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
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
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 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
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 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
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
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

Ottawa Joined the World to Stand with Refugees & Celebrate World Refugee Day at the #WOW16 Kickoff Event

December 12, 2016

As the world united to mark World Refugee Day on June 20th, 2016, Ottawa residents, OLIP partners, elected officials, government executives, service providers, newcomers, and refugees gathered at City Hall to show solidarity with refugees, reflect on the warmth of Ottawa’s welcome, and kick start #WOW16.  See images of the Launch event here.

OLIP, City of Ottawa, UNHCR, the Ottawa Police, and the network of agencies serving refugees, and Refugee613 cohosted the #WOW16 Launch event. Attendees received the #WOW16 Calendar, featuring 65 free events in different venues across the city during the Welcoming Ottawa Week: June 20-27, 2016.

WOW has become a mainstay in Ottawa’s summer calendar and a platform for OLIP partners and the Ottawa public to connect and convey our genuine welcome to newcomers. In just four short years, this annual series of events—unique to Ottawa—has grown to nearly 10 times the size it was in its inaugural year. New contributors to the WOW calendar of events this year were museums, embassies, and international organizations such as UNHCR, UNESCO, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Amnesty International. Read the #WOW16 Evaluation Report.