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
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
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
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
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 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
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

Guide to the 2021 Federal Elections

September 2, 2021

Canada’s 2021 election is scheduled for September 20th, and it will be an opportunity for every eligible Canadian to exercise their civic duty and advance issues they care about by choosing their representatives at the federal level.

In 2019, the United Nations People of African Descent (UNDPAD) Push Coalition arranged an all-candidate question and answer session with all the parties on issues affecting racialized and immigrant people at Ottawa city Hall.  This year, due to COVID-19 restrictions and the speed of the elections, it has proven difficult to do so.  This article provides some important information about this year’s election and how you can participate.

Understanding where the parties stand on equity is important as systemic discrimination is a key driver of health and economic inequalities faced by immigrants and racialized people and other diverse communities. Furthermore, studies have shown evidence of institutional discrimination in the social determinants of health. These are the broad range of personal, social, economic and environmental factors that determine individual and population health.  Unique to racialized and immigrants are racism/discrimination, migration issues, and language barriers that exacerbate inequities.

There are five major political parties in Canada — the Liberal Party of Canada, The Conservative Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party, the Bloc Quebecois and the Green Party. If you would like to know where all the parties stand on the issues all in one place, a couple sites to check out are CBC news interactives platform site or shake up the establishment or you can check out the website of each party.  The current federal anti-racism strategy is another good resource .

Let’s go out to vote and after we vote, hold our elected officials accountable for the promises they made. You also have the freedom to advocate for issues you care about by writing to your elected officials or setup a meeting with them, it doesn’t matter whether you voted for them or not.

But first you must be eligible to vote.  To be a voter in the upcoming federal election, one must be a Canadian citizen and at least 18 years or older as of election day. Voters must carry their proof of identity and address at the time of voting. This includes one original piece of photo identification issued by the Canadian government — federal, provincial or local. A driver’s license or a health card is also considered valid identification proof.

There are several options available for those eligible to vote in the 2021 federal election. You can find most of the information you need on the electoral process and voting at elections Canada website.  You can find information on your electoral district including “the list of candidates, locations of advance and election day polling places, the address of your local Elections Canada office and a map of your electoral district. You can also submit a job application to work as a poll worker in your electoral district” according to Elections Canada.

Legally employers are required to give their staff three consecutive hours time off with pay to vote in a federal election, however, it is up to the employer to decide when that time off will be given.

The real work begins after the election, holding our elected officials accountable for making the changes to create an equitable Canada for all. See you at the polls.