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
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 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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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

Forum Overview

July 18, 2013
On June 27th, the 2nd Annual Ottawa Immigration Forum convened at the Delta Ottawa City Centre.  This year, the Forum was part of the inaugural Welcoming Ottawa Week (WOW) – a new initiative launched by OLIP and championed by the Mayor of Ottawa; and addressed the theme: “The Building Blocks of a Welcoming Community”. Also new this year was the fact that the Forum was hosted in collaboration with the Réseau de soutien de l’immigration francophone de l’Est de l’Ontario to underscore the importance of integrated community efforts to welcome both Francophone and Anglophone immigrants.
Forum attendees (258 individuals) included representatives from local community agencies, the three levels of government, elected officials, civic leaders, academic researchers and analysts, and the business sector.
The Forum opening remarks were delivered by Deputy Mayor, Steve Desroches, who reflected on the role of the City of Ottawa in Ottawa’s continued progress towards the goals of the Ottawa Immigration Strategy.
The attendees received a brief progress report by Dick Stewart and Salmatou Diallo, OLIP Council Chair and Vice Chair; and they heard a keynote speech on Manitoba’s model for welcoming and integrating newcomers from Gerry Clement, a former senior official with the Manitoba Government, and one of the principal architects of Manitoba’s highly acclaimed immigrant attraction and integration strategy.

During the second part of the Forum, a moderated panel of representatives of Ottawa’s post-secondary institutions reflected upon the opportunities and challenges they face as they seek to extend and enhance Ottawa’s reputation as an international student destination hub. In 2012, Ottawa was the fourth-largest international student destination in Canada, after Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, and the first choice for international students among Canada’s mid-sized cities.

Participants’ true engagement with the Forum was reflected by the high attendance rate, their great interactions with Forum speakers, as well as their willingness to take part of ad-hoc interviews staged by volunteers from Youth Futures program, who asked them to reflect upon the quality of Ottawa’s welcome to newcomers. The Forum feedback survey also indicated that the participants appreciated the themes discussed, the quality of the pre-Forum content circulated by OLIP; and the opportunity provided to network with a wide cross section of stakeholders.

Read the Forum Program, including the Forum objectives, agenda and speakers’ profiles.

View the Forum photo gallery on OLIP’s Facebook page.

Read Participant Feedback on the Forum