Citizenship and Immigration committee  Good morning, committee members, and thank you so much for the opportunity to speak today. The Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, OCASI, represents the collective voice of Ontario organizations serving immigrants and refugees. We have over 230 member agencies across

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Finally, the experience highlighted the ongoing need for public education on anti-Islamophobia, anti-xenophobia, and anti-racism. We are happy that the City of Toronto, the province, and other stakeholders such as the Red Cross have stepped up to counter the narrative of exclusio

Citizenship and Immigration committee  One thing that comes to mind, for sure, is the cost of transportation being covered for the Syrians but not for other refugees. That is a big factor, a big difference.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I can't speak to the costing that is happening on the government side. I can certainly say that, with the large number of refugees in the community needing language instruction, child care, and all those things, there isn't the full capacity to support them at this point in time.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think that in the case of Syrian refugees, women without the language and often with large families, with those factors together, tend to be isolated. What we need to do is introduce programs that work for them and work with their lifestyle to bring them into the community, and

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I don't really know. It's one of those things where there is so much need. The need is so great and the government is stepping up in the current context. Could more be done? Absolutely.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  There a couple of issues with respect to LINC language training, and one of them is child care. If it's imperative that the mother have child care while she's attending LINC classes. She will face wait-lists, because all of the seats that include child care spots are currently ta

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely. That would be a great idea.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I can say that in Ottawa, there is big concern around what will happen in month 13. Many of the refugees got into a housing scenario where there were subsidies in the first year, and they're receiving their payments and whatnot. When they move into month 13, invariably their over

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, for all refugees.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  My organization isn't a RAP provider, so we don't get those funds. However, I think there were some delays of a couple of months. I think it had to do a lot with the amount of time, everything that was happening so quickly.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think it varies by organization. In our organization, we have over 20 Arabic-speaking workers, and we have added volunteer interpreters to supplement that work. I think it becomes more of a challenge in smaller communities where they may not have the Arabic-speaking settlemen

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In my agency we do, yes. Across the province, there are pockets where that's not the case.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you. The Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants is the umbrella organization for immigrant-serving agencies in Ontario. We have more than 200 member agencies working with immigrants and refugees, refugee claimants, migrant workers, international students, and thos