Partnerships

We provide services to help new emigrants and refugees integrate into the economic, social and political systems in Canada . To accomplish this, the services must be delivered in partnership and cooperation with community agencies and funders.

We collaborate with and support the Working Group on Poverty (WGOP), a collective of 150 community partners that addresses the issue of immigrant and refugee poverty in the Lower Mainland. This collective includes labour, non-government organizations, government, mainstream and anti-poverty groups in the areas of health, education and social services. Our collaboration has led us to develop a partnerships with Farm Folk, City Folk, addressing ‘food security’ in immigrant and refugee communities. We also have ongoing partnerships with the Tenants Rights Action Coalition (TRAC) and the Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society (PICS) concerning affordable housing for immigrants and refugees. The WGOP has set up with the Ministry of Human Resources (MHR) a round table with several community organizations. This round table advises the Ministry on B.C. Benefits' impact on immigrant communities.

In partnership with Immigrant Services Society of BC Training Institute, we run the Immigrant Training Assessment Center (iACT) and the Crossroads, Workplace Based Training Program (WBT), at MOSAIC. Both programs serve Employment Insurance (EI) and Income Assistance (IA) clients.

In the year 2000 we developed a new partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation. MOSAIC worked with the Foundation to increase accessibility to immigrant communities by affecting organizational change.

On an on going basis, MOSAIC is involved and working with groups centred on immigrant labour market access. Past committees included the Steering Committee for Pilots, the Community Partners Forum, and the Skills Development and Employment Benefits Committee. The current key committee is the Looking Ahead Initiative, a multi-sectoral group that includes governments, community, business, post-secondary educators and regulatory associations.

MOSAIC chaired the 'Collaboration Roundtable' process. This collaboration included the Vancouver Foundation, Ministry of Community Aboriginal and Women’s Services, City of Vancouver Social Planning , Canadian Heritage, United Way , and a number of community-based organizations. The members of the round table are examining partnerships and collaborations, and are implementing a number of action items identified by the forum.

MOSAIC currently represents community organizations as a Board Member on the Metropolis - Vancouver Centre of Excellence Management Board. The Management Board oversees the affairs of the Centre including, but not limited to, the research program, policy relevance, resource allocation and budgeting, conflict of interest issues, matters of intellectual property management, communications, and reporting as required to the host institution and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The Federal Partnership Council provides for a channel of communication between the co-directors of Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis (RIIM) and regional federal funding partners, with the goal of enhancing RIIM research, especially on policy related matters.

RIIM is one of four Canadian research centres dedicated to studying the impact of Canadian immigrants on local economies, the family, educational systems and the physical infrastructure of cities. RIIM concentrates only in Vancouver but has links to all other Metropolis sites in Canada and the rest of the world.

A survey on the Extent of Substandard Housing Problems Faced by Immigrants and Refugees in the Lower Mainland was completed by MOSAIC, in conjunction with Kwantlen University College . The survey identifies the severity of substandard housing problem immigrants and refugees face in the Lower Mainland. AMSSA, BC Housing, BC Ministry of Community, Aboriginal, and Women’s Services, BC Non-Profit Housing Association, BC Settlement and Integration Workers’ Association, Burnaby Multicultural Society, City of Richmond, City of Vancouver, Columbia Housing Advisory Association, Family Services of Greater Vancouver, Immigrant Services Society of BC, Inland Refugee Society, Jewish Family Services, Kwantlen University College, Mennonite Central Committee, MOSAIC, North Shore Multicultural Society, Salsbury Community Society, Seniors’ Housing Information Program, Store Front Orientation Services, SUCCESS, Surrey Delta Immigrant Services Society, Surrey Social Future Society, Tenants’ Rights Action Coalition, University of British Columbia/Metropolis Project, Vancouver Association for the Survivors of Torture, Watari Research Association, and the Working Group on Poverty took part in the survey. Members of the African, African Francophone, Arabic and Kurdish, Chinese, Iranian (Persian), Korean, Latin American, Polish, Russian, Somali, South Asian, and Vietnamese ethno cultural minority communities have also contributed to the survey. To find out more about this survey please read its summary by clicking on Survey on Substandard Housing Problems.

RCMP and the Federal Government's Voluntary Sector Initiatives (USI) has approved our proposal on "RCMP Cultural Diversity Policy Framework Development: Immigrant and Refugee Sectoral Engagement Project". This advisory committee and regional consultation forum will provide information and recommendations to the RCMP national head quarters and regional detachments to help improve knowledge on diverse cultures, and recommend policy direction and strategies for the RCMP to partner with the immigrant, refugee, and visible minority women service sector in the engagement of policy development and implementation of culturally appropriate practices. The key activities to be undertaken in this one-year project include the setting up of a National Steering Committee, the implementation of survey, key informant interviews, and literature reviews, the organization of regional consultations in Montreal, Halifax, Regina, and Vancouver, and the compilation of a Cultural Diversity Policy Framework.

MOSAIC, the Immigrant Services Society of BC and the Surrey Delta Immigrant Services Society launched the BC Network of Associations for Internationally Trained Professionals, a two-year project made possible through funding by the Department of Canadian Heritage via the federal Voluntary Sector Initiative. The project focuses on approaches and methods used to integrate immigrants with foreign credentials into the BC labour market. The emphasis is on developing the capacity of ethno-cultural communities to work in BC, to create networks/associations of internationally-trained professionals and to make meaningful connections between government, regulatory bodies and immigrants so that all may participate in policy development processes. It requires the involvement of immigrants who represent diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds, who are settled in locations across British Columbia and who are facing barriers in accessing employment in their own field of specialization, profession or trade. It also requires the participation and input of organizations who provide support to immigrants.

MOSAIC
1720 Grant St., 2^nd Floor • Vancouver, B.C. V5L 2Y7
Tel.: (604) 254-9626 • Fax: (604) 254-3932
E-mail: mosaic@mosaicbc.com

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