the future? This article considers the need for innovation in online service post the COVID-19 pandemic, and propose sharing and dissemination of resources as the best approach to long-term project sustainability.
Published on: April 1, 2023
This article draws on PeaceGeeks’ tech expertise and 6+ years developing and scaling Arrival Advisor (AA), an award-winning, multilingual mobile app that provides newcomers to Canada with recommended information and services tailored specifically to their needs, circumstances, and immigration status, to offer lessons learned, recommendations and potential risks for the sector and its main funder to consider at this time of rapid digital transformation.
Published on: April 1, 2023
Refugee 613’s Digital Messaging for Settlement and Integration (DMSI) project has explored the benefits of addressing this challenge by offering newcomers free, easy and fast access to settlement information in their own language and customized to their needs, via off-the-shelf apps on their smartphones. This article discusses the learning from the latest DMSI pilot, the Afghan Digital Service, which uses a private, moderated group on Telegram to provide key settlement information to more than 700 Afghan newcomers.
Published on: April 1, 2023
In the fall of 2020, ACCES Employment (ACCES) launched a virtual assistant powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). VERA (Virtual Employment and Resource Attendant), responds to inquiries about our programs and services, helps users self-register for upcoming events, and offers resources that are relevant to users’ queries. VERA is a chatbot interface on our website and operates behind the scenes within our Facebook Messenger app. She runs on IBM Watson Assistant and Discovery technology.
Published on: April 1, 2023
This article explores how to create team readiness for adoption of new AI tools in a service provider organization and how an informed and engaged staff ensures that AI adoption in settlement is consistent with organizational values.
Published on: April 1, 2023
This article makes a case for understanding the experience and needs of immigrants and refugees with using virtual care in relation to its ability to deliver compassionate care—that is, characterized by trust, dignity, positive patient-provider relationship, empathy, and respect. Authors propose using intersectionality as a framework for this inquiry. By understanding if and how immigrants and refugees experience virtual care through a compassionate lens, we can ensure that their perspectives and needs influence how we design systems of care.
Published on: April 1, 2023
The articles in this series should provide you with some inspiration and ideas. You should want to learn more about the projects and research. Hopefully they will encourage you to share what you’re working on. There is so much innovation in our sector. Too much of it stays under the radar. With this publication, we’re looking to reveal some of the innovation to you. Let’s make this a starting point for an ongoing sector conversation.
Published on: March 29, 2023
As Artificial Intelligence grows in usage in society, what does it mean for nonprofit and philanthropy? How should we feel about it? How would we use it? Can it take on some tasks like grant applications? What are the ethical and equity considerations? Will it take over our jobs?
Published on: March 29, 2023
I’m always inspired when I chat with folks in the sector, but this Metropolis Conference session reminded me of the incredible wisdom, knowledge, and passion that exists if we just ask! I'm sharing what we did and what we learned here to try to keep the conversation going.
Published on: March 29, 2023
This article is my presentation for Wellesley Institute's Community Knowledge Program webinar. Instead of slides, I've decided to take participants on a web journey through my Knowledge Mobilization approach.
Published on: March 28, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Canada’s population estimates: Record-high population growth in 2022, The Safe Third Country Agreement & Roxham Road, Canada extends emergency travel program for Ukrainians fleeing war, Tackling the labour shortage by helping more skilled refugees and other displaced people build their careers in Canada, and more.
Published on: March 25, 2023
IRCC presented the findings from this sector survey at the March 2021 Metropolis conference. They have never released a report of their findings other than in this and maybe a couple of other presentations. And it's useful information for the sector as well as data for those also doing related sector research.
Published on: March 24, 2023
This February 2023 Pathways to Prosperity workshop highlighted several initiatives that address the need for online and hybrid language service delivery options for adult immigrants.
Published on: March 22, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Canada announces extension of post-graduation work permits for up to 18 months to retain high-skilled talent, Express Entry: Canada holds largest all-program draw ever, Out of the shadows: A proposal for the regularization of migrants without status in Canada, External Processing: A Tool to Expand Protection or Further Restrict Territorial Asylum?, and more.
Published on: March 19, 2023
If you don't already watch Last Week Tonight to get explainer videos about high profile news stories with a comedic twist, I'm here for you. Below is a recent video he did providing a fantastic introduction and explanation of AI. Like his other videos, he makes a complex topic accessible, understandable, covers all sides of it, and makes you laugh.
Published on: March 14, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Federal, provincial and territorial immigration Ministers meet to plan for the future of Canada’s immigration system, Eliminating Exam Requirement removes major barrier for international medical graduates seeking to practice in Manitoba, Canada’s Ukraine visa program is set to expire this month. Will Ottawa extend it?, This new bill would make it easier to deliver Canadian aid to Afghanistan. Not everyone’s in favour, and more.
Published on: March 13, 2023
I read a good article that moves past AI and ChatGTP sensationalism and has lessons for our Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector. Focused on lawyers and AI in the law, the conclusion here makes sense for us as well. Throughout the text below, when you read "legal profession" think about "Settlement Practitioners."
Published on: March 10, 2023
I'll try to keep myself focused, and these posts focused, on ensuring that we're not just diving into the hype. But that we look at AI just like we should look at any technology, existing or emerging. With an ethical and responsible lens. Here are a few good starting points.
Published on: March 7, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Socioeconomic outcomes of immigrants admitted to Canada as children, 2019, Soon a Canadian citizenship oath could be just a scroll and click away, “A Missing Part of Me” A Pan-Canadian Report on the Licensure of Internationally Educated Health Professionals, UN seeks Canadian help for ‘enormous’ needs as number of refugees doubles, and more.
Published on: March 6, 2023
I recently received this question and managed to find some useful resources to share. So I thought I'd share them here as well.
Published on: March 5, 2023
This presentation by Dr. Turin Chowdhury focuses on addressing Digital Equity in Calgary. His presentation provides you with a solid foundation on digital inclusion, such as key barriers to inclusion, dynamics impacting inclusion, how digital inequity impacts different groups in society, and a roadmap for action towards digital equity/inclusion. His presentation is followed by Rob Wiles, Issues Strategist, Calgary Neighbourhoods, from the City of Calgary.
Published on: March 4, 2023
Three years ago we surveyed the Canadian immigrant and refugee-serving sector during the first month of working remotely as a result of COVID-19. Take this follow-up survey to tell us how you are doing, both individually and organizationally.
Published on: February 28, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Proof Point: Canada is failing to put immigrant skills to work, Black Business Owners in Canada, IRCC invites Canadians to directly influence future immigration policies and programs, Canada will fast-track immigration applications from quake-hit areas of Turkey, Syria, Why are some refugees more welcome in Canada than others?, Toolkit for Evidence-Informed Policymaking in Migrant Integration, and more.
Published on: February 28, 2023
We've taken for granted that some digital literacy means technology enabled. But we're not taught what we need to be taught.
Published on: February 27, 2023
In this February 2023 webinar, Simon Kemp discusses the rapidly evolving world of the Internet and how companies can implement their digital transformation strategy.
Published on: February 25, 2023
The short answer is that you can find them everywhere. That also makes it a bit overwhelming. But the answers are coming.
Published on: February 23, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Newcomers falling out of love with Canadian citizenship, New migration service launches to support international students in Canada, Labour Shortages, Working Conditions, and the Care Economy, Canada may fast-track immigration applications from people in earthquake zones, and more.
Published on: February 16, 2023
Someone recently asked me how I do what I do to stay on top of, curate, and share information in the Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector. I realized that my strategy hasn't actually changed that much in over 17 years. Sources and tools, yes. But not the overall approach I continue to use today. I thought I'd share what I wrote back.
Published on: February 15, 2023
What works well in a digital/hybrid model? What works better in person? In this Feb 7th, 2023 session I brought a group of folks together to talk about resources, experiences, and insights in the Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector.
Published on: February 10, 2023
It takes time and resources to create a seamless, engaging, and effective online workshop. But it can be done. Last week I took a deep dive and learned one approach. It worked for me. It can work for you. But it also means taking time and resources to learn to become better at this.
Published on: February 7, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Canada holds fist Federal Skilled Workers-only draw in Express Entry history, A data-based case for diversification: Study finds that only 14 countries account for half of all international student enrolments, Canadian MPs unanimously vote to resettle 10,000 displaced Uyghurs, Canada’s tech company’s platform will play key role in U.S. push for private refugee sponsorship, and more.
Published on: February 6, 2023
In June 2022 I presented at a workshop for the CERC Virtual Bridge project. The session focused on Content Creation and Strategy Building. My presentation was about Building Your Online and Social Media Strategy.
Published on: February 5, 2023
I was going through upcoming conference agendas, curious about what tech, hybrid, innovation-related sessions there might be. If you're curious too, I've compiled a list with descriptions and presenters from the Metropolis and AAISA conferences, and P2P's post-conference webinar series.
Published on: February 1, 2023
The time to make videos is now. You can and should be making videos providing quick and useful information and tips for your clients. It's never been easier to do it and post them online.
Published on: January 31, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Alberta adds family relatives to eligibility criteria for the Alberta Express Entry program, Racialized Canadians are less likely to find as good jobs as their non-racialized and non-Indigenous counterparts early in their careers, World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2023, ‘Welcome Corps’ a potential lifeline for refugees, and more.
Published on: January 29, 2023
As you work towards being digitally mature, you are also likely working on a hybrid work model. Take this Cisco Hybrid Work Maturity assessment and get your personalized report and recommendations for optimization.
Published on: January 26, 2023
Being ready for hybrid services ultimately means being ready for digital service delivery. You should be already actively assessing the impact and outcome of your services. How can you assess how ready you are to deliver services digitally?
Published on: January 24, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Ottawa eyes ‘aggressive measures’ to clear immigration backlog, memo reveals, Ford government to allow out of province nurses to start work immediately in Ontario, Does Canada’s Express Entry System Meet the Challenges of the Labor Market?, Syrian Refugee Lived Experience Project, WES Blog: How WES Canada Supports Immigrant Youth in Building Their Careers, and more.
Published on: January 23, 2023
In this December 2022 webinar the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) looks back at the biggest changes we've seen this year and look to the future. What have been our biggest tech wins? How has digital, data and design benefited the sector? And what might happen in 2023? We'll be encouraging call participants to share their digital wins, big and small.
Published on: January 23, 2023
Digital inclusion practitioners have been working to end the digital divide for decades, creating their own community, definitions, resources, and gaining knowledge of what works and doesn’t. In this webinar, U.S.-based National Digital Inclusion Alliance provides a detailed overview of Digital Inclusion.
Published on: January 23, 2023
What are the top emerging trends in digital, and how will nonprofits be impacted? Where should we focus our attention (and resources) in 2023? This series of 5-minute mini-presentations organized by TechSoup Connect Western Canada provided you with information about the trends, tools, and techniques nonprofits should use to create more impact.
Published on: January 18, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Matching Rapid Growth with Adequate Supports: How Colleges and Government Can Enhance International Student Experiences in Ontario, Global Skills Mobility Partnerships: An Opportunity for Canada, Labour Force Survey, December 2022, Why Some Groups Are Quitting Canada’s Popular Refugee Sponsorship Program, Why Canada’s plan to bring in 1.45 million permanent residents won’t fix the labour shortage, and more.
Published on: January 12, 2023
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: The top immigration developments of 2022, Opinion: Canada’s immigration plan should involve more than just big numbers, National physicians regulator aims to fast-track certification of more foreign-trained doctors, and more.
Published on: January 11, 2023
Research which took place in Saskatoon during COVID-19 school closures, found that immigrant parents in particular were affected in four ways: parent-teacher communication was hindered; children’s second language acquisition was delayed; schooling was neglected in favour of supporting well-being; and, parents relied on their own communities.
Published on: January 11, 2023
How other countries have moved to digital immigration provides important clues for Canada. Modernizing could build an efficient and fairer system.
Published on: January 11, 2023
Rather than bring about a post-labour world, the use of AI in the workplace is likely to increase precariousness and inequalities among workers.
Published on: January 11, 2023
As Canada experiments with using artificial intelligence (AI) in its immigration and refugee system, we must ensure the system protects human rights.
Published on: January 11, 2023
Immigration decisions are complex with high stakes for the people involved. The government must tread carefully on using AI in the screening process.
Published on: January 11, 2023
Experimenting with a systems approach using AI will help reveal its potential and allow immigration officials to begin asking different questions.
Published on: January 4, 2023
I don’t spend a lot of time looking at my site analytics, but I was curious this year, so had a look. I’m biased, but the lesson is that people want to share and access shared resources. They want to know what’s happening in the sector. They want to know who’s doing what. They want to understand and learn from their peers. They want to know what is being funded.
Published on: January 3, 2023
In June 2000, I was part of a discussion looking at what our community might look like in 20 years. I think what I said still fits for today and how we should approach technology in our work in social and human services.
Published on: January 3, 2023
Recently I presented a "lightening talk" at the Future of Good's Dismantling Digital Barriers Summit. The Summit sought to understand "what is digital equity? Who is left behind? And how do we close that gap?" It's a topic that has taken on increased importance in our sector. I thought I'd share my speaking notes.
Published on: December 22, 2022
Four years ago I took a stab at outlining what I think the future of immigrant/refugee settlement work is. It's 33 minutes of my sense of the future of settlement work and all the moving parts and connections. I think it's still very relevant and part of the conversation we need to be having as a sector.
Published on: December 21, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Thousands assigned to inactive immigration officers and IDs. Are you one of them?, Immigrants could be the solution to Canada’s labour shortage, but they need to be supported, Atlantic Canada experiences a recent uptick in retaining skilled immigrants, Connecting Refugee Students and Graduates to Skilled Migration Pathways, and more.
Published on: December 16, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the economic integration of many immigrants, News release: Ontario upskilling more nurses to work in critical care, Gig platforms help immigrant care workers find jobs, but they are only a temporary solution, Admissions of Afghan refugees, and more.
Published on: December 15, 2022
Despite the importance of immigrants for the Canadian economy and national identity, it remains to be seen if immigrants are engaged in the development of policies, services and technological tools that impact them. This article suggests that they should be included and engaged.
Published on: December 14, 2022
You’ve probably seen people post about the latest AI media darling, the AI chatbot ChatGPT. AI is here, is coming, will impact our work, all of that. So it makes sense to try things out from time to time, to see how they can actually help our work. I’ve done that previously. And, when I saw Andrew Griffith try it out on immigration and citizenship questions, with good responses, I decided to try it out on digital inclusion questions.
Published on: December 12, 2022
In this Avenue.ca webinar, presenters discussed innovative uses of technology for student engagement, and took 'a deeper dive’ into listening in the digital age, drawing from research and practice.
Published on: December 12, 2022
This Techsoup Canada webinar session explores how the differences between the medical and social models of disability can impact the ways in which organizations can create equitable online, hybrid, and instructor training that blends the principles of universal design for learning and trauma-informed care.
Published on: December 12, 2022
Hosted by Civic Tech Toronto, City of Toronto staff who work in technology services share an overview of some of City Council’s priorities, providing an update on Toronto's Digital Infrastructure Strategic Framework.
Published on: December 12, 2022
In this session, the speakers provided an overview of digital divide research and engagement to date in Calgary and highlighted the barriers and challenges that have emerged. They highlighted current small projects underway and engage participants in a conversation on their perceptions of potential solutions to address and mitigate barriers to digital access for those most impacted.
Published on: December 8, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Canada leads the G7 for the most educated workforce, thanks to immigrants, young adults and a strong college sector, but is experiencing significant losses in apprenticeship certificate holders in key trades, Jobs in Canada: Navigating changing local labour markets, Report: Help Wanted, Labour Shortages Threaten the Future of Canadian Agriculture, and more.
Published on: December 1, 2022
For internationally trained health-care professionals faced with unemployment and underemployment in the Canadian labour market, digital platforms offer the possibility of finding jobs in the industry they are trained in.
Published on: November 30, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Toronto Social Capital Study 2022, Promoting Fairness in Canadian Immigration Decisions, Canadian postsecondary enrolments and graduates, 2020/2021, One in three Ukrainians with visas have reached Canada as applications approach 700K, and more.
Published on: November 30, 2022
Imagine, an organization that provides support and solutions made up of peers who understand you, your work, and your sector? It's the right solution for any and all non-profits. AlphaPlus offers that for Ontario literacy providers. Why not for the Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector?
Published on: November 22, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Whitepaper: International student demand and opportunities for Ontario and Quebec, How Canada plans to break records with its new refugee targets, NOC 2021 - Solving labour shortages in key sectors like health care, construction, and transportation: Workers from 16 new occupations now eligible for permanent residence, and more.
Published on: November 18, 2022
I recently shared episode of my Technology in Human Services podcast where I speak with Meenakshi (Meena) Das about not just focusing on AI, but Human-centric AI. It generated some great comments from a couple of people working on AI projects in their organizations, building on and adding to Meenakshi’s insights, which I wanted to share here.
Published on: November 17, 2022
Refugee 613's 2021 Digital Messaging Summit was a dynamic interactive gathering bringing practitioners together to share and learn practical strategies and advice about managing digital messaging services by and for immigrants and refugees and build a network of people working in this area.
Published on: November 15, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: 'Canada is offering hope and dashing dreams', Diversity our Strength: Improving Working Conditions in Canadian Nonprofits, Unlocking the potential of youth-led social enterprises, Climate migration front and centre at COP27 in Egypt, and more.
Published on: November 8, 2022
I was invited to be part of an Access Alliance Fireside Chat about Digital Inclusion during their staff professional development day. I was honoured to speak and discuss with Ibukun Abejirinde who is doing super interesting research on virtual care and Newcomers, and Jay Shaw, who is also doing super interesting and relevant work and research on virtual care technologies and new models of integrated care. These are my speaking notes.
Published on: November 8, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Canada Leaving almost $13 billion on the table due to labour and skills shortages in manufacturing, Ottawa reveals plan to welcome 500,000 immigrants per year by 2025, Growing wave of unaccompanied minors among Ukrainians fleeing to Canada, We can do a better job of welcoming displaced students and scholars, and more.
Published on: November 1, 2022
Inclusion is the foundation upon which responsible technology and policy development must be built.
Published on: November 1, 2022
I was honoured to be asked to present at The Immigrant Education Society's event Celebrate e-Learning with TIES: Innovation + Inspiration in the Nonprofit Sector. My presentation focused on exploring how to get the word out/promote the great work language professionals are doing not just to Newcomers, but also to other sector organizations.
Published on: November 1, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: New Canadians Working amid a New Normal: Recent Immigrant Wage Penalties in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, Immigrants make up the largest share of the population in over 150 years and continue to shape who we are as Canadians, The ethical complexities of Canada’s dependence on edugration, Afghan refugee sponsorship quota should be removed, advocates urge feds, and more.
Published on: October 25, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: From Student to Immigrant? Multi-step pathways to permanent residence, Canada introduces strengthened protections for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the proportion of NEET: A regional analysis and international perspective, Unable to Leave: Afghans Stuck in Afghanistan, and more.
Published on: October 23, 2022
Welcome to episode 35 of the Technology in Human Services podcast. In this episode I speak with Meenakshi (Meena) Das. Meena is working on a number of interesting areas around nonprofit technology, but what I wanted to focus on in this conversation is her work around Human-Centric AI.
Published on: October 19, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Canada’s permanent resident application backlog is forcing thousands of skilled workers to quit and return home, Canada lifts working hour restrictions for international students, International Migration Outlook 2022, Survey shows that prospective students want more information on admissions, The Safe Third Country Agreement is unsafe – and unconstitutional, and more.
Published on: October 12, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: The "Canadian Experience Disconnect" - Immigrant Selection, Economic settlement and hiring, How failing to consider intersectionality affects immigrant women in the workplace, Canada moving to boost pathways to permanent residency for intl students, and more.
Published on: October 11, 2022
Why does this feel like such a provocative statement? I mean, it should be true, but it doesn't feel true, does it? How many of us feel like we have any control over the technologies we use in our daily and work lives? I'd suggest very few of us feel like we have control. So how do we get that control?
Published on: October 10, 2022
Welcome to episode 34 of the Technology in Human Services podcast. In this episode I speak with Tim Lockie. Tim has developed a new way to ensure that nonprofits factor people in their technology plans and that's what we talk about in this conversation, along with a healthy dose of how and why you should become better at making decisions with your own data.
Published on: October 6, 2022
In this May 13, 2022 webinar, presenters who previously worked with the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration and Oslo Municipality shared and discussed major learnings from the Odin project, a digital conversation and communication platform developed for immigrants with limited language and computer skills.
Published on: October 6, 2022
TechGirls Canada (TGC), in collaboration with Prof. Nadia Caidi from the University of Toronto, conducted a two-year, Canada-wide analysis of the unique challenges visible minority and immigrant women face in finding employment in science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) occupations. Their report Workfinding and Immigrant Women’s Prosperity in STEM is based on the stories of 74 immigrant women across 13 provinces and territories. This video presents their stories in a poignant and direct way.
Published on: October 6, 2022
In this October 5, 2022 webinar panelists discuss the implications of EveryoneOn’s recent U.S. research (a 3-part series on broadband adoption among low- and lower-middle income households during the pandemic) and National Digital Inclusion Alliance's (NDIA) digital equity guides and toolkits, including an introduction to some new resources.
Published on: October 5, 2022
In this October 4, 2022 webinar, Pamela Rosales, National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) training and community engagement manager, and Tsion Tesfaye, senior research and policy manager, lay the foundation for your digital equity knowledge.
Published on: October 4, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: It's not as easy as they say: International Students' Perspectives about gaining Canadian work experience, No help for undocumented workers, Unmasking differences in women’s full-time employment, New immigrants to Canada are building bridges with Indigenous Peoples. Here’s why that matters, and more.
Published on: October 4, 2022
I've joined Tech Stewardship's self-directed course and this week went through one question that I think is important for us all to reflect on: what is the default trajectory of humanity's relationship with technology? We're asked to rank where we are on a scale from 1 (pessimistic) to 10 (optimistic).
Published on: October 3, 2022
I'm going to spend the week writing and sharing information and articles about digital inclusion, with a focus on our sector. I'll share on my site and on LinkedIn, so let's chat there if you find what I'm sharing interesting. I encourage you to share what you or your organization is doing about Digital Inclusion.
Published on: September 28, 2022
Assessing and building Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector staff and organizational digital capacity is an important goal to move the sector forward as we build a strategic and practical hybrid service delivery model. I've posted many resources around digital literacy and digital inclusion that have come out of the UK. Here are 2 that I recommend you try out for yourselves.
Published on: September 27, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Transitioning to online applications for permanent residence, Easier access to permanent residence for physicians in Canada to help address doctor shortages, Alternative Federal Budget 2023: Rising to the challenge, Influence of a Global Pandemic for Ontario Newcomers: Challenges and Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Canada’s immigration minister leaves door open to extending Afghan resettlement programs, and more.
Published on: September 25, 2022
Recently I wrote about tech we're not talking about in our sector. I’m hoping to explore many of these technologies. In this article I’m looking at AI copywriting and video creation sites. There's a lot of potential, and things to think about here.
Published on: September 24, 2022
You might hear about sharing your organization's content using ‘Creative Commons licences’. What are Creative Commons Licences and why are they important? This July 2022 webinar will tell you just that.
Published on: September 24, 2022
If you're curious about Immigrant and Refugee social media habits before they arrived in Canada, be sure to have a look at the DataReportal country reports.
Published on: September 23, 2022
Welcome to episode 33 of the Technology in Human Services podcast. In this episode I speak with Miyuki Fukuma about sector technology development, the need for tech human resources in our sector and how we can actually afford those positions, technology sustainability that impacts how technology is funded, digital communication, and a good chunk of time on accessibility.
Published on: September 22, 2022
I'm looking for something I can't readily find. I assume it exists, but it's not jumping out at me. Do we have any sort of networks, discussions, communities of practice focused on digital inclusion here in Canada? There are efforts, networks, and ongoing discussions elsewhere. But I'm not aware of a Canadian effort to create pan-Canadian networks, discussions, communities of practice focused on digital inclusion here in Canada. It seems like we should have one.
Published on: September 20, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Ontario immigration is preparing to switch to new NOC 2021, Canada Working on Permanent Residence Option for undocumented workers, International students are key to Canada’s success – but we risk losing the best and the brightest to other countries, More than three million Ontarians could be without a family doctor by 2025, Canada Online Refugee Claims: IRCC Replaces CRPP With eApp, and more.
Published on: September 15, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Ontario gives OK for nursing college to expedite international nurse registration, Thousands of international students still waiting on permits after Canadian school year begins, Could Quebec’s skills training model help solve Canada’s labour shortage?, Canada agrees to resettle Afghans held in UAE facility, and more
Published on: September 15, 2022
I try to post as many reports as I can here. But, there are a number of sites where you will find reports and research on Canadian immigration and settlement. Use this handy custom search engine to search those sites all at once, from this page.
Published on: September 14, 2022
When it comes to digital literacy resources there seems to be a tendency to try to create new materials. There are so many excellent resources out there, many created during the pandemic. Let's build on each other's work, share openly, and complement, translate, edit for clear language resources instead of creating the same thing over and over again. Here are some useful starting points.
Published on: September 12, 2022
Like many organizations, in response to the pandemic, 2Life Communities built an accessible, community-supported, user-friendly Digital Device Lending Library (DDLL) for low-income elders who have little to no experience with technology. They created a replicable model for effectively connecting linguistically diverse, low-income older adults to services, programs, and each other through technology.
Published on: September 12, 2022
This site (eskills.km4s.ca) is an archive of the original eSkills.ca website developed by RRC Polytech’s Language Training Centre. It includes access to all of the original site files and resources through these links.
Published on: September 12, 2022
IRCC has released the full list of projects funded under their 2020 Service Delivery Improvement (SDI) funding call.
Published on: September 7, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Ensuring the success of international students: A collaborative model between governments, post-secondary institutions and the settlement sector, Highly educated newcomers in Canada, Course correction: How international students can help solve Canada’s labour crisis, Canada’s Rohingya fear world has forgotten refugee crisis 5 years after genocide in Myanmar, and more.
Published on: September 5, 2022
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.
Published on: September 5, 2022
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.
Published on: August 30, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Expanding the benefits of immigration in rural and northern communities, Canada will Lose Highly Skilled Immigrants without a Proper Retention Strategy, How universities can support international students beyond orientation, Almost half of Canadian report a strong sense of belonging to their local community, As the planet warms, people are moving. Will Canada welcome them?, and more.
Published on: August 29, 2022
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.
Published on: August 23, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: The country’s linguistic diversity continues to grow, How the labour shortage got so bad, Recruiting and training is the number one concern SMEs, Immigration Minister responds to criticism over Afghan resettlement numbers, The century of climate migration: Why we need to plan for the great upheaval, and more.
Published on: August 22, 2022
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.
Published on: August 18, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Canada’s labour shortages will outlive a recession, Delays in work visas negatively impacting Canadian business, Canadian university surpluses hit $7.3bn with international fee boost, and more.
Published on: August 18, 2022
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.
Published on: August 9, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Canada rolls out measures to help international students stay — and work, Changes to Ontario’s control over immigration begin rounding into form, Lives Put on Hold: The Impact of COVID-19 on Canada’s youth, and more.
Published on: August 3, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Canada needs to build more affordable housing for newcomers, Canada’s Immigration Department revamps anti-racism strategy following criticism, and more.
Published on: July 30, 2022
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.
Published on: July 28, 2022
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.
Published on: July 28, 2022
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.
Published on: July 26, 2022
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.
Published on: July 26, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Canada’s labour shortage is the country’s greatest economic threat, International Students for long-term prosperity in Canadian economy: Expanding pathways to permanence for int’l students in Canada, and more.
Published on: July 25, 2022
Strengthening hybrid service delivery means that the settlement sector consistently fosters an enabling service environment characterized by a shared vision of digital transformation, and the baseline capacities, infrastructure and culture needed to achieve that vision.
Published on: July 20, 2022
Our sector has been having a lot of conversations and doing research on many broad and specific areas of digital transformation over the past 2 years. One of the things I've been thinking about are some specific technologies that don't typically come up in sector conversations about digital transformation, but I think we need to start thinking about and planning for.
Published on: July 18, 2022
Let’s reconceptualize what Settlement Services are from the newcomer viewpoint, with newcomers at the centre. It’s not agencies delivering programs and services. It’s a service designed to provide Immigrants and Refugees (and increasingly those with temporary or no status) with accurate, relevant information and supports, so that they can make informed decisions about their new life in Canada and begin the integration process - including preparation before arrival.
Published on: July 12, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Express Entry: Canada invites skilled immigrants overseas for first time since 2020, Canada’s Immigrant Advantage: A survey of major employers, Canadians support accepting more newcomers, but we need a more equitable, rights-based approach, and more.
Published on: July 8, 2022
A couple of interesting reports on the digital and information habits and practices of international students provide some useful insights that reinforce what we should know and learn about all Newcomers.
Published on: July 7, 2022
I’ve found that when it comes to technology and our sector we make far too many assumptions based on anecdote rather than data. Of course, our work should be guided by both. I’m a big believer in qualitative and quantitative feedback and data. But we should be using both when we’re coming to conclusions that guide our move to a hybrid service delivery model.
Published on: July 6, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Express Entry: Canada’s COVID-spurred immigration backlog is hurting its economic growth, Will Canada welcome over 500,000 new immigrants per year?, Delivering on the Promise of Resettlement, Why Ukrainian newcomers are not refugees and why that matters, and more.
Published on: July 4, 2022
Over the last decade, humanitarian organizations have digitized many of their systems, from registering refugees with biometric IDs to transporting cargo via drones. This has helped deliver aid around the world, but it's also brought new risks to the people it's meant to protect. Tech and human rights ethicist Aarathi Krishnan points to the dangers of digitization -- like sensitive data getting into the hands of the wrong people -- and lays out five ethical principles to help inform humanitarian tech innovation.
Published on: July 4, 2022
This thirty minute session is for nonprofit leaders that are on a digital transformation journey with a SaaS/Cloud provider. You'll learn how to establish a relationship that will make them both successful.
Published on: July 4, 2022
This site provides information and a listing of practical projects, and client-facing tools, resources, and toolkits frontline workers can use as they progress towards digital transformation and hybrid/blended service delivery.
Published on: July 1, 2022
According to a new report from Twilio.org (the nonprofit arm of Twilio), 89% of nonprofits say digital communications are critical to achieving their organization's mission. And, while this is the case, much still needs to be done in nonprofits to move towards successful digital transformation.
Published on: June 28, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Immigration as a source of labour supply, The ethics of recruiting foreign-trained healthcare workers, Canada should expand its commitment to welcoming refugees, With thousands of Afghans still desperate to flee the Taliban, is Canada set to close its doors?, and more.
Published on: June 22, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: International students deserve to be treated as more than just a revenue stream, Canada needs an edge – and immigrants can provide it, Ukrainians who paid for immigration medical exams in Manitoba will be reimbursed, and more.
Published on: June 16, 2022
Yesterday I co-presented with Jennifer Chan from the Department of Imaginary Affairs at the The Regional Diversity Roundtable's conference Centering Diversity for Workplace Equity: Imagining Collective Futures. Our focus was on valuing and centering equity in digital transformation. We had a rich, nuanced, and interesting discussion with participants and I wanted to share my part of the presentation here.
Published on: June 14, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Racial bias amplifying Canada’s high study permit refusal rate, Why are Public Attitudes Towards Immigration in Canada Becoming Increasingly Positive?, Recent immigrants less likely to have family doctor, Canada can lead the way in accepting climate refugees, Report of the Special Committee on Afghanistan, and more.
Published on: June 9, 2022
This presentation is from 2008. However, I still use these core principles in my own work, and in my consulting work with social service non-profits and charities.
Published on: June 7, 2022
I participated on a panel at the Atlantic Regional Settlement Conference recently - 2022 Summit: Navigating Disruption and the Future of Settlement. Here is a summary of my presentation (not much new if you already follow my work, a bit of a summary).
Published on: June 7, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: How Canada’s new NOC will affect Express Entry eligibility, Immigration report shows skills don’t always match job market, Newcomer youth feeling isolated in rural Canada, Ukrainian refugees who’ve fled to Canada can now apply for government income support, and more.
Published on: June 5, 2022
Recently, AlphPlus has gone through a similar process of looking into the future of hybrid and digital service delivery in Ontario's Literacy and Basic Skills sector. It is worth highlighting their consultation and final reports. What aligns as well as differs with findings in our sector should be of interest to review.
Published on: June 3, 2022
In 2016 John Rainford, director of The (now defunct) Warning Project, presented at a workshop on building communication capacity to counter infectious disease threats. An important discussion, in general, but certainly in the years leading up to a global pandemic.
Published on: June 3, 2022
This webinar by Linda Manimtim, an eSkills developer at RRC Polytech, introduces the five eSkills lessons on Avenue.ca.
Published on: June 2, 2022
Here is an overview of key privacy and security considerations we should be aware of and keep in mind when providing online and hybrid services to Newcomers.
Published on: May 31, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Immigration will fuel Atlantic Canada’s population upswing, Express Entry draw updates: Canada to introduce major changes soon, How can Canada avoid major immigration backlogs in the future?, Canada needs to be as welcoming to Afghan refugees as it is to Ukrainians, and more.
Published on: May 26, 2022
IRCC recently funded a number of projects under their Service Delivery Improvements (SDI) funding, but hasn't released funding information yet. So I sifted through the Government of Canada's Proactive Disclosure site and found some info.
Published on: May 25, 2022
Settlement agencies still have work to do to ensure they’re offering enough online services to newcomers, including using online channels to communicate with them before they arrive in Canada.
Published on: May 25, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Immigration backlog must be tackled immediately, Canada needs to stop wasting talent of skilled immigrants, From the front lines: An urgent agenda for Decent Work, Government of Canada launches online portal to support Ukrainians, and more.
Published on: May 22, 2022
NorQuest College created these elearning modules as SCORM packages which you can link to or embed on your websites and Learning Management Systems (LMS). On this page, I have embedded their Module 3 Unit 2: Digging Into Disinformation, to show you how you could embed a module into one of your web pages.
Published on: May 17, 2022
Joséphine Goube, former CEO of Techfugees, imagines the next 40 years through the activities of Techfugees and how climate change, migration, and technologies will intersect in our near future.
Published on: May 17, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Minister Fraser says Processing Standards could return to normal by end of calendar year, How rural Canada can attract and retain international healthcare providers: Address discrimination and provide support, How to fix Canada’s broken employment insurance program, The Ukrainian Conflict Could Be a Tipping Point for Refugee Protection, and more.
Published on: May 16, 2022
This online seminar recording, from 26 April 2022, explores that role and how UK-based heritage leaders can support and encourage the development of the digital skills and literacies of the people within their organsiations.
Published on: May 15, 2022
In the Settlement Sector and Technology Task Group report we made a recommendation that I want to focus on. In part because during a recent project it became clear just how important this recommendation will be to the future of digital transformation in the Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector.
Published on: May 10, 2022
The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. Includes: Report unpacks why too many Arab women are struggling professionally, OCASI and BMRC releases pandemic response survey findings, Healthcare gig platforms help migrant workers survive but at what cost?, Canada so far resettles 12,605 of promised 40,000 Afghan refugees, and more.
Published on: April 17, 2022
I've seen a lot of links floating around to help provide resources and information to help Ukrainians coming to Canada under Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel (CUAET). It is always, but especially during times of crisis, that we get this information right. This page is simple. It links to authoritative information from official government and nonprofit sources. The information on these links will be the most up to date information you can find about efforts, supports, and services available.
Published on: April 5, 2022
Edward Rivas is a Settlement Counsellor at Catholic Centre for Immigrants in Ottawa. He created this video to help address a common problem and question he was getting from clients. He has agreed to make it available for anyone to use in their work with Newcomers. Creating a how-to video does so many things. Learn how creating videos can make your work more effective and efficient.
Published on: April 5, 2022
The Odils Learning Foundation is a UK-based charity For Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrant Groups. They have created a number of useful and practical videos focused on learning Email (as well as a specific focus on Gmail), Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. This complements written resources they have created, such as Getting Started With Zoom.
Published on: April 4, 2022
HIAS has developed a digital inclusion project that involves digital literacy training and providing digital tools for refugee clients. They developed a series of multilingual videos focused on Digital Literacy for Life and Work, and Chromebook Orientation.
Published on: April 3, 2022
Looking for a specific technology guide to help a client or co-worker learn the basics? Don't reinvent, borrow! UK-based Digital Unite has over 400 technology how-to guides that cover a whole host of digital topics. Written by subject matter experts and updated regularly, the guides are perfect for supporting others with digital skills or improving your own knowledge.
Published on: April 1, 2022
Reception House Waterloo Region has created some new Digital Literacy and Skills for Daily Life in Canada video playlists. Videos are available in Arabic, Dari Farsi, Rohingya, Somali, and Tigrinya. The videos are intended to support newcomers settling in Waterloo Region by providing information and guidance on topics such as digital safety, using a laptop, or navigating local transit using Google Maps.
Published on: March 26, 2022
In this 2022 Pre-Arrival Virtual Conference follow-up I wanted to be a bit more practical. Still future focused, but perhaps more narrowly now. The practical future window I’m focused on today is about 2 years. From now until the next national Call for Proposals. Still looking at what our sector can aspire to. But more practical.
Published on: March 15, 2022
When we’re looking at future proofing settlement work, I like to think about it as a bit of an iceberg. There is a great deal below the surface that has to be in place before what we see above the surface is effective. The future of settlement work is about much more than technology but I want to focus this iceberg conversation on technology since that’s what we’re focused on here.
Published on: February 16, 2022
Immigrant and Refugee-serving folks in Canada, follow-up from the Settlement Sector and Technology Task Group is here! Here is an Invitation to apply to the National Steering Committee on Technology (NSCT). Applications are open between Feb 15 to Feb 25, 2022.
Published on: January 30, 2022
Panellists at the 2010 Welcoming and Inclusive Communities and Workplaces (WICWP) Vancouver Forum shared their community approaches for creating welcoming and inclusive spaces.
Published on: January 30, 2022
In this November 2021 Pathways to Prosperity Canada conference session presenters from the National Newcomer Navigation Network (N4) presented findings from their report seeking to better understand organizations' experiences as they supported newcomers navigating health and social services.
Published on: January 30, 2022
In this November 2021 Pathways to Prosperity Canada conference session presenters discussed the question: What is the role of social media in resettlement?
Published on: January 30, 2022
In this November 2021 Pathways to Prosperity Canada conference session discussed the goals of their knowledge mobilization actions, the strategies that they have utilized to achieve these goals, what has been found to be effective, and pitfalls to avoid.
Published on: January 30, 2022
This January 2022 University of Ottawa Refugee Hub panel discussion focused on the connections between refugee sponsorship and public attitudes towards refugees.
Published on: January 23, 2022
For a few years now I've been tracking interesting digital programs/projects in the Canadian immigrant and refugee-serving sector. Among those are smartphone apps. A growing number have emerged over the years and I wanted to share them here.
Published on: January 20, 2022
The OCASI ImmSectorRoundtables discussion series is an opportunity for settlement practitioners to get together virtually and examine issues as they relate to service delivery in the im/migrant and refugee serving sector. In this January 2022 event, three panelists looked at the state of innovation in the sector.
Published on: January 18, 2022
On January 18, 2022, Richard Edelman unveiled findings from the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer. For 19 years of the Edelman Trust Barometer NGOs have been the most trusted institution. You're still second this year, but it's worth looking at the nuances of where NGO/community organizations are trusted. He delves into some of that of those nuances in his presentation, and they're interesting.
Published on: January 18, 2022
This December 2021 Code for Canada workshop shared their new Digital Capacity Assessment tool for government teams. Building on the work of Public Digital and the Harvard Kennedy School, the tool helps public servants identify the digital competencies that are most important in their unique contexts.
Published on: January 16, 2022
When I started working in the Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector many decades ago, one of the things I was trained on was Paulo Freire's Popular Education approach. Part of my introduction was Educating for a Change. It became our guide for community development. For running workshops within our sector as well as with others. And how we approach our work with Newcomers and the communities we served.
Published on: January 13, 2022
I wrote this article in 2020 elsewhere when we were all trying to figure out this online facilitation/engagement thing. It's still a pain point/struggle, so I thought I'd bring it back into circulation.
Published on: December 21, 2021
This October 2021 Migrant Worker Hub webinar on looked at how frontline workers and service provider organizations responded, were innovative and agile during the pandemic, providing both online and in person services to newcomer immigrants, migrants and refugees.
Published on: December 21, 2021
We have an opportunity to rethink how we create events and learning experiences moving forward. Simply jumping back into the way we always did things is not the way to do it.
Published on: December 9, 2021
Disrupting Digital Monolingualism workshop, a one-and-a-half day event, was held online on June 16th and 17th 2020.
Published on: December 6, 2021
In this December 2021 New Canadians webinar, speakers shared their immigration experiences and valuable resources to help newcomers at every stage of their immigrant journey. Why a video like this on a site focused on Immigrant and Refugee-serving practitioners? Because sometimes we don't centre the Newcomer voice enough in our work. And this panel is a great reminder of how Newcomers are helping and supporting Newcomers, within and outside of our service ecosystem.
Published on: December 3, 2021
On November 30, 2021, Simon Kemp celebrated a decade of the Global Digital Reports series with a lighthearted #NerdStream. He shared some of the stats and trends that have stood out for him over the past 10 years, and answered questions about the numbers, as well as how they produce the reports.
Published on: December 3, 2021
Data is useful. But it's also sometimes just numbers. What's the story, if any, behind reams of numbers and statistics? Iris Sun shows how immigration source country data can come alive in simple ways (thanks to Nick Noorani for sharing). In these data visualizations, trends immediately jump out at you. She's made the data interesting and accessible.
Published on: December 3, 2021
This December 2, 2021 event was an invitation to share what it would look like if you could wave a magic wand and change the way we meet the needs of Newcomers and to shift the way your organization, funder, sector are serving Newcomers now. We are imagining a new way for our sector to come together and imagine equitable futures. We call this community the Futures of Settlement.
Published on: December 3, 2021
On November 18th, 70 people working on Settlement and Language in the Canadian Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector came together informally to discuss digital literacy in our sector. This is a recap of the event, with panel video recordings, and breakout session summaries.
Published on: December 3, 2021
In this Long Now Foundation November 2021 event, Futurist Parag Khanna looked at trends that are shaping the most likely scenarios for our future and asks what map of human geography will emerge.
Published on: December 2, 2021
Welcome to the first speaker in the Knowledge Mobilization for Settlement Series. Nick is a longtime friend of the Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector. You probably know him. And if you don’t, you should. His most recent projects should be of immediate interest to you and your newcomers clients. In this conversation he shared what he's working on and you’ll want him to become your organization’s best friend.
Published on: November 30, 2021
In this June 23, 2021 Building Migrant Resilience in Cities project webinar, presenters discussed: 1. Asylum Seekers in Quebec, 2. The role of christian churches with Haitian asylum seekers, 3. Resettlement of Syrian Refugees in Gatineau, Quebec.
Published on: November 30, 2021
This November 10, 2021 webinar provided research updates on research topics being done as part of the Building Migrant Resilience in Cities project: 1. Temporary Migrants and Resilience 2. Sounding Different, but Still Equal? Assessing Discrimination against “Audible Minority” Experts in Urban and non-Urban Settings in Quebec and Ontario 3. Employer Recruitment Strategies, Newcomer Employment and Resilience.
Published on: November 25, 2021
In this March 2021 Local Immigration Partnership - Lanark & Renfrew event, Dr. Ryan Gibson shares research findings on attracting newcomers to rural areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Gibson works at the University of Guelph and his research supports the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation.
Published on: November 25, 2021
In this May 2021 during the Local Immigration Partnership - Lanark & Renfrew Speaker Series event, former Ontario Attorney General and leader at Institute for Canadian Citizenship, Yasir Naqvi spoke on how rural communities can address systemic/historical racism to create more welcoming spaces for newcomers.
Published on: November 25, 2021
In this October 2021 webinar, speakers from the IWK Health Centre discussed the N4 Network and the N4-SPU Program, highlighting examples of how the Newcomer Navigation lens has applied to the different department roles within IWK, and illustrate resources available through N4 that clinicians can use.
Published on: November 22, 2021
Presented at the P2P 2021 conference, this panel session looked at what we know about immigration and settlement in Canada now and what we have learned during the pandemic. Panelists also presented their views on what future policies and programs in Canada could look like to optimize the benefits for newcomers and established Canadians alike.
Published on: November 22, 2021
Presented at the P2P 2021 conference, this panel looked at Immigrants who arrived or settled in Canada during COVID-19 and their unique path compared to their predecessors. The session provided insights on the latest immigration and immigrant employment trends, as well as examples of how the settlement sector has adapted to support the COVID cohort. The composition of immigration classes has changed. In addition, Newcomers faced significant employment challenges as the pandemic had a disproportionate impact on certain Immigrant-intensive sectors, such as accommodation and food services. Settlement service providers had to pivot and leverage new virtual and hybrid models to support this new cohort.
Published on: November 22, 2021
In presentations and meetings about developing digital/hybrid services in the Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector, I often point out that we can borrow much from other sectors that have already done far down this path. In particular sectors with regulatory frameworks, where getting it right isn't an option, it is expected. It's based on ethical frameworks and standards, as well as laws around things like personal health information, etc.
Published on: November 15, 2021
We can and should know whose land we live, work, and play on. And we should acknowledge that when we meet and gather together. But, if you're like me, you may be finding land acknowledgements have become a bit of performance without substance. I wondered, what responsibility do we (our sector) and newcomers have when it comes to truth and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples?
Published on: November 14, 2021
Do you work for an NGO? Are you looking for ideas and inspiration for your 2022 social media and digital marketing plans? This panel of nonprofit social media experts looked at priorities and trends for 2022.
Published on: November 14, 2021
Jennifer Chan and Alysha Baratta have developed distinct yet aligned projects to co-design services with newcomers as a community development tool. Presented at the P2P 2021 Workshop Series, they introduce how their projects challenged assumptions within settlement services, and focused on co-designing approaches for newcomers to thrive.
Published on: November 14, 2021
Presented at the P2P 2021 Workshop Series, this session introduced the Newcomer Insight Collaborative (NIC). The NIC is a new model and platform that brings organizations together to make better use of their service delivery data for program planning and development.
Published on: November 14, 2021
Presented at the P2P 2021 Workshop Series, this session focused on partnerships between immigrant media networks and settlement agencies across Canada to get valuable information out to newcomers during the pandemic.
Published on: November 14, 2021
Presented at the P2P 2021 Workshop Series, in this workshop, the lead instructor presented an overview of the course. Community partners spoke about their experience in this course.
Published on: November 14, 2021
Presented at the P2P 2021 Workshop Series, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Settlement & Family division staff share observations made during the pandemic as they have continued to serve BC newcomers in the Greater Vancouver area and Fort St. John during the pandemic.
Published on: November 9, 2021
At the recent P2P 2021 Conference, I was part of the panel "The COVID Cohort of Immigrants: Tackling Settlement and Employment Challenges." My focus was on discussing the impact of technology on both clients and service providers in the pandemic context.
Published on: November 6, 2021
This 2020 eSkills.ca interactive webinar series provided background information on the creation of learning modules focused on building English-language learners’ digital literacy. The eSkills team provided an overview of the process of planning, designing, and developing engaging online learning, outlining their digital literacy training project and resources.
Published on: November 6, 2021
In this September 16, 2021 event in the Longwood Breakfast Series Dr. Kwame McKenzie, CEO, Wellesley Institute uses examples from the pandemic to discuss how we can produce more effective and efficient health systems.
Published on: November 6, 2021
In this September 23, 2021, Alan Turing Institute webinar, Louise Maynard-Atem, Research Lead at Women in Identity shares her view on the importance of inclusion, when establishing an identity system for a thriving digital economy.
Published on: November 6, 2021
In this November 3, 2021, NewCanadians TV webinar, a panel of experts discuss the situation of these newest arrivals to Canada as well as provides options for those who are inclined to lend a neighbourly hand in their resettlement.
Published on: November 6, 2021
This 2020 Canadian Association of Social Workers webinar provides an overview of Family Reunification, focusing on: an introduction to the Canadian family reunification policies, the policies’ effects upon migrant clients, exploring social work’s role in immigration social policy development, and offers avenues for addressing social justice challenges and barriers faced by migrant families.
Published on: November 6, 2021
Professor Lilie Chouliaraki (London School of Economics and Political Science) delivered this keynote address on April 14, 2021 as part of the UBC Centre for Migration Studies' "New Media Aesthetics of Migration" Virtual Workshop. In this keynote, she proposes a new understanding of the refugee selfie as moral practice.
Published on: November 6, 2021
Dr. Audrey Macklin (University of Toronto Faculty of Law & Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy) presents in this online talk delivered Monday, March 8, 2021 as part of the UBC Centre for Migration Studies' Winter 2021 Speaker Series. Her presentation presents preliminary findings from research that involved over 500 online surveys and 85 in-person interviews with sponsors.
Published on: November 6, 2021
This self-guided learning workbook will provide an introduction to developing accessible and effective learning activities in a settlement setting using the Universal Design for Learning framework. The guide was developed for the Community Integration Network by Marisa Gelfusa, Facilitation and Design Specialist.
Published on: November 6, 2021
This bilingual Fact-Checking Toolkit (English & French) was created by Susana Mas in collaboration with the Catholic Centre for Immigrants for the wider Community Integration Network which supports newcomers. The Toolkit was created to help people navigate mis - and disinformation online.
Published on: November 6, 2021
On September 22, 2021, The WE Value Partnership project held their WE Value Partnership Final Forum. Project staff provide a recap of where we have been and a sneak peek into some of the work that they hope to undertake in the coming months. I was honoured to provide a keynote presentation covering the potential and future of technology in the sector.
Published on: November 5, 2021
In this episode of the Starts at the Top podcast, the hosts talk to Raj Burman, Techfugees CEO, and Nowar Rahmouni, social media community builder and writer, and Communications Officer at Techfugees Lebanon about the role technology can play to support refugees.
Published on: November 5, 2021
In this All Tech is Human July 15, 2020 webinar, Mutale Nkonde (CEO of AI for the People and Standford Digital Society Lab fellow) and Charlton Mcllwain (author of Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, From the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter & Vice Provost for Faculty Engagement and Development at NYU) discussed the challenges and opportunities in implementing anti-racist technology.
Published on: November 5, 2021
The Carr Center for Human Rights Policy's Nov 3-4, 2021 Symposium on Intercultural Digital Ethics brought together a range of cultural, social and structural perspectives on the ethical issues relating to digital information technologies, with the aim of broadening the approach of digital and AI ethics.
Published on: November 3, 2021
Whether you're a novice or a seasoned digital users, this November 3, 2021 TechSoup Canada webinar provided actionable concepts and strategies that will keep your data and your organization secure, and help you ward off all kinds of attacks––from phishing to Zoom-bombing.
Published on: November 2, 2021
The September 2021 Responsible Tech Summit focused on reducing the harms of technology, diversifying the tech pipeline, and ensuring that technology is aligned with the public interest.
Published on: November 2, 2021
During this May 4, 2020 Nethope webinar, part of the virtual edition of the ICT4D Conference and ongoing ICT4D webinar series, three different initiatives using digital technologies to help fight misinformation were explored. Speakers shared how their applications relate to COVID-19 preparedness and response.
Published on: November 1, 2021
In this September 28, 2021 NetHope session, participants learned about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) and how to incorporate AI/ML into nonprofit programs and projects.
Published on: November 1, 2021
On October 28, 2021, HelpSeeker hosted this panel discussion on the current state, opportunities, and risks inherent in using advanced technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, to measure, predict and drive social change.
Published on: October 29, 2021
You can search this site and find various research reports and useful information about digital literacy in our sector. But a one-page summary can come in handy some times. In this post I've compiled a number of reports, webinar recordings, and other resources to get you started.
Published on: October 29, 2021
On October 15th, the Ryerson Leadership Lab held a panel discussion and Q&A on the Government of Canada’s recent proposal for new legislation to address illegal online content, and what we should do to develop regulatory solutions while protecting the rights and freedoms of Canadians.
Published on: October 28, 2021
In this October 25, 2021 webinar, Dr Ann Cavoukian presented the 7 Foundational Principles of Privacy by Design.
Published on: October 28, 2021
I was honoured to be asked to participate in the recent MPI Europe conference Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion (SI4RI): Sowing Innovation in the Cracks of Crisis.
Published on: October 27, 2021
In May 2020, not long after frontline service providers moved services online, North York Community House (NYCH) held a couple of interesting and useful webinars. It was early days, but NYCH staff and leadership were learning some things, making progress. They decided to put themselves out there to share not only what they were learning, but also their struggles, and what they were learning.
Published on: October 22, 2021
A few months ago I shared resources to help answer the question what will your hybrid workplace actually look like? It's still a big question. Sector leaders have been bringing you together to help think it through. This post includes a few useful webinar recordings that might be helpful for you.
Published on: October 15, 2021
During some work a few years ago on the digital messaging practices of immigrant and refugee-serving organizations and newcomers, I came across some really interesting research that just struck me as a great model. Building from this Smartphone Evaluation Framework theory, I proposed a similar Digital Messaging Evaluation Framework.
Published on: October 14, 2021
Regarding innovation and interaction, some refer to this as big “I”, and little “i” innovation instead. Big “I” innovation refers to big or disruptive innovations that totally change the landscape of a business, its products or the dynamics of the market. In contrast, little “i” innovation refers more to incremental changes or improvements to businesses and products. Another way to look at little “i” innovation is as iteration.
Published on: October 9, 2021
If you work with immigrants and refugees in Canada, chances are you're using WhatsApp to communicate with some of them. In this short video, I show you why you should consider moving to the WhatsApp Business app for your professional work.
Published on: September 10, 2021
In this Technology in Human Services podcast episode I chat with Aletheia Délivré about service and human centred design.
Published on: September 9, 2021
In January 2021, Refugee 613 hosted the Digital Messaging Summit to share practical strategies and advice about managing digital messaging services by and for immigrants and refugees and build a network of people working in this area.
Published on: August 21, 2021
TechSoup/Public Good App House event. Explore solutions for translation, supporting LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, and connecting your clients with vital information and resources.
Published on: August 20, 2021
I publish a semi-regular email newsletter that helps pull together some thoughts, find threads, etc., from time to time. You might find it interesting.
Published on: August 14, 2021
We have lost one of the good ones. Francisco was a presence in our sector. I feel lucky to have known and learned from him.
Published on: August 11, 2021
How can we ensure the immigrant-serving sector is responsive, collaborative, innovative, and sustainable, in order to meet the evolving needs of newcomers in Canada? In this session, presenters shared reflections on current challenges identified to date, facilitated an interactive discussion on the sector’s needs, and discussed how the sector can be strengthened to better support the success of immigrants and refugees.
Published on: August 11, 2021
This post comes out of an interesting LinkedIn post and I thought it is probably something others are starting to look into. I'm not a lawyer, nor an expert in this area, but it's an area that definitely intersects with the Settlement Sector & Technology Task Group final report.
Published on: August 10, 2021
In this webinar, U.S.-based EdTech Center @ World Education shared examples of innovative models, strategies, and resources in remote adult ESOL instruction and support services they identified over a 6 month period (prior to June 2021).
Published on: August 6, 2021
This webinar introduces and focuses on no-code/low-code technology development at the July 2021 Catalyst Network Meetup. This term refers to the use of a collection of apps to develop digital services, with no or minimal coding involved. That's right, you don't need to be a designer or coder anymore to build good stuff!
Published on: August 6, 2021
This webinar walk participants through Evidence for Democracy's toolkit for preparing plain language summaries. Presenters provide an overview of the process of writing in plain language, starting with factors to consider before you begin writing, to the nuts and bolts of writing.
Published on: August 6, 2021
In June 2021, Techfugees Kenya received a donation of 40 computers by Endless OS Foundation to be distributed through our network of local partners in Kakuma Refugee Camp. The Live demo explained how the computers work and how to implement them onsite.
Published on: August 6, 2021
This July 22, 2021 webinar explored the terms HyFlex and Blended Synchronous and offered examples of three LINC providers’ trials, pros and cons and equipment used for the method. HyFlex stands for Hybrid Flexible and is being used as a term to describe simultaneous in-person and remote program service delivery, particularly for LINC classes.
Published on: July 13, 2021
What can our sector do to "lure people in" to provide the appearance that we're for all, that our services and information are not only authoritative, accurate, up to date, and useful, but also competitive with these slick predatory app developers and others?
Published on: July 13, 2021
Having responsive, automated FAQ-style information for common inquiries available 24/7 in different languages is clearly becoming more technically possible. I wonder how our sector will be able to harness (and be funded to harness, let's be honest) these potential innovations in a seamless newcomer settlement journey and service experience.
Published on: July 13, 2021
In this podcast episode, I’m chatting with Whitney Loewen the manager of E learning and special projects at The Immigrant Education Society (TIES) in Calgary. I reached out to Whitney after discovering their Newcomer Introduction to Classes Online project, or NICO.
Published on: June 24, 2021
Useful resources from IRCC's Research at a Glance email list.
Published on: June 11, 2021
There are many great workshops and webinars about misinformation and disinformation. Here are a few that tie together nicely.
Published on: June 11, 2021
Amy Webb presents the launch of the Future Today Institute's 14th annual Emerging Tech Trends Report, which takes a deep dive into all the trends you'll need to follow in 2021. Futurist Amy Webb, professor at NYU Stern School of Business and founder of the Future Today Institute, provided a data-driven analysis for the emerging tech trends that need to be on your radar in 2021, with scenarios for the future of business, governing and society.
Published on: June 11, 2021
This webinar kicked off the official launch of the Skills for the Post-Pandemic World research series by Diversity Institute, the Future Skills Centre, and the Government of Canada. The webinar shared findings, insights from industry leaders, and explored digital transformation, innovation and alternative pathways for digital skills.
Published on: June 10, 2021
Newcomers to Canada have to navigate a complex system to build a life in Canada. To help them through this process there are a number of organizations but it isn't always for newcomers to find that help. To help bridge this gap Omar Mir is developing a new mobile application: CanSettle. In this session he explained the app's development, the future plans, and how you can help!
Published on: June 10, 2021
In this Maytree Five Good Ideas session, Marina Glogovac, President & CEO of CanadaHelps, shares insights on digital transformation. With a career spanning nearly three decades in technology and media (including working in the magazine industry during the shift to the internet), she knows the challenges that come from forced disruptions. In this session, Marina helps viewers understand what digital transformation actually means, and how to think about and approach this seemingly overwhelming task.
Published on: June 10, 2021
Communication and information are an essential component of people’s lives. For migrants, the need to communicate and access information is essential to successfully complete their journeys, keep connected with family and friends back home, make new connections in their host country and access the right information to ease the transition into the host country.
Published on: June 10, 2021
This Canada School of Public Service event explored the meaning and impacts of digital disruption on service delivery. Speakers shared concrete examples on how digital disruption impacts our work and work processes, as well as how to adopt and embrace a disruptive mindset as part of our shared journey towards a modern public service.
Published on: June 10, 2021
In this webinar, part of a monthly ICT4D webinar series, organizations shared their insights from the past year on developing and implementing digital skill frameworks and standards for colleagues or partners. And the diverse speaker panel discussed lessons learned and barriers of virtual learning and potential of collaborations.
Published on: June 10, 2021
In this webinar the Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN), TechSoup Canada, and the Centre for Social Innovation Toronto share tools, tricks, and supports to help nonprofits adapt and run operations virtually. From connecting to members to ensuring critical services continue to be offered, operating a nonprofit virtually can be challenging for nonprofits, especially during a pandemic.
Published on: June 10, 2021
In this episode, I’m chatting with a few folks from the Somerset West Community Health Centre in Ottawa about their experiences with digital equity and virtual care. On the line with me are Sue Merrill, Manager of Quality Improvement, Planning and Evaluation, Lisa Vadeboncoeur, Digital Equity and Virtual Progamming Project Assistant, Magda Osman, Community Health Promoter.
Published on: June 6, 2021
In a hybrid service delivery model with baseline capabilities and competencies, each Frontline Practitioner, Manager, Director, Executive Director/CEO, and newcomer should have the same understanding of what a baseline hybrid service delivery model can offer. Consistency is key. SPOs can exceed this baseline, developing solutions beyond and above the baseline. They may have internal resources, or be connected to external resources (possibly shared among other agencies) to ensure that they have the capacity to provide an expected level of hybrid service delivery.
Published on: June 5, 2021
This section explores promising practices and models outside of the immigrant serving sector with a specific focus on innovation, solutions, and implications that other sectors have been implementing to enhance services in their organizations. In particular, we are interested in the evolution of Virtual Care practices in health care.
Published on: June 4, 2021
Sectors and organizations are increasingly being asked to create their own data ethics standards, practices, and procedures. Organizations require the skills to gain meaningful insights from data in order to unleash the strength of data. Measuring service delivery outcomes in a hybrid service model practice requires a different lens than simply the quantitative one.
Published on: June 3, 2021
This section explores new skill sets and roles that are emerging and will be important in a hybrid service delivery model. In many cases, these will not be entirely new roles in organizations. They will become part of someone’s role. It is important to explore these emerging roles not only to identify them, but to also explore the skills required and how hybrid professional roles (such as Frontline Practitioner/Digital Navigator) will emerge, be developed, and workers trained.
Published on: June 3, 2021
Technology access, literacy & infrastructure require investments in training and appropriate hardware as it evolves, and as client use of it changes. The sector uses technology and indeed has a rich history of being innovative with technology; however, there continue to be many challenges to technology implementation in agencies, particularly around service delivery and data, information, and feedback management. To achieve innovation and technology outcomes that will propel the sector forward, investments are needed to build the capacity of sector agencies and their staff.
Published on: June 2, 2021
Simply described, a hybrid service delivery model suggests a combination of in-person and online/remote (digital and non-digital) services for newcomers to Canada. It occurs when services are offered in-person as well as at a distance. It is both a tool and strategy that guides Settlement practitioners to determine how technology can be used effectively in service delivery, while ensuring support and room for in-person support.
Published on: May 30, 2021
In the Digital Maturity Model approach, change management is crucial. People, processes, leadership, and organizational readiness require attention and development.
Published on: May 29, 2021
Our preliminary report identified that settlement practitioners gradually acquired digital technology knowledge and integrated digital skills into service delivery. Digital literacy is a foundational skill that must be developed in a hybrid service delivery model, alongside established skill sets. This section reviews the discussions and available digital literacy frameworks to enhance support to digital inclusion in the sector.
Published on: May 27, 2021
Addressing digital inclusion is complex. It requires recognition of the challenge and sustained effort to address it. There is no single strategy or method that could address all populations’ needs. Instead, localization and customization of different programs in Service Providing Organizations (SPOs) requires flexibility. Digital inequity is multifaceted, and intersects with culture, gender, age, class, and educational background.
Published on: May 6, 2021
In this 2014 ten minute LearnIT2teach Podcasts episode, Nicola Finnson of Carleton Trail College describes the challenges newcomers and the college faced, and the impact of the pilot program on learners, their course attendance and participation, and their workplaces.
Published on: May 3, 2021
Statistics Canada seems like a legit place to start building your data literacy competencies.
Published on: April 29, 2021
There are many days when I wish I was a techie. I just don't have the intuition. And maybe I could learn if I took coding courses, but... So, I've been experimenting with some no-code tools to see what I can create. And, I have to admit, it's pretty cool what can be done with a simple spreadsheet on these sites. Here's what I was able to quickly create with one, Open As App.
Published on: April 27, 2021
Welcome to Episode 25 of the Technology in Human Services Podcast. In this episode I’m chatting with Anesh Daya, Edupreneur, ESL Disruptor, and Chief Innovation Officer of On the Spot Language, an Experiential Language Learning Program that guides and coaches English as a Second language learners to become independent language learners.
Published on: April 27, 2021
The Future Skills Centre has funded 64 innovation projects which explore ways evolving or emerging sectors and technologies can support workers displaced from socio-economic shocks as well as strengthening the economy of tomorrow. Among those projects are a number that focus on immigrant and refugee-serving organizations, or newcomers.
Published on: April 27, 2021
Recorded on April 20, 2021 - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario) staff members Fiona MacCool and Jesse Mark shared what CLEO is learning about when and how to use social media and video to help people understand their legal rights.
Published on: April 16, 2021
Settlement and integration service providers collect and use data on a daily basis. While the data we collect is essential, interpreting the meaning of the data can be a challenge. The AMSSA Lecture: Telling a Story Through Data Visualization will get you thinking about the data you collect and how you can use it to tell a story.
Published on: April 16, 2021
This 2019 webinar focused on enabling service transformation through digital transformation. It described how digital transformation is more than implementing software, developing a mobile app or upgrading digital infrastructure. It is about changing the way you provide services and enhance client outcomes, by leveraging digital capabilities.
Published on: April 13, 2021
This session focused on how cutting-edge technology has the potential to support and enhance current models of service delivery through automation and the application of solid data analysis. Presenters shared current and practical applications of AI and other technology innovations in the sector.
Published on: April 11, 2021
I'm sharing a bunch of really great workshop and webinar recordings along a loose theme - information seeking, sharing, and sense-making. Each of these recordings stand alone, but they are worth considering along this theme and all contribute to some aspect of it.
Published on: April 11, 2021
In this AMSSA Lecture: Francophone Immigration & Integration, Dr. Suzanne Huot discusses findings from her research,
Published on: April 11, 2021
In this March 29, 2021 AMSSA Lecture: Settlement Sector and Technology, we discussed themes from the Task Group’s findings.
Published on: April 11, 2021
Ongoing professional development, training, and learning is essential in our sector. There isn't enough consistent, ongoing, funded, and baseline training that occurs. For many, it's a task that individual workers must take on and maintain. That learning can take place formally, through courses, webinars, workshops, conferences, etc. It can also take place informally (or formally) in Communities of Practice. Here are some learning spaces that are specific to the sector, where both formal and informal learning takes place.
Published on: April 10, 2021
What can be done to ensure low-income households can secure needed digital resources and reliable internet connectivity to excel during this trying time? What policy solutions can help enhance low-income communities’ access to quality internet?
Published on: April 9, 2021
This Language Advocacy Day panel focused on promising practices and lessons learned during the past year, including gaps and unaddressed issues, as well as the creation and distribution of effective multilingual information.
Published on: April 9, 2021
At the recent Metropolis conference, I was invited by World Education Services (WES) to participate on a panel looking at knowledge mobilization and knowledge management in the immigrant and refugee-serving sector. This panel highlighted the value of knowledge management and mobilization for informed decision-making within the settlement sector. Panelists discussed ways to balance knowledge mobilization while mitigating information fatigue, particularly as the pandemic has led to increased digital communication.
Published on: April 2, 2021
The coronavirus pandemic has illuminated the alarming digital divide in Canada. What needs to change? What type of funding will it take, and how can the philanthropic sector, business, and leaders in our communities, step up to close the digital divide?
Published on: March 30, 2021
This March 16, 2021 webinar featured a panel of experts from Ontario and BC discussing access to virtual mental health care for refugees and other newcomers to Canada, during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Topics include barriers to access and the strategies service providers can use to overcome them.
Published on: March 29, 2021
At a time when public health information getting into the hands of the many is important, this seems useful, right? Here's the thing. Google translate, and other machine translation services simply don't cut it. You know what does cut it? Effort. Investment. Community involvement.
Published on: March 28, 2021
February 22-28, 2021, was cybersecurity week in Scotland. There were many interesting events and knowledge sharing resources. Among them, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) ran a number of nonprofit-focused workshops.
Published on: March 26, 2021
COVID 19 has shed a light on Digital Inclusion and brought many new fields, practitioners, and activists to the community. Digital Inclusion practitioners have been working to end the digital divide for decades, creating their own community, definitions, resources, and gaining knowledge of what works and doesn’t. Digital Inclusion is a multifaceted issue that takes time to understand.
Published on: March 26, 2021
Learn about the opportunities and challenges of telemental health and e-Therapy from practicing social workers. Presenters Lauri Goldkind, Lea Wolf, Nickolas Davis, Caroline Artley discussed the nuances of building relationships via email, messaging and video as well as the differences between practicing on a direct to consumer telehealth platform versus other ways of reaching clients.
Published on: March 26, 2021
The Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health (the Centre) and Children’s Mental Health Ontario (CMHO) have compiled some useful resources, including Evaluating and improving e-mental health services. These 2 webinars share their findings and what they've learned.
Published on: March 26, 2021
The focus of this lecture is on interactive exercises to build connections with online participants (including service provider staff, partners, and clients) and creative ways to facilitate powerful online meetings.
Published on: March 26, 2021
People in Canada are bombarded with information 24/7, much of which is consumed online. It is vital that the public is able to critically assess and recognize misinformation and disinformation online, and avoid online manipulation, especially today with the COVID-19 pandemic spreading worldwide. This webinar covers verification tips for individuals to better understand how to determine what information is real vs. fake and combat the spread of online manipulation.
Published on: March 26, 2021
The world of data, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning is still so enigmatic to many of us. This HelpSeeker webinar provides an introduction to the world of Data Science, where experts working in the field will go over basic concepts and knowledge to guide the not-so-data savvy among us.
Published on: March 26, 2021
This episode touches interesting themes: ELL service providers and volunteers support literacy learners, newcomers with multiple barriers, and learners with low digital literacy skills. Experts in working with volunteers explain key aspects of working effectively with the volunteers who are essential to success. The podcast touches on improvisations made to program delivery during the pandemic, and a future with blended learning in the context of the specialized needs of multi-barriered individuals.
Published on: March 26, 2021
Community-led, hyperlocal communications are those that are developed by and for members of narrowly defined local communities. In this webinar, community leaders will discuss their experiences with this messaging approach and will share tools you can use in your own communications work.
Published on: March 26, 2021
COVID-19 has greatly accelerated the education system’s move to remote learning. What was previously a slow growing option suddenly became the only option in many school districts. Yet households and students have uneven access to the necessary resources for successful remote learning. This is raising questions about the ramifications the “Digital Divide” is having on access to education. Many organizations are fast-tracking initiatives to reduce the Digital Divide and its impact on educational opportunities.
Published on: March 26, 2021
This 2014 webinar, facilitated by Jim Brennan from MISA of North Vancouver Island and covered three topic areas related to using technology in settlement services.
Published on: March 12, 2021
In this keynote presentation at the 2021 Pre-Arrival Virtual Conference I spoke about a future connected to our values and vision, which is not so much disruptive, but 'constructive innovation.' A future where newcomers are supported through our collaboration, using systems that help them, and us.
Published on: February 23, 2021
Professor Nadia Caidi presents about newcomer information habits and what you can do to keep newcomers informed. In this presentation and conversation with Refugee613, she shared her research findings on newcomer information practices and strategies to reach newcomers effectively.
Published on: February 23, 2021
Do you feel disconnected from your clients & team when communicating online? Is it taking longer to build a connection and establish trust with the people you interact with? You aren’t alone. Learn how a few simple changes in your online communication habits will promote incredible results from your team, students and clients.
Published on: February 23, 2021
I always find the yearly Edelman Trust Barometer interesting. This is the first year that NGOs are not the most trusted institution.
Published on: February 15, 2021
Funders need to recognize that digital equity is essential to advancing economic development, racial justice, and other social good. What role can foundations play to establish a new tradition of digital philanthropy in Canada?
Published on: February 8, 2021
How do I know that my transition to virtual service delivery is effective? What did I get right? What didn’t I get right? By what standards or guidelines can I compare how my transition to virtual service delivery compares to what is considered best practice?
Published on: February 7, 2021
Held by the Centre for Community Based Research in partnership with the Evaluation Capacity Network at the University of Alberta. This webinar is part of a live event series for the Evaluating Refugee Programs project.
Published on: February 5, 2021
In this TechSoup webinar Erin McClarty walks through different types of virtual technology nonprofits use as part of their outreach, operations, and programming. She talks about the different opportunities, risks and challenges for each aspect from a legal and operational perspective.
Published on: January 31, 2021
In this Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) webinar they bring together Sarah Richards from Content Design London to talk about basic rules we should all be following in content design and Simon Kaplan from Citizens Advice who shares the fundamental principles that underpin the their content strategy.
Published on: January 28, 2021
In this webinar, MNLCT staff discussed their partnership with iCent and how they developed the MNLCT Newcomer Support App that benefits their clients, staff and the industry.
Published on: January 22, 2021
Now more than ever, we need intra and cross-sectoral knowledge mobilization. I believe all of these stories, reports, posts, and articles intersect with each other in many ways. But I don't have the time to build in active sense-making. I can just bring them to your attention in the hopes that something is of value to you.
Published on: January 14, 2021
I have been identifying interesting and innovative projects in our sector, and beyond, that are worth learning more about. There are examples of both centralized digital service portals as well as decentralized digital service approaches in the sector and in other sectors.
Published on: January 14, 2021
This is a short list of existing and useful materials in and outside of the sector related to digital and hybrid service delivery. The list is merely at a starting point.
Published on: January 6, 2021
In this webinar, experts from the social service sector discuss the complexities of social issues exacerbated by systemic racism, discrimination, and inequality, and how systems can be rebuilt to integrate diverse and inclusive policies and practices that strive to ensure equity for all.
Published on: January 3, 2021
The virtual September 2020 Tech Forward Conference was an opportunity to learn how technology can elevate the way we work as nonprofits. The following presentations were recorded and are available for viewing.
Published on: January 3, 2021
If you're not familiar with Tech Impact, they're one of a number of fantastic non-profit tech resource organizations. They have a great Nonprofit Technology Learning Center and recently shared a number of great publications, recorded webinars, and free training courses from the past year.
Published on: December 20, 2020
DiverseCity Counts features research that studies the levels and impact of diversity in leadership. The reports shed light on the representation of visible minorities and under-represented immigrants across sectors and reveal to us where progress is being made and where we’re falling behind.
Published on: November 29, 2020
In this webinar, the Refugee Research Network (RRN) explored the ways in which an ethics of care can complement dominant procedural ethics approaches to research and knowledge mobilization in migration contexts.
Published on: November 27, 2020
During this virtual session research findings from a study addressing community-based outcomes for successful integration were shared. Interviews with representatives from a range of service-providing organizations in the Lower Mainland were conducted and highlight challenges and opportunities for immigrants' social participation.
Published on: November 27, 2020
Have you been attending or organizing more virtual meetings since the pandemic? Are you interested in strategies to design online gatherings that can foster dialogue and change? In this webinar, you'll explore examples, tips, and ideas for how to co-create virtual spaces that are safer, braver, and more inclusive.
Published on: November 12, 2020
Get a strategy roadmap and list of key questions to guide your organization through the process of identifying areas that can be improved and managed through automation. We’re not talking about replacing anyone’s job. We’re talking about making everyone’s time more on-mission and impactful.
Published on: November 12, 2020
In this online workshop the presenter reviews the three areas of organizational measurement: Performance, Capacity and Impact and requirements that need to be in place to measure the impact of your organization effectively.
Published on: November 12, 2020
In this webinar with the Canadian Urban Institute participants discussed the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the future of immigration in Canadian cities.
Published on: November 11, 2020
This talk presents the findings of a study on the impacts of the COVID crisis on vulnerable groups within Montreal's immigrant and racialized communities.
Published on: November 11, 2020
The current “refugee crisis” is primarily a political problem, which will require political solutions. And lately, it seems that political leaders have not paid much attention to solid, evidence-based research. Presenters argue that it is imperative that academics incorporate social media as part of their dissemination program and activities to have impact beyond specialized audiences.
Published on: November 8, 2020
Dr. Suzanne Smythe and Dr. Amea Wilbur interviewed over 25 language and settlement workers during the important time. In this interactive session from October 5, 2020 blending dialogue and questions with participants, Dr. Smythe, Dr. Wilbur and guest speaker Marcela Mancilla-Fuller presented key themes from the conversations and insights from related research among newcomer communities during COVID times.
Published on: October 29, 2020
The future of work is a huge topic. For the immigrant and refugee-serving sector, I thought it would be useful to pull together projects, reports, surveys, and sector-specific professional development opportunities.
Published on: September 21, 2020
Earlier this Summer I learned that the New Brunswick Multicultural Council (NBMC) had been doing some innovative coordinating work with member agencies after everyone pivoted to remote work. I was curious about their work with member agencies to develop policies and tools and share best practices. In this conversation Abby David shares how NBMC worked together as a provincial sector and what the fruits of that work have been.
Published on: September 17, 2020
Digital technologists moved very quickly to suggest this was yet another social problem ripe for 'digital disruption'. But how effective are such digital efforts in solving social problems? Are apps the answer to decades of inequality?
Published on: September 9, 2020
I spoke with Laura to talk about her work bringing social innovation culture into her organization, as well as how DIVERSECity has been able to pivot remotely. We talk about what all of that has meant for the kind of community work that they do and how it relates to newcomer and community engagement as well.
Published on: September 5, 2020
This pan-Canadian research report identifies eight critical competencies that could form the basis of training to help settlement counsellors be successful as the job is redefined and the range of work is extended.
Published on: September 5, 2020
Technology can make our work easier and more efficient. However, picking the right tool for the purpose at hand can be a challenge. In a 2019 workshop I shared strategies for assessing and tracking the effectiveness of such tools.
Published on: August 27, 2020
In the Canadian immigration and diversity space, there are more podcasts emerging all the time. Here are a few that I'm aware of. Some are done & archived, some are fresh. All are interesting.
Published on: August 17, 2020
The Association for Canadian Studies, Metropolis Canada and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO held an online conference entitled Understanding Systemic Racism in Canada: Concept and Data.
Published on: August 13, 2020
This presentation provides information to help transition to Online Practice - considering confidentiality and ethical and legal aspects of Practice.
Published on: August 11, 2020
Lawrence Murphy is a pioneer in cyber counselling in Canada. Given the move to sudden remote work for everyone, including human and social services workers, therapists, etc., I wanted to get his insights on where we're at and what things may look like in the future.
Published on: August 11, 2020
In this conversation with Victoria Esses, we talk about that along with the work she is doing to highlight promising practices in the immigrant and refugee-serving sector, the resiliency of the sector, innovation, and the role that Local Immigration Partnerships can play in convening and driving collaboration across the country.
Published on: August 11, 2020
This is a recording and notes from presentations at an immigrant and refugee-serving sector-only virtual event on June 16, 2020. I was honored to moderate the panel. The panelists focused on technological adaptations made to settlement service delivery due to COVID-19, share promising practices and challenges, as well as other outcomes from the sector discussion.
Published on: August 11, 2020
Be data driven. Make your decisions based on data. We've all heard the platitudes. And data is something that the immigrant and refugee-serving sector has huge amounts of, and does very little with. In 2017, the Toronto East Quadrant Local Immigration Partnership started looking into changing that.
Published on: August 11, 2020
In response to COVID-19, Together Project's staff and volunteers had to quickly adapt and pivot their programs in order to continue providing social support to newcomers in Canada. In this webinar, they share their insights.
Published on: August 7, 2020
Every day, somewhere in this country, a public administrator, politician, corporate executive, NGO leader or researcher is asking a colleague the question: What are the policy options? This digital magazine helps answer that question.
Published on: July 30, 2020
This webinar outlines three of the most popular open source Learning Management Systems and identifies features and affordances of each.
Published on: July 30, 2020
John Allan, a dedicated volunteer for TESL Ontario, presented the webinar, 'Coping with COVID-19 Using Online Instruction'.
Published on: July 30, 2020
This TESL Ontario webinar focused on educational technology that might be useful for language instructors working with adult English language learners.
Published on: July 30, 2020
On April 7, 2020 Future of Good brought a panel together to answer: how do we build systems for care and support when the world is forced into going digital and those we serve don’t have access?
Published on: July 30, 2020
This Ryerson CERC in Migration and Integration program webinar investigated the extraordinary challenges that migrant populations are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Published on: July 30, 2020
Communitech CEO Iain Klugman chats Ontario’s first Chief Digital Officer - Hillary Hartley.
Published on: July 30, 2020
From co-designed and peer-led activities, distanced cooking and dining programs, tablet loaning initiatives, to supporting Mandarin and Cantonese speaking seniors, this webinar featured panelists from Rideau CHS, Somerset West CHC, Vaughan CHC, and South Riverdale CHC who shared how they created sense of safety and overcame digital access and literacy barriers.
Published on: July 30, 2020
This webinar investigated the pandemic's impact on non-status migrants and asylum seekers.
Published on: June 12, 2020
It’s never been more important to share how we’re doing. Share successes, new models of service delivery, but also the struggle. I’ve been enjoying seeing how immigrant and refugee-serving agencies have been successfully pivoting to online services. I’ve been enjoying even more how some are sharing their experiences. There is so much to learn from each other.
Published on: June 12, 2020
In this interview, I surface conversations I’ve been having with Chris Friesen of ISSofBC. We talk at what settlement work looks like now, during a pandemic. What are the opportunities the sector needs to seize? What does the funder need to understand? What do we need to understand about the digital divide and digital literacy of the newcomers and communities we serve? And more.
Published on: May 23, 2020
It’s useful to understand how your clients look for, find, assess and act on information. In this interview, U of T Professor Nadia Caidi provides an overview of newcomer information seeking behaviour and practice. I interviewed Professor Caidi in 2018 for Findhelp’s online course Settlement Information and Referral Online Training Program.
Published on: February 3, 2020
At a workshop a couple of years ago, I asked a group of participants to break into groups and identify the top four things settlement workers need to know, top four skills that they must possess, and the top four work-related attitudes and behaviours in the era of digital service delivery. Interestingly, there wasn't much overlap between groups. This suggests the richness of human service work, as well as its complexity.
Published on: February 3, 2020
Many thanks to AMSSA in British Columbia for having me present this workshop to settlement and language workers across the province. I'm definitely not a marketing expert. But, like making technology, or any service choices, it all comes down to being strategic and knowing/understanding your client.
Published on: February 3, 2020
It's useful to understand how your clients look for, find, assess and act on information. In this video, Professor Nadia Caidi provides an overview of newcomer information seeking behaviour and practice.
Published on: February 3, 2020
In the immigrant and refugee-serving sector, misinformation comes in many different forms, from scams that directly target newcomers, to bad information that may not be intentionally spread, but which gets shared and can impact a newcomer's settlement negatively. We all need to increase our information literacy.
Published on: February 3, 2020
These appeared in my YouTube subscriptions, I hadn't heard about them previously. They appear to be part of OCASI's project: Initiative to End Gender-Based Violence in Immigrant and Refugee Communities.
Published on: February 3, 2020
One thing that I'm learning about the future, from futurists, is that it's not something we can predict. But it's something we can work toward.
Published on: February 3, 2020
On March 14, 2019, the Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS) hosted a public event with a panel to take stock of our progress in the immigrant and refugee-serving sector.
Published on: February 2, 2020
You should listen to and read what experts have to say on the topic or privacy. I offer three sources who are prolific on the topic.
Published on: February 2, 2020
Much of the current writing on AI is about how AI will replace some human functions, but just as much on how important humans will remain (and perhaps more so) in the future. Current writing also emphasizes the importance of the choices we make now about AI, innovation and technology. It's not all quite as out of our control as the tech bros might want you to believe.
Published on: February 2, 2020
Chalmers can help you find things like: free meals, overnight shelter, clothing banks, emergency contacts and can point you to offline and online mental health services. Bot creators ample labs are already working towards the most requested items like housing, eviction, employment, legal-aid, harm reduction, mental health services, and additional languages.
Published on: February 2, 2020
On the organizational side, you work with your clients' personal identifiable information. You know that it should be kept under lock and key in your office, but what does that mean online?
Published on: January 29, 2020
I read an interesting article recently from the Ontario College of Social Work that discussed "cultural humility" as an essential skill for Social Workers to acknowledge, achieve, and continue to develop throughout their careers.
Published on: January 29, 2020
All three levels of government have embarked on digital/innovation overhauls of the way they serve the public, with the first common element to think of the client first and have them in mind when creating or revamping anything they do. If they can do it, so can we.
Published on: January 29, 2020
When it comes to looking at technology to serve clients in the immigrant and refugee-serving sector the conversation, and literature, spans almost two decades. This is a chronology of these conversations and related literature.
Published on: August 30, 2019
We're aware that we need cultural humility, but what about technology humility? Too often our interactions with techies leaves us feeling frustrated, less-than, and no further ahead in understanding how to address our tech challenges. Perhaps we need to work with committed public-interested technologists who have embraced tech humility...
Published on: August 26, 2019
If you’ve been in the sector, you’ve heard stats thrown around about how only about 40% of newcomers actually access settlement services. I’ve compiled a summary of some research where those numbers come up. You can download a bunch of reports with more detailed information. This isn’t meant to be the definitive list, just useful reports I’ve found on the topic.
Published on: August 26, 2019
I’m excited. Are you excited? If you’re interested in staying up to date about the latest research about newcomers, you should be. I recently discovered that IRCC has an email list where you can get up to date research information directly from the IRCC Knowledge Management – Research and Evaluation department. You'll want to check it out.
Published on: August 26, 2019
“I always thought it was a scary buzzword so I never really used it. But before coming here I looked in the dictionary and I realized that it means to interrupt (an event, activity, or process) and to drastically alter (the structure of something), to change. So I was like, okay, that’s not that scary after all.”
Published on: August 22, 2019
Much of the current writing on AI is about how AI will replace some human functions, but just as much on how important humans will remain (and perhaps more so) in the future. Current writing also emphasizes the importance of the choices we make now about AI, innovation and technology. It’s not all quite as out of our control as the tech bros might want you to believe.
Published on: August 22, 2019
You likely have seen some news about a new app to help people experiencing homelessness in Toronto find and access services – Chalmers Bot. It’s a great story. I decided to dive in and try it out. Here’s my assessment, along with a screen-cast of me using Chalmers. I think you should try it out.
Published on: August 22, 2019
I've seen some interesting things come through my feeds recently about feedback and how it can help make change, so it's time to dive in a bit more deeply.
