Studies look at easing path for newcomers

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This article was published 24/11/2022 (1209 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two studies have identified ways to better settle newcomers to Winnipeg and ensure organizations that help them have diverse representation.

The Immigration Partnership Winnipeg and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives unveiled the studies on Thursday. They could help inform how they choose to bring people on at the board level, said IPW director Reuben Garang.

“When we talk about racism actually in the system, what can that mean? It’s a very general term, but these reports zoom in into looking into what is happening. What are some of the experiences of the newcomers?” he said.

The Newcomer Settlement Strategy Report by IPW highlights three barriers to positive settlement amongst immigrants and refugees in Winnipeg: a lack of economic integration, systemic racism and “rampant” mental health issues affecting these communities.

“We know that mental health services are very limited. It’s an added-on problem to newcomers, because it can be difficult for people from different worldviews to appreciate the mental health services that we have,” Garang said. “So it is inadequate, but also it is not culturally appropriate for them.”

It recommends the IPW develop a campaign to promote a positive attitude toward newcomers to Winnipeg, and calls on local agencies to develop anti-racism policies and boost efforts to ensure their leadership and boards are as diverse as the communities they serve.

The CCPA report, which surveyed board members from support organizations for immigrants and refugees across the city, found that 65 per cent of those surveyed were Canadians who had not come to the country as immigrants or refugees, and 29 per cent were immigrants or refugees who had been in the country for five or more years. Only six per cent were newcomers who had arrived in the past five years.

While nearly every organization had newcomers on their boards, the larger an organization’s board was, the smaller the proportion of diversity, explained Anne Oserin-Pinnock, who served on the advisory committee for the research project.

“When traditional business culture persists, newcomers often discover there is no genuine accommodation for them, and contributions, and quickly retreat from the board,” she said.

“You see that in a lot of the boards, especially as they got larger, it became more formalized. There was less space for conversation, there was less space for that type of interaction and relationships, which are often very, very important within these communities.”

Refugees were especially underrepresented in the report’s surveys: the largest proportion of refugees on a board of directors was 20 per cent, but no board had more than one person who was a refugee.

A number of causes were discussed: inefficient recruitment and outreach, selection criteria that excludes newcomers by prioritizing formal professional or educational experience, and inflexible board meeting times and responsibilities were raised as possible factors.

“We know traditional recruitment methods, they’re not working, looking at sending out emails, and the posters, and typically when boards are recruiting, they’re connecting with their friends,” Oserin-Pinnock said. “So what we want to do is look at the box, and how can we move outside of it? Where are the other spaces where we can do recruitment?”

The IPW is developing a training pilot project to help boards better diversify their membership.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca