Please note, this is not an open access database or repository. We have focused on creating simple summaries of reports and articles that we have accessed through websites and academic journals, with a focus on key findings, so that even if a full report is not free to access you can reference it. When possible, we include a link to wherever the original document is hosted (which may or may not be open-access). If you come across a link that is no longer active, please let us know and we can update it. There are also some reports that will have been submitted directly to the project. In this case, these reports are uploaded directly with permission from the author or publisher. Any original documents found on this site are stored in Canada on our secure servers

Supporting the Mental Health of Newcomers in Canada: Key Insights and Recommendations for Programming

This learning note identifies key insights and challenges that newcomers experience in relation to their mental health and provides recommendations for how programs and services can support the mental health of newcomers in Canada. This learning note identifies key insights and challenges that newcomers experience in relation to their mental health and provides recommendations for how programs and services can support the mental health of newcomers in Canada.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

Supporting Newcomer Youth in Canada: Key Considerations for Inclusive Programming

This learning note provides a brief overview of the challenges that newcomer youth in Canada face throughout the settlement journey and identifies key considerations for designing inclusive and effective programs to support the diverse experiences of newcomers youth in Canada. This learning note provides a brief overview of the challenges that newcomer youth in Canada face throughout the settlement journey and identifies key considerations for designing inclusive and effective programs to support the diverse experiences of newcomers youth in Canada.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

Supporting Newcomer Seniors in Canada: Key Considerations for Inclusive Programming

This learning note provides a brief overview of the challenges faced by newcomer seniors in Canada and identifies key considerations for designing inclusive and supportive programming. This learning note provides a brief overview of the challenges faced by newcomer seniors in Canada and identifies key considerations for designing inclusive and supportive programming.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

Supporting LGBTQI+ Newcomers in Canada: Considerations for Inclusive Programming

This learning note provides a brief overview of the challenges, barriers, and unique needs of 2SLGBTQI+ newcomers in Canada. It identifies key considerations for designing inclusive and effective program to support the diverse experiences of 2SLGBTQI+ newcomers. This learning note provides a brief overview of the challenges, barriers, and unique needs of 2SLGBTQI+ newcomers in Canada. It identifies key considerations for designing inclusive and effective program to support the diverse experiences of 2SLGBTQI+ newcomers.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

Integrating Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) in the Development of Inclusive Programming for Newcomers in Canada

This learning note is intended to provide a brief overview of what GBA+ is and how it can be harnessed to create inclusive and effective programming for newcomers in Canada. This learning note is intended to provide a brief overview of what GBA+ is and how it can be harnessed to create inclusive and effective programming for newcomers in Canada.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

A narrative inquiry into the experiences of Syrian refugee families with children living with disabilities

Children with disabilities are among the most at-risk groups for marginalization due to compounded disadvantages from the intersection of risk factors such as refugee status and disability status. Despite this high risk, there is no systematic data collected on this group and scant literature on the topic contributing to a feeling of invisibility. We conducted a narrative inquiry on the experiences of two Syrian refugee families with children living with disabilities. Narrative inquiry is a way to understand experience as a storied phenomenon. In order to understand the complexities of the experience as a refugee with a child living with disabilities, attending to the lived and told stories is essential. In hearing the narration of these experiences across time, place, and social contexts various narrative threads emerged. The narrative threads that resonated across the experiences of two families included waiting and a struggle for agency, as well as disruption and continuity. Children with disabilities are among the most at-risk groups for marginalization due to compounded disadvantages from the intersection of risk factors such as refugee status and disability status. Despite this high risk, there is no systematic data collected on this group and scant literature on the topic contributing to a feeling of invisibility. We conducted a narrative inquiry on the experiences of two Syrian refugee families with children living with disabilities. Narrative inquiry is a way to understand experience as a storied phenomenon. In order to understand the complexities of the experience as a refugee with a child living with disabilities, attending to the lived and told stories is essential. In hearing the narration of these experiences across time, place, and social contexts various narrative threads emerged. The narrative threads that resonated across the experiences of two families included waiting and a struggle for agency, as well as disruption and continuity.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

Experiences of depression among African immigrant men in Southern Alberta, Canada

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of depression among African immigrant men in Southern Alberta. The study adopted an exploratory descriptive qualitative research design using focused semi-structured interviews with ten African immigrant men. Thematic analysis showed that African men went through episodes of sadness and frustrations due to intersection of challenges post-migration, which negatively impacted both their physical and mental health. However, instead of seeking professional help, they employed a series of coping mechanisms to mitigate, tolerate, or overcome the mental distress. It was evident that African men’s cultural constructions around masculinity influenced how they perceived, interpreted, and expressed their mental distress. Culture and masculinity also shaped their strategies for coping with the mental distress and behaviour towards help-seeking. It is recommended that stakeholders and policy makers apply cultural safety approaches to support African immigrant men to enhance their mental well-being. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of depression among African immigrant men in Southern Alberta. The study adopted an exploratory descriptive qualitative research design using focused semi-structured interviews with ten African immigrant men. Thematic analysis showed that African men went through episodes of sadness and frustrations due to intersection of challenges post-migration, which negatively impacted both their physical and mental health. However, instead of seeking professional help, they employed a series of coping mechanisms to mitigate, tolerate, or overcome the mental distress. It was evident that African men’s cultural constructions around masculinity influenced how they perceived, interpreted, and expressed their mental distress. Culture and masculinity also shaped their strategies for coping with the mental distress and behaviour towards help-seeking. It is recommended that stakeholders and policy makers apply cultural safety approaches to support African immigrant men to enhance their mental well-being.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

In the Shadows: Living and Working Without Status in Alberta

This Parkland Institute report examines the lives of undocumented migrant workers living in Alberta. It discusses the results of a research study of 32 undocumented workers, outlines the circumstances that led to their loss of status, describes their work and living conditions, and explores their reasons for staying and their hopes for the future. This Parkland Institute report examines the lives of undocumented migrant workers living in Alberta. It discusses the results of a research study of 32 undocumented workers, outlines the circumstances that led to their loss of status, describes their work and living conditions, and explores their reasons for staying and their hopes for the future.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

Annual Settlement and Integration Sector Survey 2021

This is AAISA’s fourth annual Alberta Settlement and Integration Sector Survey report. The report is based on the Alberta Settlement and Integration Sector Survey conducted by AAISA in June 2021, which includes quantitative and qualitative data collected through open-ended survey questions, and supplemental references. The 2021 survey was completed by 60 settlement and integration agencies from across Alberta. The survey aims to examine and understand the priorities, systems-level issues, and potential areas of improvement in the Albertan settlement and integration sector. AAISA will use the survey results to improve and develop services and programs that will ensure agencies have the tools to offer innovative, high-quality, and adaptable programs and services to newcomers in Alberta. A total of 60 agencies responded to the Alberta Settlement and Integration Sector Survey conducted by AAISA in June 2021, of which 47 are AAISA members. These agencies provide services across Alberta, including 38% who provide itinerant and satellite services. Additionally, these agencies offer services across the province in over 70 languages. This is AAISA’s fourth annual Alberta Settlement and Integration Sector Survey report. The report is based on the Alberta Settlement and Integration Sector Survey conducted by AAISA in June 2021, which includes quantitative and qualitative data collected through open-ended survey questions, and supplemental references. The 2021 survey was completed by 60 settlement and integration agencies from across Alberta. The survey aims to examine and understand the priorities, systems-level issues, and potential areas of improvement in the Albertan settlement and integration sector. AAISA will use the survey results to improve and develop services and programs that will ensure agencies have the tools to offer innovative, high-quality, and adaptable programs and services to newcomers in Alberta. A total of 60 agencies responded to the Alberta Settlement and Integration Sector Survey conducted by AAISA in June 2021, of which 47 are AAISA members. These agencies provide services across Alberta, including 38% who provide itinerant and satellite services. Additionally, these agencies offer services across the province in over 70 languages.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

Caring for Crude in an Era of Capitalist Crisis: Migrant Caregivers and the Fort McMurray Wildfire

On May 3rd, 2016, a wildfire swept through the Northern Alberta resource community of Fort McMurray, scouring the political-economic landscape and leading to the largest prolonged evacuation in Canadian history. In serving as the primary service centre for the Athabasca tar sands— the world’s third-largest known oil deposit— Fort McMurray has also become a notable outpost of transnational labour. Migrant caregivers, in particular, are precariously tied to this ‘land of opportunity’— bound by short-term employment contracts tied to single employers. Thus, in following the assertion that “there is no such thing as a natural disaster,” this thesis draws upon their experiences to reveal how the everyday manifestations of capitalist crisis that exist in this place were responsible for rendering the wildfire into a disaster in the lives of tens of thousands of people. In drawing upon the experiences of this social reproductive workforce, I argue that the crisis of social reproduction (i.e. biological reproduction, the reproduction of the labouring class, and provisioning and carework), in particular, is the thread of capitalist crisis capable of illuminating the other strands of crisis at the foundation of this disaster and explicating the interconnections between them. Moreover, it is in specifically focusing on the crisis of social reproduction, I argue, that we are able to not only understand the political-economic foundation of this disaster but also how its impacts were reabsorbed into everyday life through the social reproductive labour of this largely disposable workforce. In drawing upon the concept of surplus value, I argue that in much the same way that this value is extracted from workers to rebuild the physical infrastructure of communities in the wake of disaster, families extracted migrant caregivers’ social reproductive surplus value in order to rebuild the social infrastructure of their everyday lives and re-establish the crises at the foundation of this disaster. On May 3rd, 2016, a wildfire swept through the Northern Alberta resource community of Fort McMurray, scouring the political-economic landscape and leading to the largest prolonged evacuation in Canadian history. In serving as the primary service centre for the Athabasca tar sands— the world’s third-largest known oil deposit— Fort McMurray has also become a notable outpost of transnational labour. Migrant caregivers, in particular, are precariously tied to this ‘land of opportunity’— bound by short-term employment contracts tied to single employers. Thus, in following the assertion that “there is no such thing as a natural disaster,” this thesis draws upon their experiences to reveal how the everyday manifestations of capitalist crisis that exist in this place were responsible for rendering the wildfire into a disaster in the lives of tens of thousands of people. In drawing upon the experiences of this social reproductive workforce, I argue that the crisis of social reproduction (i.e. biological reproduction, the reproduction of the labouring class, and provisioning and carework), in particular, is the thread of capitalist crisis capable of illuminating the other strands of crisis at the foundation of this disaster and explicating the interconnections between them. Moreover, it is in specifically focusing on the crisis of social reproduction, I argue, that we are able to not only understand the political-economic foundation of this disaster but also how its impacts were reabsorbed into everyday life through the social reproductive labour of this largely disposable workforce. In drawing upon the concept of surplus value, I argue that in much the same way that this value is extracted from workers to rebuild the physical infrastructure of communities in the wake of disaster, families extracted migrant caregivers’ social reproductive surplus value in order to rebuild the social infrastructure of their everyday lives and re-establish the crises at the foundation of this disaster.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly