Maytree Publications – Archive

2008, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998

2008

• The Value of Diverse Leadership – November 2008
  This report by the Conference Board of Canada makes the business case for diversity in leadership. It was commissioned by Maytree and the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance as part of DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project. For more on the project go to: www.diversecitytoronto.ca

• Submission to the 2009 Ontario Budget Consultation – November 2008
  In this document, Maytree suggests the provincial government invest in the labour market in these difficult economic times. We call for more services and better enforcement of employment standards for temporary workers. We also ask the provincial government to continue to invest in bridge training, mentoring, internships, and a public loan program.

• The Role of the NGO in Settlement Service Delivery in Canada – September 2008
  (by Sandra Lopes, Manager of Policy and Research, Maytree)
  The formal role that NGOs have come to play in the delivery of settlement services is unique to Canada. Both the federal and provincial governments have withdrawn from the direct delivery of settlement programming but invest heavily in NGOs to carry out this activity. This was done primarily as a cost cutting measure, but the shift was welcomed by many who believed that community groups were better able to adapt and respond to the needs of immigrants. This paper briefly describes the role of NGOs in providing settlement services and the implications of this kind of government-NGO relationship. It concludes with some questions for discussion.

• An Open Letter to the Prime Minister from Maytree – Fall 2008
  Maytree believes that immigrants and refugees can play an important role in strengthening our nation. This letter represents the foundation’s thoughts on those aspects of immigration policy that deal specifically with skilled immigrants and the needs of our labour market. This letter is signed by Alan Broadbent, Chairman and Ratna Omidvar, President, Maytree.

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2006

• An Open Letter to the New Prime Minister of Canada
  by Alan Broadbent. (Toronto: The Maytree Foundation, January 2006.) 4pp.
  Maytree’s open letter to the next Prime Minister of Canada focuses on the key elements for a immigration policy that will serve Canada. Immigration and urbanization have become the defining realities for the future of Canada. However, a policy framework for a new immigration policy must recognize that while immigration is a national matter, the processes of immigrant settlement are inherently local. Alan Broadbent, Maytree’s chairman, outlines nine key recommendations for the federal government to support immigration and urban growth.

• Practical And Doable Ideas That Will Make A Difference: Integrating Skilled Immigrants into Ontario’s Labour Market
  by Ratna Omidvar. (Toronto: The Maytree Foundation, February 2006.) 5pp.
  Ontario is blessed with a yearly infusion of skilled immigrants who choose the province as their preferred destination. Ontario has also recently signed agreements with the federal government on immigration and on labour market programs, both of which will infuse significant resources and energy into the province to improve newcomer settlement and labour market integration. In moving forward with new policy and program proposals in light of these new resources, it may be helpful to remember that Ontario has gone through a seismic shift in demographics.The look and feel of the province, especially in its urban context is significantly different from ten years ago. In a speech to the Ontario Liberal Party Annual Policy Development Conference Ratna Omidvar provides concrete policy recommendations that focus equally on the needs of the immigrant and the province of Ontario in improving access to employment for newcomers.

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2004

• LASI World Skills: Making Good on Employment Promises
  by Anne Makhoul. (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, September 2004.) 5pp.
  By forging strategic partnerships among its member immigrant services agencies, government departments and educational institutions, Ottawa-based Local Agencies Serving Immigrants (LASI) has helped to create a program which will speed the entry of internationally trained teachers into the Ontario work force. The lessons learned from this program are being applied to a number of employment streams through LASI’s World Skills operation. Building on a foundation of collaboration, LASI’s model has already proven successful in securing employment for internationally trained teachers in Ontario’s publicly funded education system.
• Open Letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin, An
  by Dominic D’Alessandro. (Toronto: Zephyr Press, August 2004.) 4 pp.
  Dominic D’Alessandro, Chair of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC), and President and CEO of Manulife Financial, has written an op-ed outlining six recommendations for the government of Canada to break down the barriers faced by skilled immigrants.

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2003

• How to Make Immigration Work Better: Countering the Defeatists
  by Alan Broadbent. (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, February 2003.) 7pp.
  Alan Broadbent challenges Daniel Stoffman’s view that immigration should be curbed. Instead, Broadbent puts forward suggestions for improving the settlement and integration of newcomers.

• Immigrant Settlement and Social Inclusion in Canada
  by Ratna Omidvar and Ted Richmond (Toronto: The Laidlaw Foundation, January 2003) 43 pp.
  The Laidlaw Foundation has been working to develop the notion of social inclusion as a framework for a more progressive approach to social policy questions in Canada. As well, the issue of immigrant settlement is evolving as one of the most important questions of public policy in Canada. Canada is experiencing serious and increasing difficulties in making full use of the skills and talents of our newcomers in both the economic sphere and in public life in general. Simultaneously, immigrant and refugee communities and their spokespersons are expressing a growing sense of frustration, even despair, at the barriers they encounter to full participation in all domains of Canadian life.

• This paper is an attempt to bring together these two important issues and to pose the following questions. What does the concept of social inclusion offer for a better understanding and ultimately a better resolution of the problems of immigrant and refugee settlement in Canada today? More specifically, does the concept of social inclusion offer new perspectives and help us formulate improved policies in the vital area of immigrant settlement?

• Immigrants in Canadian Cities: Census 2001 – What Do the Data Tell Us
  by Elizabeth McIsaac (Ottawa: Institute for Research and Public Policy, May 2003) 6pp.
  In the 1990′s immigrant’s did not integrate into the Canadian labour market as effectively as previous groups of immigrants. Despite an average level of education that was higher than that of any previous cohorts and that of Canadians as a whole, their employment rate was lower and they earned less than the Canadian average. These indications of underemployment, the author argues, seem to be the result of shortcomings in the recognition of immigrants’ qualifications and other systemic barriers to employment. Since more than 90% of immigrants live in urban centres, the solutions to this problem need to correspond to local conditions. Multilateral agreements between municipal, federal and provincial governments would ensure that solutions reflect local priorities and help foster vertical and horizontal collaboration and coordination between governments and governmental departments.

• Integrating Immigrant Skills into the Ontario Economy: A Ten Point Plan
  By Naomi Alboim and The Maytree Foundation. (Toronto, Ideas that Matter, October 2003.) 12 pp
  This document identifies ten concrete initiatives the new Ontario government should take to allow the province to benefit from the wealth of immigrant skills and experience. The plan, a joint publication of Maytree and Ideas that Matter, has been developed by Naomi Alboim, a strategic partner of Maytree and a highly regarded commentator on immigration policy.

• Looking for Leadership in Likely Places
  by Ratna Omidvar (Toronto: The Maytree Foundation, April 2003) 6pp.
  On April 15, 2003 Ratna Omidvar presented a keynote address Looking for Leadership in Likely Places to participants at the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy’s 2003 Symposium.

• Nation Building Through Cities: A New Deal for Immigrant Settlement in Canada
  by Elizabeth McIsaac. (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, February 2003.) 13 pp.
  Elizabeth McIsaac offers a critique of the federal government’s proposed ‘dispersion’ initiative, which would tie certain immigrants to a particular location for up to five years before being granted permanent resident status.

• Student Loans for Refugees: A Success Story in Policy Change
  by Louise Slobodian and Harry J. Kits (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, December 2003.) 11 pp.
  How does policy change happen? This paper documents the achievement of one reform, access to student loans for refugees, which took five years and was championed by many. The authors lay out strategies and principles for taking other issues forward.

• Values of the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement, The
  by Audrey Macklin, (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, December 2003.) 26 pp.
  The Canadian government has used 9/11 and the consequential focus on security as a cover for negotiating an agreement with the United States which would deflect Canada-bound asylum seekers who pass through the US. Is this agreement really about Canadian security? If not, what is the agreement about? The author uses the preamble to the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement as well as this text to compare the stated objectives of the Agreement with its likely impact on security – for Canada, the US and asylum seekers.

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2002

• Brief to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration regarding Proposed Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations
  (Ottawa: The Maytree Foundation, January 31, 2002.) 22 pp.
  Building on the Maytree’s earlier submissions to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (October, 2001 and May, 2001) this brief comments on the proposed Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. The brief focuses specifically on issues related to the landing of Convention refugees and access to professions and trades for immigrants. The submission also offers a range of suggestions to bring the current Act and the proposed regulations into compliance with both the spirit and letter of international law.

• Doctor Shortages and the Integration of International Physicians: Opportunities and Solutions
  by Elizabeth McIsaac. (Toronto: The Maytree Foundation, January 2002.) 21 pp
  On Friday 28 September 2001, Maytree sponsored a full day forum hosted by Dr. Carolyn Bennett MP (St. Paul’s – Toronto). The objective of the forum was to identify possible solutions to physician resource issues; in particular, ways in which we can more effectively utilize the skills, knowledge and experience of internationally trained physicians living in Canada

• Fulfilling the Promise:Integrating Immigrant Skills into the Canadian Economy
  by Naomi Alboim and The Maytree Foundation (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, April 2002.) 56 pp.
  Fulfilling the Promise: Integrating Immigrant Skills into the Canadian Economy sets out the context, proposed approach and components of a system envisaged by Maytree in which Canada values and benefits from the skills, training, education and experience of skilled immigrants by expediting labour market entry in their field of expertise

• Place of Cities in Canada: Inside the Constitutional Box and Out, The
  by Alan Broadbent (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, June 2002.) 6pp.
  In this speech delivered at an April 2002 conference at Queen’s University’s School of Policy Studies, Alan Broadbent offers a range of practical solutions to the growing crisis of the city in Canada’s economy and society.

• Sharing the Benefits of Immigration…or Creating a Second Class of Immigrant
  by Elizabeth McIsaac. (Toronto: Novae Res Urbis, December 2002.) 2 pp.
  Elizabeth McIsaac critiques the federal government’s 2002 dispersion strategy of skilled immigrants and proposes several policy alternatives.. The strategy is intended to share the demographic and economic benefits that cities like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver have enjoyed with other cities and communities across Canada.

• Towards a Greater Toronto Charter: Towards a Framework for Local Responsibility: Taking Action to End the Current Limbo in Immigrant Settlement -Toronto
  by Mwarigha M.S. (Toronto: The Maytree Foundation, January 2002). 50 pp.
  This report was commissioned by Maytree to highlight the issues and challenges facing Toronto as the primary settlement destination of an increasing number of new immigrants. The report:

• examines the main challenges faced by newcomers and host communities or neighbourhoods
• illustrates the problem of current mismatches between settlement needs and services, and responsibilities and resources,
• provides parameters for a new policy, planning and service delivery relationship between the main governmental and non-governmental stakeholders in responding to the settlement challenges of new immigrants in Toronto.

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2001

• Brief to the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology regarding Bill C-11, Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
  (Ottawa: The Maytree Foundation, October 2, 2001.) 22 pp.
  This brief is a focused statement of Maytree’s concerns regarding refugee protection, drawn from the foundation’s earlier submission to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (May 2001). This submission speaks generally to concerns around Canada’s obligations under international law and compliance of the bill with United Nations’ conventions and covenants. More particularly, the document addresses issues related to the landing of Convention refugees, and concerns around government accountability.
• Brief to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration regarding Bill C-11, Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, (revised from August 18, 2000 brief re Bill C-31)
  (Toronto: The Maytree Foundation, March 26, 2001.) 46 pp.
  This Brief presents Maytree’s observations, concerns and recommendations with respect to the federal government’s proposed new immigration and refugee legislation, Bill C-11, and related regulations. The Brief is a revised version of our August 18, 2000 brief on Bill C-31, and builds on our published commentaries on that earlier bill (Don’t Slam the Door and The New Immigration Act: More Questions Than Answers). The Brief focuses specifically on issues related to access to professions and trades for immigrants and the landing of Convention refugees.
• Competency Based Assessment Programs for Internationally Trained Professionals, session proceedings
  Prepared by Catherine Laurier. (Toronto, The Maytree Foundation, May 2001.) 77 pp.
  At the invitation of Maytree, representatives from Ontario’s occupational regulatory bodies have been meeting to discuss areas of mutual interest around assessment and recognition of foreign qualifications. The objective of these meetings was to begin a dialogue among regulatory bodies around challenges, successes and possible strategies in access to professions and trades. The first workshop examined competency based assessment processes of foreign-trained professionals.
• Don’t Slam the Door
  by Andrew Brouwer. (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, January 2001.) 2 pp.
  Ottawa is reacting to outcry over smuggled immigrants by threatening to tighten the borders. There are better ways, argues Andrew Brouwer, Manager of Research and Policy.
• Philanthropic Contract: Mutual Benefit for the Public Good, The
  by Alan Broadbent (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, June 2001.) 6 pp.
  In a speech to the Private Foundations Canada Conference held in Toronto on June 1, 2001, Alan Broadbent, Chairman of Maytree, explains the foundation’s approach to philanthropic giving.
• Social Inclusion: A New Vision of Immigrant Settlement in Canada
  by Ratna Omidvar (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, September 2001.) 8 pp.
  Ratna Omidvar, Executive Director of Maytree, was a keynote speaker at the National Settlement Conference organized by Citizenship and Immigration Canada in Kingston, Ontario on June 18, 2001. In this speech Ratna argues for a rethinking of immigrant settlement in Canada and a new focus on social inclusion.
• Who Should Get In? Rethinking Immigration Priorities.
  (Toronto: The Maytree Foundation, October 2001.)
  Do we see immigration as being primarily about filling short-term labour market gaps, or long-term economic strategies? Is it about reunifying families or supplying enough young workers to the labour pool? Or is immigration first of all about building a vibrant, diverse, healthy society? Are we looking for only the wealthiest, best educated and most skilled, or for anyone who truly wants to adopt this country as their home and has the skills and the ability to land on their feet? Where do our humanitarian commitments fit into the scheme, and should they be subject to quotas? What are our priorities as a nation, and what role does immigration play in meeting those priorities?

  In order to raise the level of public debate about immigrant and refugee selection in the context of Bill C-11, the proposed Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, Maytree sponsored the session

• Who Should Get In? Rethinking Immigration Priorities on February 28, 2001 in Toronto and on Monday, October 29, 2001 in Halifax.

Toronto

Summary of Proceedings (PDF)

Program (PDF)

Halifax

Summary of Proceedings (PDF)

Program (PDF)

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2000

Access Issues For Regulators

Maytree has a special interest in the area of employment for immigrants. The Foundation is committed to both increased access to regulated professions and trades for newcomers and to the maintenance of high standards of practice. We believe that these objectives are not mutually exclusive but that they complement each other.

At the invitation of the Maytree, representatives from Ontario’s occupational regulatory bodies met, to discuss areas of mutual interest around assessment and recognition of foreign qualifications. The objective of these meetings was to begin a dialogue among regulatory bodies around challenges, successes and possible strategies in APT. In order to benefit from information sharing and reciprocal learning, the Maytree Foundation hosted a series of workshops on selected topics.

The first workshop was held in December, 2000 and examined competency based assessment processes of foreign-trained professionals. In order to address other important issues around assessment and recognition of foreign qualifications the Foundation, in cooperation with other regulatory bodies, hosted a seminar series in 2001 entitled “Access Issues for Regulators”.

• Scanning the Horizon: Setting Sound Access Policy (PDF) A panel discussion which guided participants in an exploration of initiatives in trade, immigration and higher education.

• Rising Standards: The Impact on Access to Professions for the Foreign Trained (PDF) A panel discussion focusing on the perception and/or reality of rising standards in North America and the resulting impact on access to regulated professions and trades in Canada.

• Developing Professionally-Relevant and Fair Language Testing (PDF) A panel discussion providing an overview of the challenges and issues involved in developing fair and appropriate language proficiency, and communication assessments for internationally trained professionals.

• Perspectives from the Outside (PDF) A panel discussion providing the constructive viewpoint of immigrants and immigrant organizations that are working on increasing access to regulated professions.

Brain Drain, Brain Gain
(Toronto, 2000)
There is an intense media focus on the brain drain from Canada to the United States. At the same time, Canada is experiencing a largely unrecognized brain gain of skilled and qualified immigrants. This movement of human capital has significant implications for Canada’s values, cultures and institutions. Yet much of the public debate about the issue is based on misperceptions and incomplete information. In order to bring some new and fresh thinking to immigration and employment policy and practice questions in Canada, Maytree and the St. Lawrence Centre Forum sponsored the session Brain Drain, Brain Gain on May 25, 2000, in Toronto.

Brief to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration regarding Bill C-31: Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
(Toronto: The Maytree Foundation, August 18, 2000.) 39 pp.
Building on our May 2000 commentary on the proposed immigration overhaul, The New Immigration Act: More Questions Than Answers, this Brief to the Parliamentary committee studying Bill C-31 presents Maytree’s specific proposals for improvement to the bill and related regulations and policies. The Brief focuses specifically on issues related to access to professions and trades for immigrants and the landing of Convention refugees.

Economic Migrants or Refugees? Trends in Global Migration, session proceedings
(Toronto, January 2000)
In the summer of 1999, smuggled Chinese migrants arrived by boat on Canada’s West Coast. Canadians reacted in many different ways, expressing emotions ranging from consternation to compassion and from panic to ambivalence. The arrival of the smuggled migrants raised difficult and critical questions about Canada’s immigration and refugee policies. In order to bring some new and fresh thinking to these issues, Maytree, in conjunction with the Caledon Institute of Social Policy and the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, sponsored the forum Economic Migrants or Refugees? Trends in Global Migration on January 12, 2000.

Equal Access to Student Loans for Convention Refugees
by Andrew Brouwer. (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, February 2000.) 8 pp.
Federal law and provincial regulations exclude Convention refugees from public student loan programs until they have been granted permanent resident status. This paper discusses the need to level the playing field by giving Convention refugees equal opportunity to apply for student loans.

• Please note as of August 2004 both the federal and provincial portions of the Canada Student Loans Program are now available to protected persons (Convention refugees).

New Immigration Act: More Questions than Answers, The
by Andrew Brouwer. (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, May 2000.) 8 pp.
Bill C-31: The New Immigration and Refugee Protection Act fails to live up to democratic principles and human rights norms. This commentary outlines a number of positive measures contained in the Bill, but demonstrates that impact of these positive measures is counteracted by a series of regressive measures that seriously erode the rights of both permanent residents and refugees, and put enormous power into the hands of civil servants, without necessary safeguards.

Refugees in Limbo and Canada’s International Obligations
by Guy S. Goodwin-Gill and Judith Kumin. (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, September 2000.) 21 pp.
Convention refugees lacking satisfactory identity documents from their countries of origin face significant delays and barriers to landing in Canada, and are denied travel documents by Canadian authorities until they are landed. This paper assesses Canada’s practice with respect to undocumented Convention refugees in the light of Canada’s obligations to provide identity and travel documents to refugees under Articles 25, 27 and 28 of the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. The authors propose four options that would allow Canada to fulfill these obligations.

Towards A Greater Toronto Charter: Implications for Immigrant Settlement
by Laura Simich. (Toronto: The Maytree Foundation, September 11, 2000.) 50 pp.
With the release of the Greater Toronto Charter in April 2000, Maytree commissioned a background paper and convened a forum on Monday, September 18, 2000 at the Metro Central YMCA to discuss its applicability to the coordination and management of immigrant and refugee settlement services. The paper was an initial attempt to ask what greater local autonomy in Toronto could mean for the immigrant settlement sector in terms of policy and practice. It laid out basic issues and asks questions about what changes are needed and how they might be made. Specifically, would existing pressures and instability in the immigrant sector be resolved by greater local autonomy, and if so, how? And, what are the implications of the Greater Toronto Charter movement on immigrant settlement policy?

Towards a Greater Toronto Charter: Implications for Immigrant Settlement, Minutes from the Forum
(Toronto: The Maytree Foundation, October 2000.) 7 pp.
The forum discussed a range of questions including:

• How are current definitions of settlement services adequate, and how would enhancing local autonomy remedy the inadequacies?

• What role should the Toronto Region play in creating coherence in economic immigrant selection, in training and integration into the local labour market, and in local economic development?

• What will the GTA Charter movement do to encourage wider participation of immigrants?

• How will the Charter help the region achieve a unity of social and economic purpose in settlement integration policy?

• What are the next steps to advancing autonomy for the Region and improving settlement policy and services?

Maytree will continue to explore the theme of improved settlement for immigrants and refugees through greater local autonomy in 2002

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1999

Immigrants Need Not Apply
by Andrew Brouwer. (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, October 1999.) 17 pp
Immigrant professionals and tradespeople seeking employment in their field of expertise in Canada face enormous barriers. This paper outlines the immigrant selection process, the social and economic costs of non-recognition of foreign qualifications, the barriers faced by immigrants seeking licensure in their occupations, and the roles of each of the stakeholders in the accreditation process.

Protection with a Price Tag: The Head Tax for Refugees and Their Families Must Go
by Andrew Brouwer. (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, June 1999.) 4 pp.
In 1995, Ottawa imposed a $975 right of landing fee, or Head Tax, on immigrants and refugees. This paper describes the impact of the Head Tax on vulnerable newcomers and argues for its removal at least from refugees and their families. Note: The Head Tax was lifted from refugees in February 2000.

Towards a Greater Toronto Charter: Report on a Consultation on Coordination and Management Services to Immigrants in Toronto
(Toronto, 1999)
Since June of 1999 Maytree has been conducting a series of consultations and meetings on the future of Toronto. A consultation held in June 1999 dealt with new forms of governance for Toronto. Participants at that meeting recommended that there be further discussion of settlement services for immigrants and refugees in relation to urban governance. In response, Maytree sponsored a forum at Toronto’s Metro Hall in October 1999 to look at Toronto’s role in management and coordination of settlement services. We invited a cross-section of key stakeholders – researchers, community organizations, and government representatives.

What’s In A Name?: Identity Documents and Convention Refugees
by Andrew Brouwer (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, March 1999.) 20 pp.
The Immigration Act requires that Convention refugees present “satisfactory” identity documents in order to be granted permanent resident status in Canada. This paper looks at the reasons refugees arrive in Canada without the required documents, outlines the impact of the requirement – namely the development of an underclass of some 13,000 Convention refugees in “legal limbo” – and calls for removal of this barrier to landing.

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1998

Refugees in Legal Limbo
by Andrew Brouwer. (Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, October 1998.) 6 pp.
This paper provides an overview of the growing problem of Convention refugees getting stuck in the immigration system, relegated to a state of ‘legal limbo’ because they cannot afford immigration fees, lack satisfactory identity documents or are mired in an unjust security clearance system.

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