In our city’s history, immigrants have always played an important role. They build our economic prosperity, diversify our culture, contribute to our social vitality.

Jim Watson
Mayor of Ottawa
The target beneficiary of the work of OLIP is the whole community. In this short period we have planted together important seeds for Ottawa’s development.  

Dick Stewart
OLIP Council
We are very pleased to have done the “Opportunity Cost of Not Investing in Interpretation” report – it is so important to have clarity on these challenges and…

Hindia Mohamoud, Director, OLIP
Canada has been shaped by people who came from all over the world to build this country. WOW offers a platform for us to celebrate this history and the future it will help…

Alex Munter, Chair of the OLIP Council and President and CEO of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre
The City of Ottawa will continue to play a lead role in the implementation of the Ottawa Immigration Strategy, just as we did in the founding of OLIP.

Steve Desroches
City Councillor and Deputy Mayor of Ottawa
The work and expertise that OLIP brings to our community is so important as it helps us to build bridges and break down silos.  I look forward to our continued work together. 

Jim Watson, Mayor of Ottawa
OLIP helps to unite and share scarce resources for greater impact by working together in the field of student education.

Walter Piovesan
Associate Director of Education, Ottawa Carleton District School Board
All the WOW events that I went to were great – WOW does give a sense of a community trying to improve its attraction and retention!

Caroline Andrew
Professor, University of Ottawa
I was happy to see integration to Algonquin territory and indigenous culture related programming in 2014 WOW. Please continue to involve local Aboriginal organisations and…

Linda Manning
WOW 2014 participant, Senior Fellow, University of Ottawa
The WOW seminar on immigrant women’s nutrition and health was a step in the right direction towards closing the gap between academic researchers and service providers.

Josephine Etowa
Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of Ottawa

Towards the National Action Plan to Address Gender Based Violence

March 29, 2021
At the end of January this year, provincial ministers in charge of women’s affairs agreed to the development of a framework meant to set the standard for provinces and municipalities across the country to better support survivors of gender-based violence and their families, and to prevent it from happening; bringing about systemic change. The…

The Fight for Paid Sick Days at City Hall

March 25, 2021
By Councilor Shawn Menard In fall 2020 I brought a motion to City Council that called on Mayor Watson to write a letter to the Ford government requesting that they establish seamless job-protected sick leave that would allow workers to access up to 10 days paid leave related to COVID-19. Paid sick leave in Ontario just made sense: our municipality and…

The Face of Inequity in Employment and Entrepreneurship

March 25, 2021
By Andrea Pierce COVID 19 has severely impacted the lives of immigrants and racialized Canadians not just in health but in employment and entrepreneurship pushing more people in poverty. COVID-19 job losses were greatest in areas where women were the majority of the work force and the virus significantly increased the burden of unpaid care on women.…

City to Explore Social Procurement in COVID-19 Recovery Effort

March 25, 2021
By Councillor King Rawlson As part of the City of Ottawa’s COVID-19 economic recovery efforts, the City Council voted in favour of a motion asking the City’s Chief Procurement Officer to identify opportunities to include and encourage the City’s use of social procurement projects and social enterprises in City procurement. The motion,…

Achieving an Equitable and Thriving Community

March 24, 2021
By Suzanne Obiorah The City recognizes that immigrants and racialized people face multiple and complex barriers to accessing services and influencing governance. These barriers are rooted in inherent colonialism and systemic racism and result in limited access to appropriate civic, cultural, educational, employment, health, and housing.  In addition,…

OLIP’s Contribution to the City’s Community Safety & Well-being Plan

March 24, 2021
Moving forward towards a Community Safety & Well-being Plan required under the Province’s 2018 Safer Ontario Act, the City of Ottawa consulted its residents on the best ways for people, organizations and government to work together to address well-being and safety issues in our communities. As part of the Consultation process, OLIP…

OLIP’s Input to the Mayor’s Economic Rebound Roundtable

February 25, 2021
On February 9th 2021, the City of Ottawa hosted a virtual Economic Rebound Roundtable led by Mayor Jim Watson with the participation of the City’s General Manager Office, City Councillors and the Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development Department. The purpose of the roundtable was to gain a firsthand understanding of the economic priorities,…

Yasir Naqvi Appointed OLIP’s New Chair

October 8, 2020
Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP) is pleased to announce the appointment of Yasir Naqvi as the new Chair of OLIP. Yasir’s appointment was confirmed at the OLIP Council meeting held on October 7, 2020. Yasir succeeds Alex Munter who served as OLIP Chair since 2016. Under Alex’s leadership, OLIP grew and accomplished a lot including the…

Equity and Inclusion in COVID-19 Response

August 9, 2020
Equity and Inclusion
By Sawsan Al-Refaei, Partner and Stakeholder Initiatives, Community and Social Services, City of Ottawa The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on the lives of Ottawa residents. As with most epidemics, COVID-19 has had a disproportionally negative impact on the lives of Indigenous Peoples and equity-seeking groups. It can make existing gender…