In Fall 2023, NewToBC will host a series of Community Dialogues that will bring together stakeholders from across the settlement sector to review community-specific demographic information based on Census 2021 data and to discuss barriers, gaps, opportunities, and promising practices in settlement service delivery in British Columbia communities. NewToBC invites newcomers, public library administration and staff, settlement service provider administration and staff, representatives from municipal governments and other community agencies, and interested community members to attend a dialogue in their community. A schedule for the dialogues can be found below. To register for a dialogue in your community, please follow this link or use the QR code that can found in the schedule below.
In February and March 2022, NewToBC organized and led nine community dialogues entitled: Emergence, Adaptation and Resilience. These were attended by nearly 400 newcomers, library representatives and community service providers. Attendees gathered to network and provide input to current immigrant settlement and integration issues, and to share and discuss service delivery innovations resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic.
Below you will find a summary of the observations, ideas, and perspectives shared by participants at each of the dialogues. The input collected at all of the dialogues has also been compiled, summarized and themed into a summary report. The information held within these summaries will be useful references for those involved in program and project planning and delivery.
NewToBC is looking forward to its next series of dialogues planned for 2023. At these dialogues, current community level immigrant demographic data will be presented and examined.