Ottawa Research

Economic Integration

Entrepreneurial Support Services for Immigrant & Visible Minority and Aboriginal Communities
(2010) Social Planning Council of Ottawa
This report presents the findings of the Cultural, Ethnic & Visible Minority and Aboriginal Entrepreneurial Services Hub Needs Assessment. It details service gaps identified by entrepreneurs and service providing agencies, as well as obstacles and challenges identified by entrepreneurs. The report concludes with suggestions aimed at better meeting the needs of entrepreneurs.

Immigrants’ Economic Integration: Successes and Challenges – A Profile of Immigrants in Ottawa Based on the 2006 Census (2009) Social Planning Council of Ottawa
This report presents a social and economic portrait of Ottawa’s immigrant population from the 2006 census. It highlights the importance of immigrants to economic growth and discusses the challenges immigrants face as they seek to achieve social and economic integration.

Labour Market Update (2012) Ottawa Integrated Local Labour Market Planning
This report presents an update of the 2010-2012 Ottawa Integrated Local Labour Market Plan, which reviews each of Ottawa’s key sectors, explores changing labour market indicators, and outlines future challenges and opportunities in each sector.

Ottawa’s Talent Challenge (2010) City of Ottawa
This paper discusses Ottawa’s imminent labour force shortage and talent challenges. It emphasizes the need to make better use of existing labour, to retain newcomers, and to attract more immigrants.

Equity and Inclusion

Resources, Principles and Practices of Health Equity
(2014) Dr. Josephone Etowa and Yumi Kotani
This report funded by the Champlain Community Health Centre Network and commissioned by OLIP intends to build capacity of healthcare institutions and service providers to introduce principles of health equity in everyday practices of healthcare provision. The report contains links to a large number of resources that: i) improve understanding of the concept of health equity; ii) clarify concepts and terminology that are often used when talking about health equity; and iii) offer tools and ideas on how to incorporate health equity principles and practices in health care service delivery.

Making Ottawa’s Municipal Governance Equitable & Inclusive: Peach Paper
(2011) City for All Women Initiative
CAWI Peach Papers provide diverse women’s perspectives on improving inclusivity in municipal decision-making and governance structures. This Peach Paper provides input into the 2011 Governance Review and informs a Council-mandated review of the City of Ottawa’s Public Participation Policy.

Mixed Blessings and Missed Opportunities: The Intercase Study on Inclusion and Exclusion of Ottawa’s Visible and Ethnic Minority Residents (2008) Social Planning Council of Ottawa
This report documents the nature and the extent of social exclusion experienced by Ottawa’s Chinese, Lebanese, and Somali communities. Its practical recommendations for fostering inclusion and social cohesion are grounded in the lived experiences of minority communities.

Social and Economic Inclusion for All? The Rise of Second Generation Canadians and Challenges for Racialized Groups
(2012) Social Planning Council of Ottawa
This report provides a snapshot of second-generation citizens in Ottawa. It assesses challenges faced by the second generation, outlines their key strengths, and highlights the exclusion experienced by racialized second-generation residents.

Francophone Immigration

Fostering Francophone Immigration to Ontario:  A Strategy for Attracting and Retaining Immigrants (2007) Immigration Francophone
This project equipped the Ontario region of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) with a strategic plan for attracting, integrating and retaining Francophone immigrants to Ontario.

Statistical Portrait of the French-Speaking Immigrant Population Outside Quebec (1991 to 2006) Statistics Canada
This report provides a statistical portrait of French-language immigration outside Quebec, focusing on geographic distribution, as well as demographic and social characteristics.

The City of Ottawa and Francophone Immigration (2008) Canadian Issues
This article highlights best practices emerging from the City of Ottawa in its efforts to promote Francophone immigration. It also makes recommendations for future action.

Health and Wellbeing

Immigrant Community Leaders Identify Four Dimensions of Trust for Culturally Appropriate Diabetes Education and Care (2013) Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
This article explores the impact of trust on culturally appropriate diabetes education and care. The research includes input from Punjabi, Nepali, Somali, and Latin American immigrant community leaders and identifies four dimensions of trust important to culturally appropriate healthcare provision. These dimensions are entry level, accuracy level, privacy level, and intervention level.

Housing and Homelessness

Comparing Foreign-born and Canadian-born Respondents: The Panel Study on Homelessness in Ottawa (2007) Our Diverse Cities
The Panel Study on Homelessness in Ottawa is a longitudinal investigation of individuals’ pathways into and out of homelessness. More than 400 homeless individuals were interviewed in 2004, and 62% of these were interviewed again two years later. This article reports on the similarities and differences between Canadian-born and foreign-born respondents, as identified by the panel study.

Housing and Neighbourhood Exclusion of Ottawa’s Visible and Ethnic Minority Communities (2007) Social Planning Council of Ottawa
This document provides a comparative snapshot of housing trends among Ottawa’s visible minority and ethnic communities. It concludes that visible minorities are more likely than others to live in poor neighbourhoods.

Policing and Justice

Let’s Chat About Racial Profiling (2010) Ottawa Police Service
This report summarizes the Ottawa Police Service’s community consultation on racial profiling. It provides details on presentations by two guest speakers, Professor David Tanovich and Dr. Shaheen Azmi, describes the discussions that followed, and presents a general assessment of the consultation process.

Policing Newcomers in Small and Medium Sized Cities in Ontario: Policy, Training, and Practices (2012) Welcoming Communities Initiative
This report discusses findings from a project that looked at interactions between police services and immigrant newcomers in Kingston, Hamilton, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Waterloo Region, and Windsor.

Settlement and Integration Capacity

Gender relations in Canadian Multicultural Families_Social Work and Social Sciences Review (2013) M. Drolet and H. Mohamoud in Social Work and Social Sceinces Review 16 (1)
The article explores the barriers to social integration encountered by young women in Somali, Chinese and Lebanese communities in Ottawa. It concludes that young women experience higher barriers to social integration than young men due to family expectations based on traditional gender roles. The article suggests promoting  intergenerational understanding as a strategy to counter the mentioned trend.

Best Practices In Supporting the Integration of Immigrant Families Through Small Ethno-cultural Organizations (2010) Social Planning Council of Ottawa
As part of the project, Families in Community, this report focuses on the role played by small ethno-cultural organizations and examines best practices for supporting the integration of immigrant families.

Immigrant Children Youth and Families: A Qualitative Analysis of the Challenges of Immigration (2010) Social Planning Council of Ottawa
This report looks at immigrant and refugee children, youth, and families, a segment of the population that is growing in Ottawa. The report highlights the unique challenges that immigrant and refugee families face, with a focus on enhancing capacity to respond to these challenges. The report is divided in three sections: conceptual framework, uniqueness of Francophone immigrant families, and challenges of the integration process.

Last Stop Canada! Promoting Creative Dialogue (2010) Catholic Centre for Immigrants
This report presents the experiences of immigrants and refugees who have settled successfully in Ottawa. It aims to promote dialogue between community leaders, decision-makers, employers, and service providers who are working to facilitate settlement and integration.

Rethinking Poverty 2: Community Forum Report (2009) Coalition of Community Health and Resource Centres of Ottawa
At the Rethinking Poverty 2 Conference held in April 2009, immigrant and visible minority communities and employees of the agencies that serve them were consulted regarding barriers to integration and full citizenship. This report presents a set of action strategies that emerged from this consultation and which should be included in Ottawa poverty reduction strategies.