The first-ever Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement was signed in November 2005. The Agreement signals a new era of federal-provincial collaboration in the integration of newcomers to Ontario. Over the next five years, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) plans to invest $920 million in new funding (subject to parliamentary appropriations) for settlement and language training programs and services in Ontario. To guide this investment, the federal and provincial governments will jointly develop settlement and language training strategies. The overall goal of these strategies is to support the successful social and economic integration of immigrants in Ontario.

The Governments of Canada and Ontario cannot achieve this goal without help from the many stakeholders in the settlement and language training sectors. Through a consultation process, we will seek your ideas and suggestions. We want to draw on your experience to identify the unmet needs of newcomers, service gaps and optimal ways of delivering and measuring the effectiveness of integration services.

InterQuest Consulting of Ottawa has been selected to plan and facilitate the consultations.

What are the objectives of the consultation?

The purpose of the consultation is to obtain information from:

• Newcomers with a range of backgrounds and experience
• Organizations that engage with and provide services to newcomers.

The consultation will seek information on:

• Outcomes that immigrants hope to achieve during the integration process
• Unmet needs of newcomers, gaps and challenges in settlement and adult language assessment, referral and training services
• Optimal ways of delivering , funding and measuring the success of such services
• New delivery models , focusing on the coordination of services.

How will the consultation process work?

The consultation will involve two stages:

• An initial stage of consultations in a number of communities with newcomers and separately with organizations that interact with newcomers and/or provide settlement and language training services.
• A brief second stage at one or more multi-sector tables in order to validate input identified from all sources in the first stage and to discuss potential strategies that include planning, funding, delivery, coordination, and evaluation in light of the emerging themes.

Focus groups will be the primary methodology used to seek input from newcomers and a stakeholder roundtable approach will be used with organizations.

Whom are we consulting?

We are seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders including newcomers, settlement agencies, language instructors and assessors (e.g. school boards, community colleges, community agencies), funders (e.g. United Way), employment networks and employer associations. We are also interested in mainstream organizations whose clients include newcomers, e.g. community health and recreation centres, libraries, youth drop-in centres. In the consultations, we aim to be as inclusive as possible by involving youth, seniors, women, Francophones, refugees, and immigrants destined for the workforce or entrepreneurship.

Where are we consulting?

Face-to-face consultations will take place in the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, Sudbury, Kitchener-Waterloo, Niagara, Hamilton, Windsor, St. Catharines and Peterborough. These communities represent the range of large, medium and smaller centres in Ontario. A more detailed outline of the consultation locations will be posted on www.settlement.org, www.OntarioImmigration.ca. and www.citizenship.gov.on.ca

Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement newcomer consultation sessions. Please note attendance is by invitation only.
Date	Session Location
Tuesday, July 11	Greater Toronto Area - York, Durham
Wednesday, July 12	Thunder Bay
Thursday, July 13	Sudbury
Thursday, July 13	London
Friday, July 14	Hamilton
Friday, July 14	Ottawa
Monday, July 17	Windsor
Monday, July 24	Toronto
Tuesday, July 25	Greater Toronto Area - Peel
Wednesday, July 26	Kitchener-Waterloo
Tuesday, July 25	Toronto
Wednesday, July 26	Greater Toronto Area – York, Durham
Thursday, July 27	Windsor
Thursday, July 27	Sudbury
Friday, July 28	Peterborough
Friday, July 28	St. Catharines
Friday, July 28	Hamilton
Monday, July 31	Toronto
Monday, July 31	Ottawa
Monday, July 31	Ottawa
Wednesday, Aug.2	Ottawa

When are we consulting?

We anticipate that the consultations will take place in July and August.

Since the Canada-Ontario Agreement sets out certain timelines, and in order to facilitate planning, the consultations will be held during a short time period. This will mean that the sessions will be by invitation only.

For general information or inquiries concerning the consultations, contact Lyle Makosky, InterQuest at lmakosky@InterQuest.ca. For questions on participation, or for those who are interested in participating, contact Catherine Zhu:

E-mail: czhu@graybridgemalkam.com
Telephone: (in Ottawa): 613-761-7440 ext. 208
Toll free (outside Ottawa): 1-800-259-4482 ext. 208

After the consultation

A report on the results of the consultation will be provided by InterQuest and will be available in the fall.

We look forward to your participation in this important consultation and helping us to improve the effectiveness of settlement and integration programs in Ontario.