The Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) invites your valuable input on the OCASI Executive Directors Forum 2010 (November 1-3, 2010). Your contribution is very important to OCASI, even if you do not plan to attend the Forum.

This is a time of growth and transformation for Ontario’s immigrant and refugee serving sector. The Executive Directors Forum gives sector leaders the opportunity to dialogue on sectoral priorities, issues and concerns with their peers and with representatives from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration and other stakeholders.

The goal of the OCASI Executive Directors Forum 2010 is to come to a shared understanding and commitment to work together to build and sustain an inclusive and immigrant and refugee-centered settlement and integration strategy for Ontario.

Its specific objectives, to be met through plenary presentations, seminars and workshops are:
• To strengthen the dialogue on immigrant and refugee settlement and integration among OCASI members, and between OCASI, government decision-makers, funders and other stakeholders;
• To strengthen the capacity of OCASI members agencies to engage more effectively with Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s modernized approach to settlement;
• To strengthen organizational capacity and advance the professionalization of the sector;
• To facilitate the understanding and process of building constructive, formal and informal relations with external and new players in settlement and integration;
• To continue the dialogue on the future of settlement and integration in Ontario through the vehicle of a renewed Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement.

The plenaries will include the participation of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, academics and other relevant stakeholders. A preliminary program includes updates on the CIC Modernized Approach to Settlement Programming and COIA (Canada Ontario Immigration Agreement), discussions regarding changing immigration priorities, etc. Additional topics are being prepared by OCASI in cooperation with our membership, Board of Directors and CIC.

The Forum program will also include concurrent seminars and workshops opportunities to explore other topics. We are seeking your input to guide selection for these sessions.

The survey questions were identified by OCASI members through surveys and periodic regional and provincial meetings and discussions. It should take between five and ten minutes to complete.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this survey, please contact Martha Orellana at morellana@ocasi.org.