Multiculturalism & Diversity

Selected Current Initiatives

:: Mayors Task Force on Immigration
:: Community Service Grants
:: Multiculturalism/Diversity/Participation/Access Consultation
:: Multicultural Family Support and Family Counseling Services Project
:: Filipino and Korean Community Profile/Needs Assessment Project
:: Collaboration Roundtable Project: Phase I, II & III Reports

Mayors Task Force on Immigration

The Mayor’s Taskforce on Immigration (MTFI) (formerly the Mayor’s Working Group on Immigration) was created in 2007 in order to:

1. To recommend key policy and program directions to Mayor and Council regarding immigration issues at a local level;
2. To act as a reference group to advise on issues coming out of the FCM Big City Mayors’ Caucus Immigration Working Group; and
3. To set the context for City of Vancouver and community partners to have a voice in the development of government policies and programs related to immigrants and refugees.

In May 2007, the Mayor’s Task Force on Immigration released it’s final report - including a series of eight recommendations that seek to assist the City in addressing immigration-related issues at a local level.

:: Report of the Mayor’s Task Force on Immigration, November 2007 (PDF, 617 KB)

:: Report of Mayor’s Task Force on Immigration, November 13, 2007 - Report to Council (PDF, 235 KB)

:: Report from Mayor’s Working Group on Immigration, October 4, 2005 (PDF)

Community Services Grants

The City’s Community Services Grant Program provides financial support to about a hundred non-profit service organizations serving Vancouver residents. The City encourages and expects all organizations to provide inclusive services to all residents, including diverse cultural groups, and also immigrants or refugees. In 1999, City Council also approved $513,600—18.5% of the Community Services Grants budget—to community organizations which specifically serve immigrants/refugees or culturally distinct communities. These organizations include MOSAIC, SUCCESS, Immigrant Services Society, Britannia Community Services Centre, Pacific Immigrant Resources Society, Chinese Community Library Services, Japanese Community Volunteer Association, the Inland Refugees Society, the Filipino Canadian Support Services Society, and the South Granville Seniors Centre.

Priority for the City’s funding is given for services aimed at removing barriers to access to service which exist for many members of ethnic communities and/or facilitating the integration of newcomers into community life. Community capacity building is also a priority, especially for newly arrived groups with unique and serious problems and inadequate resources to deal with those problems.

Multiculturalism/Diversity/Participation/Access Consultation

As a result of the City’s review of its public participation processes, a number of recommendations for improvement have been proposed, including identifying effective ways of working and communicating with diverse communities and groups.

Since February 2000, Social Planning staff have been meeting with a wide range of groups in the city to find out communities’ perspectives on public participation and multicultural/diversity issues as well as communities’ experiences in accessing city services. The consultation will also solicit suggestions regarding the city’s role in the area of diversity and enhancing connections between communities and the City.

Based on input and feedback from the consultation, staff prepared a discussion document in June 2000, which outlined community perspectives on multiculturalism/diversity, access and participation issues. Recommendations from this report will assist staff in developing a citywide outreach strategy as well as establishing further links with diverse cultural communities and groups.

Developing Multicultural Family Support and Family Counseling Services Project

In 1996, Social Planning staff conducted a review of family support/family counseling services for ethnocultural communities in the City. One key issue identified was the significant gaps and inequities in service access for families who have limited or no English. In 1997-8, the City provided funding to Immigrant Services Society and M.O.S.A.I.C. to explore a model(s) for family support services to ethnocultural groups, especially small or newly-arrived groups which have little or no access to such services. A backgrounder report was completed in March 1999.

In December 1999, a report titled “Prized Knowledges: a study of family support and family counseling services in six immigrant and refugee serving organizations” (PDF, 110KB) was released by the Steering Committee comprising community agencies and funders, including the City. The report provided an overview of current family support and family counseling services offered by six Lower Mainland agencies and proposed needs for further development of “promising practices” in family support and counseling for ethnocultural groups. It proposed that traditional “settlement services” should incorporate a “natural gate” to family support and family counseling services, and documented the emergence of “bi-cultural family practice” as a possible framework in providing “client-centred” and culturally appropriate services to diverse ethnocultural communities.

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Filipino and Korean Community Profile/Needs Assessment Project

Social Planning is working with M.O.S.A.I.C. and other community groups to conduct a Community Profile/Needs Assessment of two ethnocultural communities, i.e. Korean and Filipino. The project will provide a comprehensive survey of current and emerging issues in the Filipino and Korean communities, particularly in the areas of access to services and community participation.

Census statistics show that there have been significant increases in population in both groups since the early 1990's. Between 1991 and 1996, there was a 38% increase in population in the Filipino community, and a 94.5% increase in population in the Korean community in Vancouver. The assessment project will assist government and community groups to better understand unique challenges in each of these communities.

The project was started in November 1999 and was completed in the summer of 2000. For more information, contact Baldwin Wong at 871-6637 or Eyob Naizghi at MOSAIC, tel:254-9626.

:: Building Community: A Framework for Services for the Filipino Community in the Lower Mainland Region of British Columbia, July 2000 (PDF, 183KB)

:: Building Community: A Framework for Services for the Korean Community in the Lower Mainland Region of British Columbia, July 2000 (PDF, 215KB)

Collaboration Roundtable Project: Phase I, II & III Reports

In the past decade, the funding and management environment for non-profit agencies has changed significantly. In particular, community initiatives are increasingly delivered through joint initiatives between community agencies, funders and public institutions. The experience of one collaboration in particular led to Lower Mainland community organizations and funders recognizing that there are recurring issues that impede the success of collaborative projects. The group formed an Ad Hoc Committee to explore ways to support funders and community agencies in collaborative initiatives. The committee's aim was not only to promote discussion about the issues, but to recommend and possibly implement a course of action that will ultimately help government and funders and community groups to collaborate on projects in a more efficient, effective and responsible way.

Three phases of the Roundtable are now completed. The Phase I report (PDF, 146KB), completed in June 1999, was designed to enhance agency understanding and awareness of partnership issues. It included the preparation of a discussion paper on partnerships, sponsorships and collaboration as well as a survey of community agencies. This phase concluded with a workshop examining a variety of partnership issues.

Phase II, conducted between September and October of 1999, focused on one specific concern, namely the unique situation of smaller ethnocultural organizations working in partnership with larger, multicultural or mainstream agencies. Fifteen small grassroots groups participated in this phase. The Phase II report (PDF, 87KB) revealed the specific challenges that small groups often encounter when they enter into partnership with other, larger organizations.

Phase III, undertaken in March 2000, reviewed literature on partnerships with particular reference to collaborative initiatives involving ethnocultural communities, assessed current tools available, developed an evaluation framework on collaboration and a model Partnership Agreement, and organized two workshops, one to strengthen the capacity of smaller agencies to work in partnership, and the other focusing on specific partnership issues such as risk liability, operational models and assessment. The Phase III report (PDF, 245KB) was developed from these discussions and the Project Committee is currently working on its recommendations.

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