new voices fall 2011

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A fair chance at fair work Signi cant di erences in educational achievement between diverse groups. Ontario needs newcomer workers. They need decent jobs. Why doesn’t it all work better. Confronting drop-out rates The Social Assistance Review Everyone agrees—social assistance in Ontario needs to change. But how? Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario Fall 2011 Volume 3 Issue 2 Health equity for immigrants Why immigration is bad for your health and how that can change.

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Magazine for newcomers

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Page 1: New Voices Fall 2011

A fair chance at fair work

Signi cant di erences in educational achievement between diverse groups.

Ontario needs newcomer workers. They need decent jobs. Why doesn’t it all work better.

Confronting drop-out rates

The Social Assistance ReviewEveryone agrees—social assistance in Ontario needs to change. But how?

Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario

Fall 2011 Volume 3 Issue 2

Health equity for immigrantsWhy immigration is bad for your health and how that can change.

Ivan Padilla
Ivan Padilla
Ivan Padilla
Ivan Padilla
Ivan Padilla
Page 2: New Voices Fall 2011

Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario:B

right

Idea

s fo

r a B

ETTE

R O

ntar

io:

Editor:Carlyn Zwarenstein

bleedingheartcommunications.com

Creative Team:Tanya Chute Molina

Adriana Salazar Gabriela Martinez

Ivan Padilla (Design)

Photos:Gerardo Correa

The creative team would like to thank:

Election debate on a proposed tax credit for businesses ZKR�KLUH�LPPLJUDQWV�KDV�LQÀDPHG�D�SROLWLFV�RI�GLYLVLRQ�– setting the interests of immigrants against those of QDWLYH�ERUQ�2QWDULDQV��,W�GRHVQ¶W�KDYH�WR�EH�WKDW�ZD\�

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Wallenstein Feed Charitable Foundation

Message from the executive director

3 Editorial: Casting your ballot makes a di!erence Karl Flecker

4 Health equity for immigrants Sandhya Ranjit

6 Social Assistance Review Endrit Mullisi

8 Ontario: Building the future

10 A fair chance at fair work Olufemi Shodunke

12 Confronting drop-out rates Julio César Rivas

14 Opinion: Hope is better than fear... Jojo Geronimo

2

Page 3: New Voices Fall 2011

Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario:

Casting your ballot makes a di!erence:Creating a provincial vision for everyone--including newcomers.

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Karl Flecker is the National Director of Human Rights/Anti-Racism with the Canadian Labour Congress.

3

Page 4: New Voices Fall 2011

Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario:

Health equity for immigrantsWhy immigration is bad for your health—and how that can change.

Hea

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4

Page 5: New Voices Fall 2011

Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario:

Sandhya Ranjit is a

freelance writer with

experience in reporting,

corporate communications

and corporate social

responsibility.�3URMHFWV�LQ�disaster rehabilitation, education and health that she carried out as D�FRUSRUDWH�VRFLDO�UHVSRQVLELOLW\�PDQDJHU�ZLWK�WKH�FRPSDQ\�:LSUR�/LPLWHG�KDYH�WRXFKHG�PDQ\�OLYHV�LQ�FRPPXQLWLHV�LQ�,QGLD��6KH�DOVR�VHUYHG�DV�DV�YROXQWHHU�FKDLU�RI�WKH�VDPH�FRPSDQ\¶V�3UHYHQWLRQ�RI�:RUNSODFH�DQG�6H[XDO�+DUDVVPHQW�&RPPLWWHH��$V�D�ZULWHU��6DQGK\D�DWWHPSWV�WR�JLYH�YRLFH�WR�WKH�YRLFHOHVV�DV�KHU�ZD\�RI�KHOSLQJ�VRFLHW\��+HU�SDVVLRQ�LV�VXVWDLQDELOLW\�DQG�KHU�KREELHV�include gardening, reading and ZDONLQJ�

Health care for all—from the very start Most newcomers and refugees start o! with a handicap as adequate health care is not provided to them from the very beginning. Landed immigrants have a three-month waiting period to access health care under OHIP. Refugee claimants can access only basic coverage for emergency medical treatments and other essential medical services through the Interim Federal Health Program. Non-status immigrants do not get any health coverage until their status is determined – except at CHCs. The delay in getting access to health care often means a prolonged delay in their inclusion into the labour force--and the social costs that go with that.Newcomer-serving agencies have now come together to form the Right to Health Care Coalition to advocate for the elimination of the OHIP wait period along with bringing refugee claimants too under the scheme. They have launched a postcard campaign to put this issue on the electorate’s radar.

*For more ideas on improving social assistance, see Endrit Mullisi’s article on p. 6

Health equity seeks to reverse a trend whereby immigrants arrive healthier but end up less healthy than the average Ontarian. at Toronto City Hall.

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5

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Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario:

Social Assistance ReviewEveryone agrees—social assistance in Ontario needs to change. But how?

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Many social assistance recipients feel trapped by poverty. The Ontario Social Assistance Review seeks to open a window on a brighter future.

6

Page 7: New Voices Fall 2011

Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario:

The most popular

Endrit was born in Albania and

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*For more on the challenges facing internationally-trained professionals in Ontario, see Olufemi Shodunke’s article on p. 10

7

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Ontario1911- 19131 million people immigrate to Canada, mostly to Ontario.

1917Women win the right to vote in Ontario.

1930sCanadian government increases restrictions onimmigration after stock market crash of 1929.

1950sOntario’s workforce and economic prosperity fuelled by the arrival of 100,000 immigrants/year.

1961

1962Ontario of Human Rights CODE passed after community activism raises public awareness of racism.

1970sAdvocates win more equal access to language training for immigrant women.

1981Ontario Human Rights Code adds ‘citizenship’ to the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination.

1986

1988First comprehensive social assistance review recommends childcare separate from social assistance.

Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition begins informally and gradually draws in newcomers.

1993Ontario’s Employment Equity Act achieved through dialogue with policy makers (but repealed in 1994).

2002Ontario Public Health Association argues for a community food security approach to inform public health.

2006Four non-status students apprehended

to protest and public education on right of all children to attend school.

2007Statistics Canada report reveals that new immigrants are increasingly living in chronic poverty.

2009Auditor General’s report critiques exploitation and abuse of temporary migrant workers.

2010

2011

IVote Campaign calls for municipal voting rightsfor all permanent residents in Ontario.

Ontario provincial election.

Health and well being97% of new immigrants rated their health as good, very good or excellent six months after their arrival, compared with 88% for the general population. However, as time passes, their health deteriorates.

47% of people who used the food bank in 2010 were born outside Canada. 40% of persons living in the poorest neighbourhoods were recent immi-grants, although they were only 5% of

Mobilize potential: provide racialized youth with culturally relevant curriculum, role models

and mentors.

Create internships: provide newcomers,

youth and social assistance recipients with opportuni-ties to gain paid workplace

experience.

Employment 50% of employers surveyed required Canadian work experience, or discounted the value of work experi-ence gained in other countries.

40%: In an experiment with GTA employers, applicants with English-sounding names got almost 40% more call-backs from employers than those with Chinese, Indian, or Pakistani sounding names.

7.7% of all recent immigrants were among the working poor in 2004, compared to 2.7% for other working-age Canadians.

Education80% of students expelled from Ontario schools are from racialized groups.

51% of recent immigrants to Canada had university degrees in 2006, compared to 19% of the Canadian-born population.

33%: A university degree from abroad is valued at just one-third that of a degree held by a Canadian born resident. Two thirds of university educated immigrants are underemployed.

Hire diverse talent: bring back provincial employment equity

legislation.

Income and security

racialized immigrant women make for every dollar that male, non-racialized immigrants make. For second generation that gap persists at 54 cents.

18% of Canada’s population is born elsewhere, but this group makes up 28.5% of the country’s low-income population.

3.2%: Increase in wages reported by

current jobs, compared with 44% for native-born Canadians

Promote health equity: expand access to

Ontario’s Community Health Centres and

Aboriginal Health Access Centres.

1938Race is still barrier to voting under new Dominions Election Act. Repeal won ten years later.

1981Only 65% of Ontarians were born here.

Sources: “Ontario’s Growing gap” (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. 2010); “Understanding the Racialization of Poverty in Ontario” (Colour of Poverty Campaign. 2007); “A Study of Poverty and Working Poverty among Recent Immigrants to Canada” (HR &SD Canada. 2007); “Work First’ and Immigrants in Toronto” (A. Mitchell- New Economy (SANE) project, University of Toronto; “The Housing Needs of Immigrants and Refugees in Canada” (CHRA. 2007); “Dynamics of Immigrants' Health in Canada” (Statistics Canada. 2005); “Fighting hunger” (Daily Bread Food Bank. 2010); “Modern racism in the most multicultural city in the world” & “New insights into immigrant employment trajectories” (Ren Thomas, M.A., Ph.D. 2009).

1943are based on an assessment of basic nutritional needs.

Page 9: New Voices Fall 2011

Ontario1911- 19131 million people immigrate to Canada, mostly to Ontario.

1917Women win the right to vote in Ontario.

1930sCanadian government increases restrictions onimmigration after stock market crash of 1929.

1950sOntario’s workforce and economic prosperity fuelled by the arrival of 100,000 immigrants/year.

1961

1962Ontario of Human Rights CODE passed after community activism raises public awareness of racism.

1970sAdvocates win more equal access to language training for immigrant women.

1981Ontario Human Rights Code adds ‘citizenship’ to the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination.

1986

1988First comprehensive social assistance review recommends childcare separate from social assistance.

Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition begins informally and gradually draws in newcomers.

1993Ontario’s Employment Equity Act achieved through dialogue with policy makers (but repealed in 1994).

2002Ontario Public Health Association argues for a community food security approach to inform public health.

2006Four non-status students apprehended

to protest and public education on right of all children to attend school.

2007Statistics Canada report reveals that new immigrants are increasingly living in chronic poverty.

2009Auditor General’s report critiques exploitation and abuse of temporary migrant workers.

2010

2011

IVote Campaign calls for municipal voting rightsfor all permanent residents in Ontario.

Ontario provincial election.

Health and well being97% of new immigrants rated their health as good, very good or excellent six months after their arrival, compared with 88% for the general population. However, as time passes, their health deteriorates.

47% of people who used the food bank in 2010 were born outside Canada. 40% of persons living in the poorest neighbourhoods were recent immi-grants, although they were only 5% of

Mobilize potential: provide racialized youth with culturally relevant curriculum, role models

and mentors.

Create internships: provide newcomers,

youth and social assistance recipients with opportuni-ties to gain paid workplace

experience.

Employment 50% of employers surveyed required Canadian work experience, or discounted the value of work experi-ence gained in other countries.

40%: In an experiment with GTA employers, applicants with English-sounding names got almost 40% more call-backs from employers than those with Chinese, Indian, or Pakistani sounding names.

7.7% of all recent immigrants were among the working poor in 2004, compared to 2.7% for other working-age Canadians.

Education80% of students expelled from Ontario schools are from racialized groups.

51% of recent immigrants to Canada had university degrees in 2006, compared to 19% of the Canadian-born population.

33%: A university degree from abroad is valued at just one-third that of a degree held by a Canadian born resident. Two thirds of university educated immigrants are underemployed.

Hire diverse talent: bring back provincial employment equity

legislation.

Income and security

racialized immigrant women make for every dollar that male, non-racialized immigrants make. For second generation that gap persists at 54 cents.

18% of Canada’s population is born elsewhere, but this group makes up 28.5% of the country’s low-income population.

3.2%: Increase in wages reported by

current jobs, compared with 44% for native-born Canadians

Promote health equity: expand access to

Ontario’s Community Health Centres and

Aboriginal Health Access Centres.

1938Race is still barrier to voting under new Dominions Election Act. Repeal won ten years later.

1981Only 65% of Ontarians were born here.

Sources: “Ontario’s Growing gap” (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. 2010); “Understanding the Racialization of Poverty in Ontario” (Colour of Poverty Campaign. 2007); “A Study of Poverty and Working Poverty among Recent Immigrants to Canada” (HR &SD Canada. 2007); “Work First’ and Immigrants in Toronto” (A. Mitchell- New Economy (SANE) project, University of Toronto; “The Housing Needs of Immigrants and Refugees in Canada” (CHRA. 2007); “Dynamics of Immigrants' Health in Canada” (Statistics Canada. 2005); “Fighting hunger” (Daily Bread Food Bank. 2010); “Modern racism in the most multicultural city in the world” & “New insights into immigrant employment trajectories” (Ren Thomas, M.A., Ph.D. 2009).

1943are based on an assessment of basic nutritional needs.

Page 10: New Voices Fall 2011

Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario:

A fair chance at fair workOntario needs newcomer workers. They need decent jobs. Why doesn’t it all work?

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Surveying the future: building our provincial labour force depends on immigration.

10

Page 11: New Voices Fall 2011

Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario:

The most popular

Olufemi Shodunke, a Nigerian

community Chief, is a trained

print journalist who holds a

Higher National Diploma in

Mass Communication and a

Master in Communication

Arts degree.

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Underemployment means shattered dreams for two thirds of university educated immigrants, and lost productivity for Ontario.

*For more on how poverty affects health, and new ideas for improving newcomer health, see Sandhya Rajit’s article on p. 4

11

Page 12: New Voices Fall 2011

Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario:C

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The worst numbers are of those students born in the &DULEEHDQ��ZKR�KDYH�D�GURSRXW�UDWH�RI�������DFFRUGLQJ�to Post-High School Pathways of Immigrant Youth,

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Confronting drop-out rates among newcomers and racialized students2QO\�����RI�/DWLQR�VWXGHQWV�LQ�7RURQWR�FRPSOHWH�KLJK�VFKRRO�LQ�OHVV�WKDQ�ÀYH�\HDUV�

Lost potential? Ontario schools must go beyond the Eurocentric lens to successfully engage diverse students and families.

12

Page 13: New Voices Fall 2011

Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario:

The most popular

Julio César Rivas is a

journalist born in Madrid,

Spain.

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'HL�VDLG�LQ�D������LQWHUYLHZ�ZLWK�U of T Magazine�WKDW�³$IURFHQWULF�HGXFDWLRQ�VHHV�VFKRROLQJ�DV�D�FRPPXQLW\�HQGHDYRXU��ZKLFK�PHDQV�WKDW�SDUHQWV��VWXGHQWV��DGPLQLVWUDWRUV��HGXFDWRUV�DQG�JRYHUQPHQWV�VKDUH�LQ�WKH�UHVSRQVLELOLW\�WR�HQVXUH�VXFFHVV��,Q�WKH�H[LVWLQJ�V\VWHP��VWXGHQWV�DUH�WUHDWHG�DV�LQGLYLGXDO�OHDUQHUV��:H�ZDQW�WKHP�WR�VHH�WKHPVHOYHV�DV�D�FRPPXQLW\�RI�OHDUQHUV�ZLWK�D�UHVSRQVLELOLW\�WR�WKRVH�ZKR�DUH�VWUXJJOLQJ�́

5HFRPPHQGDWLRQV�LQFOXGHG�LQ�Proyecto Latino�DUH�VLPLODU�WR�WKH�³$IURFHQWULF´�VFKRRO�YLVLRQ��ZKHUH�WKH�³(XURFHQWULF�OHQV´�LV�VXEVWLWXWHG�ZLWK�D�YLVLRQ�WKDW�DI¿UPV�WKH�KLVWRU\�DQG�FXOWXUH�RI�WKH�VWXGHQW�FRPPXQLW\��ZKLOH�RIIHULQJ�UHOHYDQW�DQG�SRVLWLYH�UROH�PRGHOV���

)RU�H[DPSOH��VWXGHQWV�LQWHUYLHZHG�IRU�Proyecto Latino called for “more courses LQ�/DWLQ�$PHULFDQ�KLVWRU\�DQG�FXOWXUH�LQ�WKH�FXUULFXOXP �́�DV�ZHOO�DV�PRUH�H[WUDFXUULFXODU�DFWLYLWLHV�URRWHG�LQ�/DWLQR�FXOWXUH�

* For more on a holistic vision of community health, see Sandhya Ranjit’s article on p. 4

13

Page 14: New Voices Fall 2011

Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario:

HOPE IS BETTER THAN FEAR...

Hop

e is

bet

ter t

han

fear

...

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6RFLDO�MXVWLFH�LV�EHWWHU�WKDQ�VRFLDO�XSKHDYDO��New Voices, with all our readers, stand together to build a better ZRUOG��IRU�DOO��7R�WKLV��ZH�VWDQG�FRPPLWWHG�

Jojo Geronimo is a Board Member of the Community Alliance for Social Justice, and and a member of the Social Justice Committee at the Mennonite New Life Centre.

14

Page 15: New Voices Fall 2011

Bright Ideas for a BETTER Ontario:

TAKE ACTION

15

Page 16: New Voices Fall 2011

In this issue of New Voices,

internationally trained writers

shed new light on the path to

a brighter and BETTER Ontario.

They invite us to move forward

together, to realize the full

potential of our diversity, for

the good of all Ontarians. The

choice is ours...

Copyright © 2011 NEW VOICES - Mennonite New Life Centre Toronto.All Rights Reserved.