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
My nomination is an indication that our hard work in building Canada is recognized. All we do is to serve the community in return for embracing us when we needed it.  

Mehdi Mahdavi
Ottawa Immigrant Entrepreneurship Awards Nominee
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
I’m really impressed with the level of energy and commitment around the Health and Wellbeing table and look forward to continuing collaboration between OLIP and OPH.

Marcela Tapia
Ottawa Public Health
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
The OLIP Council is committed to leadership.  In only a few years, we have a common vision and priorities, and are up to the task of implementing the Ottawa Immigration Strategy.

Salimatou Diallo
OLIP Council Vice Chair, Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario
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
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
The Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre is so happy to have joined the OLIP Health and Wellbeing Sector Table. It is clear that OLIP cares about immigrants and refugees and…

Wendy Tang, Ottawa Chinese Community Service 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

Stories and Faces of a Welcoming City

July 2, 2015
What does it mean to be a welcoming city? What happens when a newcomer feels welcome in Ottawa? What happens when they don’t? For the second year in a row, Welcoming Ottawa Week explores these questions through Stories and Faces of a Welcoming City, portraits…

Immigrants of Ottawa Come Into Focus

June 26, 2015
We learn so much about others from the images we see and the stories we hear. But what if most of the images of immigrants these days show desperate people crammed onto overloaded boats, and most of the stories put the word “immigrant” next to the word “bogus” or “unemployed”? Maria,…

Who are we, anyway?

June 25, 2015
“For almost two centuries, Europeans merely passed through these Algonquin lands. It was not until 1800 that Philemon Wright, of Woburn, Massachusetts, built a home for himself at the foot of the portage, on the Québec side of the river. The town he founded, originally called Wrightville, was renamed Hull and became, more recently, the centre…

Coming Out & Coming In

June 24, 2015
By Louisa Taylor We humans like our words, and we like them simple. We throw around the word “immigrants” as if somehow the 250,000 people who migrate to Canada every year can be summed up in one term, when in fact their diversity is staggering. They are skilled professionals, entrepreneurs, temporary workers, family members, refugees and…

Cancer Foundation Welcomes All

June 24, 2015
The Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation is taking part in Welcoming Ottawa this week by opening the doors of its Maplesoft Centre for Cancer Survivorship, to help spread the word about its many services. As its web site explains, the Maplesoft Centre was designed to be a place of “quiet refuge, reflection, support and empowerment to cancer patients…

Choose your Wednesday WOW!

June 24, 2015
Day 3 of #2015WOW includes so many options – check out the online calendar to find the full list of events. Here are a few highlights: 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Succeeding in the Canadian Workplace – a presentation & reception at Algonquin College by professional cross-cultural trainer,…

Welcome to WOW!

June 18, 2015
By Louisa Taylor Co-chair, Welcoming Ottawa Week 2015 When I was a little girl, I sometimes accompanied my mother as she went door-to-door in our neighbourhood, collecting donations for the Canadian Cancer Society every spring. With yellow plastic daffodils pinned to our shirts, one of us would ring the bell or knock, then step back and wait.  If we…