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 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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
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

Public Invited to Participate in Immigrant Heritage Walking Tours

June 6, 2018

Ottawa (June 6, 2018) ­­– As part of Welcoming Ottawa Week, June 18 to 30, 2018, the public is invited to participate in guided walking tours of Chinatown, Little Italy, Lowertown West, Lowertown East and Vanier. These tours explore the important contributions of immigrants to the social, cultural, and economic development and vitality of these unique Ottawa neighbourhoods.

These free tours, organized by the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP), Heritage Ottawa, the City of Ottawa and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, will celebrate Ottawa’s diversity by focusing on the social and built heritage, daily life, architecture, food and the myriad of businesses created by successive cohorts of immigrants in these neighbourhoods.

The tours, offered in English and French, have knowledgeable, animated guides that draw upon their personal experiences in telling the story of each neighbourhood. These tours help to expand the understanding not only of the neighbourhoods, but their progression over time, as Ottawa has evolved to the present day rich mosaic of diverse cultures.

Sign up today for one of these great tours!

“We encourage Ottawa residents to participate in the immigrant heritage walking tours,” says Hindia Mohamoud, Director, OLIP. “The tours will allow participants to discover first-hand the important contributions that immigrants have made towards building a more vibrant, prosperous capital. We are also delighted to have two new walking tours this year to Vanier, where participants will learn about the rich and interesting heritage of this historically francophone neighbourhood and the contribution of immigration to strengthening the community.”  Participants in the Vanier tours will visit a series of fascinating murals that depict the neighbourhood’s diverse history, along with churches, a historic cemetery and much more.