Late last year, the federal government announced that they would be welcoming 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada. These refugees have come in a mix of government and privately sponsored refugees. Government sponsored refugees have been destined for larger urban centres across Canada. Because these news stories have touched the hearts of many Canadians, the number of privately sponsored refugees is quite large; many of these refugees have ended up in smaller communities across Canada where private groups of all kinds have been their sponsors. Among other things, sponsors have found them housing, clothing and toys to help make their settlement less traumatic.
In short, regardless of where these refugees have gone, they have been welcomed.
The Canadian chamber network has been active across the country, assisting within their communities to help settle and engage our newcomers. Much of the initial effort has been to assist in settlement. Many of these settlement activities are completed and now, the focus starts to turn to how refugees can find work and integration into the economy. John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship has challenged business to help the refugees settle through employment and jobs.
We want to capture the level of involvement that businesses have had in the initial integration and support of newly-arrived Syrian Refugees. We have heard many touching stories, and would love to hear many more. We would also like to gather some information about best practices and gain a big-picture perspective about where community efforts are being focused. Finally, we’d like to be able to share what we gather with others – so they might copy your good work!
So that we might gather some of this data, we would ask that you fill out this five to ten minute survey*, and show us how your company has helped in the effort.
Thank you!
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce
*If your company has had no involvement, please take a minute to click “no” throughout the survey to help give us the best overall perspective possible
Laura Nunno
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce | La Chambre de commerce du Canada
420 – 360 rue Albert Street | Ottawa, ON K1R 7X7
T: 613.238.4000 (281) | F: 613.238.7643
Chamber.ca | @CdnChamberofCom | facebook.com/CanadianChamberofCommerce
connecT! | brancHé!