Posted on: November 24, 2025
This report examines how recent newcomers living in Scarborough learn about and use free community and settlement services, and why many do not access them.It aims to identify information and service accessibility, challenges, and gaps for newcomers who have lived in Canada less than five years and have used only one or no settlement services.
Posted on: November 24, 2025
This research synthesizes findings from empirical studies on how digital technologies (DTs) are used with immigrant plurilingual language learners in educational settings. Its explores contexts, methods, and outcomes of technology use for facilitating language learning and plurilingual teaching practices, as well as to assess how much current research integrates plurilingual approaches.
Posted on: November 15, 2025
This study explores how patients, caregivers, and community stakeholders can be meaningfully involved throughout the life‑cycle of artificial‑intelligence (AI) tools for population‑health interventions.
Posted on: November 15, 2025
This research investigates how technology-enabled innovations can enhance language learning programs for newcomers to Canada, especially as language skills become increasingly vital for successful social and economic integration in a rapidly diversifying nation.
Posted on: November 6, 2025
The study investigates digital equity and inclusion in settlement‑service delivery for newcomers living in the Peel Region of Ontario. The report uncovers persistent digital inequities for newcomers in Peel, such as language, digital‑skill, and awareness barriers, while highlighting the critical role of hybrid service models and community partnerships (libraries, device‑loan schemes).
Posted on: November 2, 2025
This study maps the Responsible AI (R‑AI) ecosystem in the United Kingdom, tracing its conceptual evolution, historical development, and present‑day structure.
Posted on: November 1, 2025
This study investigates how technology influences society and what can be done to improve those social impacts. The document discusses responsible innovation in Canada, focusing on understanding and improving the social impacts of technology through collaboration among various stakeholders.
Posted on: November 1, 2025
The report evaluates the Newcomer Introduction to Classes Online (NICO) initiative run by the Calgary Immigrant Educational Society (CIES). Its purpose is to identify barriers and needs that prevent newly arrived immigrants, especially those at Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 3 or lower, from succeeding in online English‑language learning.
Posted on: November 1, 2025
The agreement seeks to create a shared vocabulary for digital‑literacy‑related concepts, provide implementation guidance for organizations across sectors, and propose a standardized set of indicators for measuring progress and barriers.
Posted on: October 25, 2025
This dissertation uncovers a dual accountability regime in Canadian settlement services, where relational, empathy‑driven practices coexist, and often clash, with rigid, number‑focused reporting demands. The work exposes a temporal bias that privileges speed and quantification, shaping data cultures, technology choices, and ultimately the quality of support offered to newcomers.
Posted on: October 25, 2025
The paper investigates dark patterns in privacy (DPPs): interface‑design tactics that manipulate users into disclosing more personal data than they intend, to the benefit of the service provider.
Posted on: October 25, 2025
National Call for Proposals for the Settlement Program and Resettlement Assistance Program CFP 2024 - Post-Analysis Report (Oct 2025)
Posted on: June 30, 2025
This environmental scan provides a detailed, sector-specific overview of AI adoption in Canadian settlement services, highlighting both the promise and the challenges of integrating AI in a human-centered, ethical, and collaborative manner. It provides actionable recommendations for organizations, policymakers, and researchers, and sets the stage for future work in this evolving area.
Posted on: June 30, 2025
The research explores ongoing and emerging digital literacy gaps among newcomers in the Toronto South area, with a focus on how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the sector’s shift to online and hybrid service delivery.
Posted on: June 7, 2025
This research report details the Josoor Project, an Arab Community Centre of Toronto (ACCT) project aimed at improving settlement services for vulnerable newcomer and refugee women in Ontario.
Posted on: May 16, 2025
Strategy, strategy, strategy. That's what you'll hear when you read any good social media or technology in human service article. It's an essential piece of getting started, doing it well, learning from your forays into technology use, and refining your approach.
Posted on: November 2, 2024
This research examines the potential impacts, both positive and negative, of Generative AI (GenAI) on Black communities in Canada. The study aims to provide business and policy leaders with guidance for creating an AI-powered future that mitigates potential negative impacts and creates inclusive opportunities for Black communities.
Posted on: September 6, 2024
This research explores the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to support and empower Newcomers during their settlement in Canada. It highlights the settlement sector as an underexplored area for AI applications that could directly benefit Newcomers.
Posted on: August 15, 2024
This research explores the potential risks and ethical concerns associated with the use of general-purpose large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT in the Newcomer-serving sector. It examines how these AI tools could impact immigrants and refugees if used without proper customization and safeguards.
Posted on: August 1, 2024
This qualitative study examined the experiences of patients from equity-deserving populations (EDPs) who received care from a Virtual Emergency Department (ED) in Toronto, Canada. The researchers wanted to understand how virtual care compared to in-person care for EDPs and what aspects promoted or hindered equitable access and experiences.
Posted on: August 1, 2024
This research examines the demand for digital skills in Canada's nonprofit sector compared to other sectors of the economy. It analyzes job postings data to understand skills demand trends within the nonprofit sector and compares them to jobs requiring similar education levels and tech jobs.
Posted on: August 1, 2024
This study explores the digital learning needs and preferences of Arabic-speaking older immigrants in Canada, focusing on their experiences with information and communication technologies (ICTs) and digital literacy programs.
Posted on: June 24, 2024
This research examined how racialized newcomers experience information and communication technologies (ICTs) during their settlement journey in Canada, focusing on digital equity and systemic racism. The study aimed to explore the intersection of systemic racism and digital inequity and to identify policies and practices that can support racialized newcomers more effectively.
Posted on: June 24, 2024
This research is about developing targeted technology standards for language instructors, programs, and learners using the Avenue platform for adult newcomer language instruction in Canada. It focuses on creating standards specific to the Canadian settlement language sector rather than using broader existing standards.
Posted on: May 15, 2024
The research focused on understanding the needs and gaps in employment support services for skilled Newcomers in Canada. The study identified the needs and gaps in labour market integration supports for Newcomers and to determine which services are most effective in helping them secure employment that matches their skills and qualifications.
Posted on: May 15, 2024
This report explores how smartphones, viewed as essential lifeline devices, can be designed to better serve individuals in vulnerable, disadvantaged, or transitional contexts. It emphasizes the critical role smartphones play in providing access to resources, services, and vital communication, especially in precarious situations such as natural disasters, migration, and poverty.
Posted on: May 15, 2024
This research explores the integration and trends of technology in social work over three decades (1985-2018). It aims to identify how different technologies have been adopted in various social work domains by analyzing a large sample of scholarly literature. It aims to identify how technology has been adopted across various domains of social work practice and to pinpoint the specific types of technologies that have been utilized.
Posted on: May 15, 2024
This research explores the role of technology in addressing the social and cultural needs of newcomer youth in Ontario, Canada. It examines how newcomer youth, aged 17-24, and settlement service staff perceive and use technology in the settlement process.
Posted on: May 14, 2024
This report highlights the language limitations of most digital humanitarian services, leaving millions of crisis-affected individuals excluded. It demonstrates the demand to make services available in the language that people need. Researchers propose a collective approach to language technology development. Researchers analyzed the barriers to inclusion in digital humanitarian services and identified best practices and potential solutions.
Posted on: May 13, 2024
The Langley Local Immigrant Partnership Research project: Access to Settlement and Other Service Information took place from November 2021 to March 2022 and explored these two questions: What hinders new immigrants from accessing information about settlement and other services? How to improve immigrant access to information?
Posted on: April 24, 2024
This report explores key themes around the resettlement experiences of privately sponsored Syrian refugees in Ontario. It particularly focuses on the impact of online pre-arrival contact via digital communication platforms like Facebook, Skype, and WhatsApp between refugees and their private sponsors.
Posted on: April 20, 2024
Researchers provide a comprehensive Framework for Digital Health Equity, detailing key digital determinants of health (DDoH), to support the work of digital health tool creators in industry, health systems operations, and academia.
Posted on: April 20, 2024
Researchers examined refugee mothers’ access to virtual social support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their objective was to understand the provision of virtual social support for refugee mothers from the perspective of service providers and recently arrived refugee mothers to Canada.
Posted on: April 20, 2024
Drawn from a larger study on the information behavior of immigrants, this paper mainly reports the semi-structured interview findings on the pre-arrival information experiences of Bangladeshi immigrants who used formal information sources with discussion on how that affected their post-arrival settlement into Canada.
Posted on: April 20, 2024
The authors recommend that a community-based knowledge engagement hub be established to facilitate reciprocal knowledge engagement across the cross-sectoral stakeholders in newcomer settlement.
Posted on: April 20, 2024
This toolkit is intended for anyone working on knowledge mobilization projects, especially for those who are in the initial planning stages of this work, and those working in the child and youth mental health and addictions sector.
Posted on: April 19, 2024
This paper is a compilation of findings from a literature review as well as key informant interviews with AI experts and humanitarians pushing the agenda for digital innovation in humanitarian action. It is presented as a think-brief in order to help start a conversation or help provide a concrete stepping stone for those interested in topics of Generative AI.
Posted on: April 19, 2024
Seniors’ adoption of emerging technologies is crucial to their social connectedness, well-being, and digital participation in society. This article presents a Canadian study on how immigrant seniors established and sustained social connections through their engagement with digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posted on: April 19, 2024
This research paper explores the implications associated with deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in the domain of migration management for human rights in Canada. The research findings ultimately challenge pre-existing paradigms and contribute to a more balanced discourse, highlighting the intricate link between AI, migration, and human rights.
Posted on: April 19, 2024
Settlement services are key to Canada's success in welcoming and integrating immigrants. Offered mainly in person prior to COVID-19 by non-governmental agencies reliant on and regulated by government funders, services were forced online and delivered by staff working remotely. The authors document this transition between September 2020 and September 2021 in Ontario, Canada and the conditions that influenced it.
Posted on: April 19, 2024
This study was commissioned by Ontario 211 to identify possibilities, challenges and next steps for using information collected by 211 organizations to support and enhance human services planning and management in Ontario.
Posted on: April 19, 2024
Technology is becoming a bigger part of how countries and organizations manage migration. This paper offers an early review of academic and gray literature on the use of advanced digital technologies (ADTs) in migration management processes. The primary focus of this review is literature that discusses migration management technologies - ADTs used by institutional actors (governments, NGOs, transnational institutions).
Posted on: November 7, 2023
Standards for Technology in Social Work Practice was issued to address the intersections of professional social work practice and technology. While a U.S. document, it is very applicable to the Canadian context, including the work Immigrant and Refugee-serving organizations do.
Posted on: November 5, 2023
This study looked at whether greater human involvement boosts acceptance of AI in decision-making and associated perceptions of its fairness and if greater human involvement mitigates the negative impact of certain AI features, such as inaccuracy, high cost, or data sharing.
Posted on: November 4, 2023
The purpose of this conceptual paper is to explore if a tool such as the Ethical OS (Operating System) that can be a steppingstone to increased imagination, understanding and fluency in some of the ethical issues that are likely to appear in the social work practice landscape, and/or if social workers themselves seek to develop or amplify use of technology in a specific way.
Posted on: November 4, 2023
The Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) has released its initial evaluation of the CANN E-Link, a technology platform developed by S.U.C.C.E.S.S. as a part of its Community Airport Newcomers Network (CANN). CANN E-Link aims to tackle the challenge of newcomer awareness and engagement with free settlement services during their critical initial months in Canada.
Posted on: November 4, 2023
This paper is a compilation of findings from a literature review as well as key informant interviews with AI experts and humanitarians pushing the agenda for digital innovation in humanitarian action.
Posted on: August 28, 2023
This project sought to uncover the reported practices and attitudes towards published research of English language teachers who reported reading or being interested in research and research-oriented publications.
Posted on: July 11, 2023
This report focuses on global data talent in the social sector. The report reviews the current landscape and offers four pathways forward for building purpose-driven data professionals.
Posted on: July 11, 2023
The goal of the report is to offer guiding questions and considerations for humanitarian organizations deciding if a chatbot is an appropriate tool to address program and community needs. It also contains use cases highlighting the experiences of practitioners working in diverse geographic contexts and issue areas.
Posted on: May 27, 2023
In this study, the authors evaluate the performance of several widely-used GPT detectors using writing samples from native and non-native English writers. Their findings reveal that these detectors consistently misclassify non-native English writing samples as AI-generated, whereas native writing samples are accurately identified.
Posted on: May 26, 2023
This report outlines that, while multilingual language models show promise as a tool for content analysis, they also face key limitations. Language models in general, and multilingual language models in particular, may allow for the creation of exciting new technologies. An effort to increase access to online services in multiple languages will certainly be a step in the right direction. They may even help to open up different opportunities and access to information for people who speak one of the many languages that are currently rarely supported by online services.
Posted on: March 15, 2023
The articles in this edition of Canadian Diversity 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.
Posted on: March 14, 2023
The Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University initiated a research study to map these changing contours of civil society, to analyze current connection and collaboration between more traditional civil society and digital policy organizations, and to identify additional ways that the philanthropic and organizational community could better support civil society in the digital age.
Posted on: March 12, 2023
Using a systems approach, this paper presents a case study of immigrant employment in a mid-sized city in Ontario, Canada. Through a document review and stakeholder interviews, a systems map was developed, and local perspectives were analyzed.
Posted on: March 10, 2023
The Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience (CCNDR) has released their Building the Cybersecurity and Resilience of Canada’s Nonprofit Sector report.
Posted on: March 5, 2023
This paper contributes to the growing literature on the use of social media for digital knowledge mobilization, drawing particular attention to TikTok and its unique potential for collaborative knowledge mobilization with underserved communities who experience barriers to health care and health inequities (eg, equity-seeking groups).
Posted on: March 5, 2023
TESOL Technology Standards were developed for language teachers to better understand how to use technology appropriately. This article explores the following questions: (1) After 10 years since its publication, are the TESOL Technology Standards for Language Teachers (2011) still applicable to the current educational context? and (2) What potential updates are needed?
Posted on: February 27, 2023
Based on survey responses from 7500+ participants across 136 countries, this report provides the largest ever mapping of the digital barriers facing civil society organizations — and those faced by the communities they serve.
Posted on: February 26, 2023
This report presents a review of relevant literature and an analysis of 25 programmes selected from across the world that have used innovative information and communication technologies (ICTs) in literacy and education for refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Posted on: February 5, 2023
This research explores newcomers' experiences in using information and communication technologies (ICTs) for settlement purposes. In particular, it focuses on their uses of Settlement.Org, a website that provides information and resources about settling in Ontario.
Posted on: February 3, 2023
This report provides an analysis of the inclusion of LGBTQ immigrants in 34 settlement organizations in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, and on the delivery of services by nine settlement organizations that self-described as LGBTQ-positive spaces.
Posted on: February 3, 2023
This report examines the settlement-related content in different types of mainstream and ethnic media in Ontario to identify gaps in the current delivery of settlement media content.
Posted on: February 3, 2023
This study establishes a Canada-wide baseline for online platform usage, effectiveness and inclusiveness during the pandemic, with a particular focus on social media platforms.
Posted on: December 12, 2022
This report introduces a measurement framework to assist local coalitions in their efforts to grow and sustain healthy digital equity ecosystems.
Posted on: December 12, 2022
This paper sets out a framework of core components of digital inclusion - including access/use, quality of access/use, affordability, and digital skills - and briefly considers policy implications.
Posted on: December 1, 2022
The authors sought to answer two questions about mobile learning for refugees: What are the recently existing mobile learning apps for refugees? What are the characteristics of the recent mobile learning apps for refugees?
Posted on: November 30, 2022
This report highlights the various initiatives that both IOM and other organizations have taken, to provide resources and guidance for those looking to transition their activities online in the areas of migrant training, integration and social cohesion. It also presents some knowledge products and reports, and online campaigns that are particularly geared towards combatting hate speech towards migrants and misinformation on COVID-19.
Posted on: November 29, 2022
While funders may see addressing digital equity gaps as largely the responsibility of government or industry, there are roles for philanthropy to advance the social impacts they seek—and more funders are seeing these roles.
Posted on: November 28, 2022
The objective of the survey is to assess how has pandemic impacted access to services among newcomer who have limited access to technology and how digital literacy affect service accessibility.
Posted on: November 28, 2022
This report explored how the digital divide has impacted Canadian newcomers, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posted on: September 26, 2022
As immigrants continue to seek information online, Immigrant service provider organizations (SPOs’) websites hold value in increasing the health literacy and health-wellness of immigrants. This research assessed the current state of immigrant SPOs’ websites as information infrastructures and reveals areas for improvement.
Posted on: September 19, 2022
This report discusses the rapid shift to online delivery of settlement services as COVID-19 took hold, outlining some of the major challenges during the first eighteen months of this transition in the Immigrant and Refugee-serving sector.
Posted on: September 5, 2022
This report provides a snapshot of the current wage and benefit situation within not-for-profit service providers receiving IRCC funding in 2018. The findings reflect significant wage and benefit variations for similar type positions in different size communities and regions funded by IRCC.
Posted on: August 22, 2022
This report examines the perspectives of front-line staff working within agencies in the newcomer-serving sector to better understand their employment experience, assess organizational strengths and challenges, as well as discern opportunities for growth.
Posted on: August 11, 2022
The Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB) has incorporated data from IRCC's Settlement Program and Resettlement Assistance Program focusing on services accessed by recent immigrants up to April 2021. The current article examines the settlement services accessed by adult immigrants admitted from 2016 to 2020.
Posted on: August 11, 2022
The aim of this study is to describe perceived eHealth literacy and explore the extent to which it is associated with sociodemographic, health status, and technology use variables in a subset of South Asian Canadians.
Posted on: August 11, 2022
This open access book explores implications of the digital revolution for migration scholars’ methodological toolkit.
Posted on: June 29, 2022
In this report, the authors surveyed more than 1,500 people who have used programs staffed by Digital Navigators, and interviewed the leaders of more than 40 Digital Navigator programs to understand and evaluate the role impact Digital Navigators have had on addressing the digital divide.
Posted on: June 4, 2022
This thesis explores the recursive interaction among technology, human action and institutional properties in three networks of nonprofit organizations: Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, and Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies.
Posted on: June 3, 2022
This article describes a study that investigated the pandemic-related work of community-based adult educators in the ethno-culturally diverse Canadian province of British Columbia.
Posted on: June 1, 2022
This report uses recommendations highlighted during the past two years to lay the groundwork for the sector to reimagine how services are designed and delivered in order to increase sector efficiency, capacity, flexibility and service delivery.
Posted on: May 28, 2022
Researchers looked at the landscape of technology solutions available to immigrant and refugee-serving agencies, focusing on Customer Relationships Management (CRM), Case Management, Non-profit Software, Database Information Management Systems (DIMS), and Digital Business Platforms.
Posted on: May 17, 2022
This paper outlines places where technology can provide or is providing innovative approaches in the skills and employment ecosystem. It also details the ways in which technology can address the skills gap, including its potential for enhancing skills development and helping organizations improve and adapt.
Posted on: May 17, 2022
This article highlights how the Sisyphean cycle of technology panics stymies psychology’s positive role in steering technological change and the pervasive need for improved research and policy approaches to new technologies.
Posted on: May 17, 2022
This paper addresses the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in migration governance, support, and experience with particular attention to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, social media, and virtual reality.
Posted on: May 17, 2022
The field of “Responsible Technology” has emerged, benefiting from the convergence of various movements—including ethical tech, responsible innovation, responsible AI, trust & safety, digital citizenship, and tech for good. The Responsible Tech ecosystem is fed by an underlying knowledge base of researchers, academics, and advocates who have done decades worth of foundational work.
Posted on: May 15, 2022
This report offers the beginning of a systemic analysis of migration management technologies, foregrounding the experiences of people on the move who are interacting with and thinking about surveillance, biometrics, and automated decision-making during the course of their migration journeys.
Posted on: May 5, 2022
The survey provides insights into the experience and reflections of managers in Ontario settlement agencies beyond the first wave of the pandemic.
Posted on: May 5, 2022
The survey provides insights into the experiences and reflections of frontline settlement workers in Ontario beyond the first wave of the pandemic that are critical to the sector itself and policymakers from all levels of government who are concerned with the integration of migrants.
Posted on: April 9, 2022
This research provides an up-to-date and detailed understanding of internet and device access in Toronto amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posted on: April 9, 2022
Focusing on the youth (aged 13-18) in the Jane Finch neighbourhood. This project is part of a much larger, trans-university research project being run by The City of Toronto entitled Digital Access: Who is Undeserved and Why? The main priority in this research is to tell the stories of the youth in the area and translating these lived experiences on paper and collaborating together to present their own narratives. Through a series of interviews documenting participant’s lived realities the authors identify the impediments to their access to digital and internet spaces and broaden the conversation around the impacts this has in their daily lives.
Posted on: April 9, 2022
This report provides commentary and recommendations on how the City of Toronto’s digital inclusion and digital equity initiatives can align to help accelerate progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Posted on: April 9, 2022
AAISA’s Health of the Newcomer-Serving Sector in the Prairies and Northern Territories (PNT) Region research project sought to examine the perspectives of front-line staff working within agencies in the newcomer-serving sector to better understand their employment experience, assess organizational strengths and challenges, as well as discern opportunities for growth.
Posted on: April 9, 2022
This report summarizes an IRCC-funded Service Delivery Improvement (SDI) project that focused on emerging technologies and helping clients transition to work through Occupation-specific Language Training (OSLT) and Formation linguistique axée sur les professions (FLAP). The report includes details about the activities undertaken by Colleges Ontario and the 12 participating colleges as well as what was learned and how it could be applied to ongoing OSLT/FLAP delivery. It also includes information about the guiding design principles developed during this SDI project – ideas that curriculum developers could consider when developing and planning the delivery of online language courses.
Posted on: November 29, 2021
This paper argues that recent changes brought about by COVID-19 highlight that computational advances need to incorporate human rights throughout design and development stages, extending well beyond technical feasibility. This also extends beyond tech company references to inclusivity and transparency and requires analysis of systemic risks to migration and mobility regimes arising from advances in AI and related technologies.
Posted on: November 27, 2021
Drawing on an extensive review of recent literature about resilience and integration, this paper evaluates a social resilience approach to the integration of newcomers in Canadian cities. The authors advocate a social resilience approach that acknowledges how institutions of all types play critical roles in newcomers’ efforts to establish their lives in new places, especially when faced with unanticipated events such as a global pandemic.
Posted on: November 27, 2021
In this document, the authors address the need for all social work educators to have some basic understanding and competence in the use of technology and its impact on the field.
Posted on: November 27, 2021
The Community Knowledge Program began as an initiative to build capacity for research and knowledge mobilization within immigrant and refugee-serving agencies in the GTA, in order to improve settlement services for newcomers to Canada. To this end, Wellesley Institute has conducted a needs assessment to understand current capacity and skills, as well as existing initiatives and any gaps in knowledge, in community-based research and knowledge mobilization in the sector.
Posted on: November 25, 2021
This scan provides a snapshot of the use of digital messaging in direct service delivery by Canadian Immigrant and Refugee-serving organizations.
Posted on: November 14, 2021
In this useful framework document, the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health (the Centre) and Children’s Mental Health Ontario (CMHO) provide an approach to evaluate current virtual care (or digital, hybrid/blended service delivery).
Posted on: November 14, 2021
The Virtual Care Equity Matrix outlines key equity issues that must be addressed address in the delivery of virtual care. It highlights the conditions necessary for everyone to access high quality, timely, equitable, and person-centred virtual care.
Posted on: November 14, 2021
This 2020 NTEN guide provides a set of guidelines addressing the equitable use, creation, and funding of technology in the nonprofit sector.
Posted on: October 27, 2021
As part of the second phase of the ACS-WES project Envisioning the Future of the Immigrant-Serving Sector, four focus groups were conducted with experts in the settlement sector.
Posted on: October 13, 2021
Social media usage has been recognized as an integral part of immigrants’ acculturation experiences, yet research on social media is just emerging, and more detailed understanding is needed. In this report, researchers sought to understand how Chinese immigrants’ social media use influences their acculturation experiences. They looked at which social media platforms Chinese immigrants use and for what purposes, as well as what influence social media use has on their acculturation process in Canada. Their findings echo and reinforce what we have heard and know about newcomer use of social media and information practices, offering additional evidence and practical tips for immigrant and refugee-serving organizations.
Posted on: August 21, 2021
This series highlights digital divides across Canada, in hopes that by recognizing the interrelated issues of internet access, adoption and quality, a clearer path toward meaningful digital inclusion and equity can better shape our technology governance and digital policies.
Posted on: August 20, 2021
The goal of this report is to look at how the Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation (M4H) portfolio shifted or maintained services in humanitarian contexts using mobile technology, and how MNOs engaged in this process. It also explores current trends in digital humanitarian programming.
Posted on: August 20, 2021
The Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health (the Centre) has reviewed the latest evidence on the implementation and effectiveness of virtual group therapy for children and young people. Here, we share the specific questions and search strategy that guided this review and present a summary of our findings, practice considerations and areas for future work.
Posted on: August 20, 2021
The importance of immigration for Canada will continue to grow and be an integral component of the country’s post-COVID-19 recovery. To succeed, it is essential to take stock, to re-evaluate Canada’s immigration and integration policies and programs, and to expand Canada’s global leadership in this area.
Posted on: August 20, 2021
Based on research presented at the TESL Ontario Conference in November 2020, the authors examine here the challenges, innovations, solutions, and opportunities in education that have grown out of the sudden disruption and constraints due to COVID-19.
Posted on: August 20, 2021
The National Newcomer Navigation Network (N4) is a national network for the diversity of professionals who assist newcomers in navigating the complex Canadian health and social services system. To inform the development of its N4 Platform and online certificate program in newcomer navigation with Saint-Paul University, N4 undertook a pan-Canadian needs assessment of both sectors.
Posted on: August 19, 2021
The social inclusion of newly resettled refugees is a significant issue confronting both refugees and their host societies. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly viewed as a useful resource in programs that provide settlement services or promote participation in society. This paper moves beyond the conventional discussion on the digital divide to explore what people are actually able to do and achieve with ICTs.
Posted on: August 17, 2021
This research builds on PeaceGeeks' previous Settlement 2.0 project focused on innovation and technology adoption. In this phase, researchers sought to validate previous findings and explore new themes by taking a deeper dive into regional and small centre perspectives.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
Settlement service organizations play an essential role in supporting newcomers to Canada; however, the processes that practitioners engage in when working with people navigating the refugee system remain understudied. This study explores the institutional ruling relations that regulate refugees’ settlement process in Toronto from the standpoint view of practitioners.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
The Alberta Nonprofit Data Strategy was launched in 2018 to enhance the nonprofit and voluntary sector’s use of data. This project interviewed informants about the current state of data capacity, data sharing, and the access and use of open data in the nonprofit and voluntary sector, and what steps were required at organization and sector levels to appropriately meet the needs of the sector. Informants also considered how a data hub could support the sector’s use of data.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
This guide is intended to support those in charities and other social sector organizations to navigate the landscape of digital maturity frameworks and diagnostic tools.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
This report presents the background, procedures, main findings, and implications of the research project “Researching the Effects of Blended Learning in LINC” conducted by the LearnIT2Teach Project during September 2017 – June 2018. The purpose of the research project was to examine the effects of blended learning for learning and teaching in LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada), the language and settlement program for immigrants funded by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Posted on: August 12, 2021
To better understand the opportunities and challenges of blended learning uptake in LINC programs, the LearnIT2teach project conducted two surveys of LINC administrators and instructors (2012 and 2016-17) focused on the implementation of learning technologies in LINC programs undertaken in Ontario and across Canada.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
This report provides an evaluation of Learning Technology and Innovation Leadership courses delivered between 2015 and 2017.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
This is the evaluation report on the LearnIT2teach project to 31 March 2016. It reflects the experience of the project to March 2016, and the central role that evaluation plays in guiding development of the project’s products and assessing its impact on Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) programs.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
The purpose of this study was to examine how the distribution of resources within and outside an Enhanced Language Training Program (ELT) affected a group of newcomers’ access to Internet literacy development; and to discuss ensuing pedagogical and curricular implications for the ELT Program.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
The Digital Skills Survey provides insights on the digital health of the Canadian charitable sector. In February, 2021, CanadaHelps conducted an online survey of approximately 1,400 charities. 1,114 were from CanadaHelps’ database (users of CanadaHelps’ software) and 328 other charities from a list obtained from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) (charities with no relationship to CanadaHelps).
Posted on: August 12, 2021
This literature review provides a snapshot of the various trends that existed in settlement sector with respect to how newcomers settle in Canada before the COVID-19 pandemic started, as well as examples of how the settlement sector has significantly changed in response to the pandemic.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
From 2018 to 2021, Allies for Refugee Integration (ARI) and its partners focused on creating more welcoming communities for privately sponsored refugees. This report outlines changes to policy and processes to improve settlement-sponsor collaboration for more successful integration of refugees.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
This study explored the perceptions that front-line workers hold regarding needs and experiences of newcomers settling in Calgary, to understand how systems that serve newcomers perceive, make sense of, and contribute to these experiences.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
The Highlights Report is a compilation of existing data and research that provides evidence on newcomer settlement outcomes that support integration within Canada, for both clients of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)’s Settlement Program and non-clients.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
This report defines several introductory concepts relating to artificial intelligence and machine learning and provides a review of existing literature that acknowledges efforts made to establish clarity on how the Canadian government uses artificial intelligence to manage migration to date.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
This article looks into ways in which existing studies address the possibilities and vulnerabilities of mobile communications, the social conditions, and the agency of refugees in engaging with mobile technologies in the different temporal and spatial dimensions of their migration trajectories.
Posted on: August 12, 2021
This report is based on results from two online surveys (one for service providers and one for newcomers) supplemented by phone interviews with newcomers who have been unable to access remote services. The report outlines the extent to which the transition to online service delivery has impacted newcomers, especially those in vulnerable situations in the Toronto area.
Posted on: July 3, 2021
This report looked at the opportunities and limitations of digital tools in the Organization for Migration (IOM) Canadian Orientation Abroad Programme's (COA) Pre-Departure Orientation Training for refugees coming to Canada.
Posted on: May 27, 2021
This report from the Settlement Sector and Technology Task Group presents findings, insights, and recommendations generated through a comprehensive exploration of hybrid service delivery over 6 months in the immigrant settlement sector in Canada. The report analyzes the unique experiment in digital service delivery created by the pandemic and reviews sector innovation and collaboration while providing a roadmap for the sector and its largest funder, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) towards a hybrid service delivery model.
Posted on: March 27, 2021
This survey provides a snapshot of the Canadian immigrant and refugee-serving sector at during the first month of working remotely as a result of COVID-19. It looks at what is working, sector challenges and concerns and sector successes and failures from both the front-line and management perspective.
Posted on: February 2, 2021
The Settlement Sector and Technology Task Group (coordinated by AMSSA, reporting to IRCC’s National Settlement and Integration Council (NSIC)) is working to discover, examine, and learn about the settlement sector’s needs to successfully implement digital and hybrid service delivery models.
Posted on: September 24, 2020
This report examines how and why immigrants to Canada make use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) as they move through the stages of immigration.
Posted on: September 21, 2020
The paper includes examples of how more advanced technologies could be used to improve integration outcomes in Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum and Refugees (IGC) States.
Posted on: August 25, 2020
This case study examines how the hackathon as an instrument can aid settlement sectors and governments in fostering non-profit innovation to rethinking the trajectory of taking solutions to scale.
Posted on: August 25, 2020
The intent of this report is to provide a strategy for a brighter future for the sector - a Settlement 2.0 - one that prioritizes empowering newcomers to be agents in their own settlement journey and which builds the overall capacity of the sector to embrace innovative mindsets and more sustainably support newcomers over time.
Posted on: August 12, 2020
The question of how ICT can be deployed for refugees’ integration is difficult one to answer. This panel looked at how the knowledge accumulated by the IS community can be leveraged to design targeted technological solutions to tackle this crisis and avoid the potential risks associated with it.
Posted on: May 24, 2020
This report discusses the implications of adding messaging apps to the range of communications channels currently used by humanitarian organizations, which includes face-to-face communication, print materials, SMS messaging, social media, radio and television.
Posted on: May 23, 2020
The authors' intention is to shine a light on the emerging field of public interest technologists in government (2018).
Posted on: May 23, 2020
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) contracted Open North to conduct a small study to better understand the needs of existing and potential users of open data as released by IRCC on open.canada.ca, and to inform ongoing efforts to unlock the potential applications of open data to support newcomer settlement and integration in Canada.
Posted on: May 9, 2020
This report examines the theory, research and measurement frameworks informing evaluation strategies in the nonprofit sector and considering their impact on resilience related to immigrant settlement in Canada (2020).
Posted on: February 22, 2020
This study sought to better understand the needs of existing and potential users of open data as released by IRCC on open.canada.ca, and to inform ongoing efforts to unlock the potential applications of open data to support newcomer settlement and integration in Canada.
Posted on: February 22, 2020
For anyone interested in innovating with LINC blended learning, the report has useful information about what LINC leaders are encountering as they try to put LINC blended learning to work in their institutions. The result is a summary of important lessons for the sector about learning technology innovation (2018).
Posted on: February 22, 2020
This article discusses social media use by asylum migrants prior to and during migration. This study is based on in-depth interviews with 54 Syrian asylum migrants who recently obtained refugee status in the Netherlands.
Posted on: February 22, 2020
This paper provides a small contribution to supporting the further development and delivery of programs for refugee youth prior to their arrival in Canada. How to leverage technology securely and safely to provide additional support for refugee youth coming to Canada, taking advantage of the pre-arrival time, and current and future partnerships with government agencies and other involved organizations.
Posted on: February 22, 2020
There are wide-ranging lessons that can be shared across sectors and regions on the challenges and opportunities of providing mobile connectivity and services to this segment of the population which will be explored in this report.
Posted on: February 22, 2020
This paper argues that instead of trying to make ICTs fit with a linear conceptualisation of impacts and an often economistic view of development, the field of information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) should be used as a prime example of a development process which has to be analysed in a systemic and holistic way.
Posted on: February 22, 2020
The goal of this paper is to ensure that settlement agencies have the capacity to fully partner with governments in designing policies and programs to meet the emerging challenges facing newcomers and the communities in which they settle. This is not, presently, the case.
Posted on: February 22, 2020
By linking current research and relevant policy implications, this paper also provides a comprehensive picture of the potential role that technology (both existing and emerging) can have in improving child and youth mental health (CYMH) services in Ontario.
Posted on: February 6, 2020
This report focuses on the work undertaken by the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Committee of the Agency of the Future (AoF) Project. The AoF Project is a national initiative being developed collaboratively by the Pathways to Prosperity research consortium, settlement service providers and settlement umbrella associations.
Posted on: February 2, 2020
In this Research Snapshot, a couple of University of Victoria students looked at the use of mobile technology in Canadian social work.
Posted on: January 26, 2020
This research study examines what it means to be a multicultural counsellor, including their perception of challenges and outcome expectations in developing a multicultural framework to situate their practice, and cultivation of professional resilience in their work with diverse clients.
Posted on: December 17, 2019
This study examines the importance of access to information about health and health-related services as an enabler of access to health care, in a highly multicultural setting.
Posted on: December 17, 2019
Jangles Productions was contracted by Citizenship and Immigration Canada Ontario Region in August of 2009 to conduct a print campaign to promote three settlement services.
Posted on: December 12, 2019
As a point-‐in-‐time snapshot, an environmental scan is intended to explore and capture current trends, successes and challenges at the immigrant sector’s system level, generate a coherent narrative supported by facts, and set the foundation for dialogue, strategic planning, and stakeholder influence.
Posted on: December 12, 2019
The authors examine factors that may influence technology use: asking if organizational culture is related to uptake in the professional context, and if self-reported individual resistance to innovation and change can explain voluntary adoption of ICT tools.
Posted on: November 27, 2019
This report focuses on the impacts of automated decision-making in Canada’s immigration and refugee system from a human rights perspective.
Posted on: November 27, 2019
The goal of the report is to explore promising practices based on programs and resources that have been successfully offered elsewhere in Canada. As such, the report offers a possible roadmap that may be considered by service providers working in Guelph-Wellington.
Posted on: November 26, 2019
In 1997, Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Ontario Administration of Settlement and Integration Services (OASIS) initiated a Computerization Project to build the capacity of funded agencies. This report provides an evaluation of options for future support.
Posted on: October 22, 2019
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.
Posted on: October 10, 2019
Mobilizing Global Knowledge brings together academics and practitioners to reflect on a global collaborative refugee research network.
Posted on: August 26, 2019
The aim of this research initiative is to explore online client intake and service models of Canadian human service organizations to distil best practices to share across the sector.
Posted on: July 3, 2019
While a growing body of literature in HCI [human-computer interaction] is focusing on the initial needs of the refugees soon after their migration, most challenges associated with the long-term process of their integration with the host communities using technology have still remained understudied. This work builds on a 3 year-long fieldwork with the refugees in Canada, extended observations, and interviews with 26 participants (19 refugees, 4 refugee sponsors, and 3 refugee workers) to illustrate how refugees encounter various challenges in accessing necessary services in Canada through its computerized infrastructures.
Posted on: June 17, 2019
Between January and May 2019, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration studied the current state of settlement services to determine how they could be improved. This report highlights actions the federal government can take to improve settlement services in the different communities across the country, including in rural areas, as well as some initiatives on the international scene.
Posted on: April 17, 2019
The purpose of this report is to summarize the findings from ARI’s Environmental Scan, conducted between July 2018 and February 2019. The results of the scan will form our baseline understanding of the current settlement-sponsor relationship.
Posted on: December 17, 2018
The objective of the report is to define the nature of front-line settlement work, the context in which it is carried out, and to review what research and work has been undertaken toward strengthening the capacity of front-line settlement practitioners.
Posted on: December 17, 2018
This article discusses social media use by asylum migrants prior to and during migration. This study is based on in-depth interviews with 54 Syrian asylum migrants who recently obtained refugee status in the Netherlands.
Posted on: March 2, 2018
This Environmental Scan research & report represents one component of a multi-year and multi-phased project: to foster development of an active online community of practice for settlement sector practitioners across Canada.
Posted on: November 24, 2017
This thesis investigates how refugees in Rome, Italy, use smartphones to improve their well-being and whether, according to the Capability Approach, smartphones can expand refugees’ capabilities, choices and freedoms.
Posted on: June 22, 2017
Based on the capability approach, study findings reveal dependencies between properties of ICTs and their use, ICT-enabled capabilities relevant for refugees, and the corresponding contribution of ICTs to the processes of social inclusion.
Posted on: May 30, 2017
This research project conducted for IRCC was designed to gain a deeper understanding of the digital capacity and needs of service provider organizations that serve newcomers in Canada and inform support recommendations for the sector.
Posted on: April 25, 2017
This analysis examines the role of agency policy and supervision in the decision-making of child welfare workers about their work-related social media use.
Posted on: June 22, 2012
This paper reportson a pan-Canadian study to examine innovative and promising practices by settlement service provider organizations.
Posted on: February 11, 2012
With cyber technology having permeated the ways in which individuals seek support for a wide range of issues, the purpose of this paper is to report on a study that examined practitioners’ experiences and views of whether and how online communication has entered their face-to-face practice and of the implication for the therapeutic work.
Posted on: March 31, 2008
The purpose of this study is to examine the information needs, sources, and barriers to accessing information experienced by those who immigrate to Canada. In particular, we examine how both information needs and strategies for finding information change during the settlement process.
