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 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 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
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’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
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
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

History

The Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA), which was signed in 2005, generated the right conditions for the creation of Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs).  For the first time, federal and provincial governments explicitly committed to involving municipalities in immigration planning and decision-making.

The Municipal Immigration Committee (MIC) is co-chaired by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration (MCI), and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). It was established under COIA to explore municipal interests in immigration. Read more

Consultations were held with 700 stakeholders in 10 Ontario communities. This research supported the development of Local Immigration Partnerships to address community needs. Read more

As municipalities gained a voice, consensus emerged on the key priorities, namely, the attraction, retention, settlement, and integration of immigrants. Read more

In 2010, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration recognized the Local Immigration Partnerships as a best practice. It recommended that CIC continue to support LIPs in Ontario and to expand the model to other regions. Read more

There is growing recognition that immigrant integration is a community issue not simply an immigrant issue. Thus, we all have a role to play in being more welcoming and inclusive.