ARCHIVED – Annual Report on the Operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act 2007-2008

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Part 3: Implementation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act across federal institutions

Highlights:

• The Canadian Multiculturalism Act requires federal institutions to carry out their activities in a manner that is both sensitive and responsive to the multicultural reality of Canada. They do so by ensuring equal opportunity for employment in federal institutions, enhancing the ability of individuals and communities to contribute to the continuing evolution of Canada, enhancing the understanding of and respect for Canada’s diversity, collecting statistical data, and using language skills and cultural understandings.
• Federal institutions across Canada reported achievements and challenges in implementing the Canadian Multiculturalism Act during 2007-2008. Submissions were received from 114 institutions including federal departments, Crown corporations, agencies, and offices established to perform a government function through legislation or a Governor in Council appointment.
• Notable initiatives were undertaken in 11 federal institutions in 2007-2008 that best illustrate the work each institution does to implement the Act.
• During the reporting period federal institutions undertook many other activities to implement the Canadian Multiculturalism Act in their organizations, ranging from new policies and programs, to research, and consultations with communities.

The Canadian Multiculturalism Act requires federal institutions to carry out their activities in a manner that is both sensitive and responsive to the multicultural reality of Canada. As evident in Part III, federal institutions do so by enhancing the ability of individuals and communities to contribute to the continuing evolution of Canada, enhancing the understanding of and respect for Canada’s diversity, collecting statistical data, using language skills and cultural understandings, and ensuring equal opportunity for employment in federal institutions.

Federal institutions include departments, Crown corporations, government agencies, and offices established to perform a government function through legislation or a Governor in Council appointment. They range from very small institutions of ten or less employees, to very large institutions of over 50,000 employees. Federal institutions provide services to and for Canadians in a range of sectors including justice, banking, security, social and health policy, culture, and economic affairs. They also include administrative tribunals and Boards, quasi-judicial organizations, officers of Parliament, and government operations.

Regardless of their area of work, all federal institutions are committed to the principles of the Multiculturalism Policy and take measures to implement the Canadian Multiculturalism Act within the execution of their respective mandates.

In preparation for this 2007-2008 report to Parliament, federal institutions subject to the Canadian Multiculturalism Act received a call for submissions to the report. Federal institutions are asked to provide submissions on how they have met the requirements of the Act in the reporting year, using a template and guide provided by the Multiculturalism Program. 114 submissions were received for the 2007-2008 report from federal institutions across the country, for a response rate of approximately 70 percent. Over 60 percent of the submissions received were from small institutions of less than 500 employees. Large institutions of 2,000 or more employees represented over 20 percent of submissions.

This chapter highlights the progress made by federal institutions from April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008. First, key achievements and challenges experienced by federal institutions will be highlighted. A second section provides samples of federal institutions responses when asked how they implemented the Canadian Multiculturalism Act in the reporting year.

Key achievements and challenges

Over the past year, several federal institutions have had significant success in implementing the Canadian Multiculturalism Act by examining their existing programs, policies and practices through the lens of multiculturalism and diversity, and by creating new programs, policies and practices that address barriers to the full participation of all Canadians. At the same time, federal institutions have also identified challenges to implementing the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.

This section highlights notable achievements during the 2007-2008 reporting year by 11 federal institutions, followed by a summary of the key challenges federal institutions experienced in the employment and advancement of diverse employees, and in implementing the Act.

Key achievements reported by federal institutions

Notable achievements in the 2007-2008 reporting year across the Government of Canada took place at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission, and Telefilm Canada in promoting Canadian multiculturalism both at home and abroad and in recognizing the diversity of Canadians in race, national or ethnic origin, colour and religion as a fundamental characteristic of Canadian society. The Department of Citizenship and Immigration and the Department of National Defence and Canadian Forces have undertaken initiatives to ensure equal opportunities for the employment of new Canadians and Aboriginal people. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada has an initiative that underscores the connection between recognizing diversity and achieving healthy workplaces and business objectives. The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation have worked to improve access to government services by ethnocultural groups, new Canadians, and Aboriginal people. Lastly, Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada is implementing an inclusive approach to resolution for recognizing and promoting the participation of Aboriginal people in the continuing evolution and shaping of all aspects of Canadian society.

These initiatives are detailed below, in alphabetical order:

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Growing Forward
In 2007, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada held a series of workshops with First Nations and Aboriginal producers across Canada to provide input to the next generation of agriculture and agri-food policy now called “Growing Forward”. The objective was to obtain a greater understanding of Aboriginal participation in the agricultural sector, including: agriculture and agri-food related opportunities; barriers to Aboriginal participation in Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada programs and services, and to gauge awareness of the Department’s programming and services. Other goals were to increase the Department’s ability to engage with Aboriginal producers and communities, and to establish strategic relationships with stakeholders including provincial governments and other key federal departments.

An Aboriginal Agriculture Steering Committee was also created within the Department to address the gaps mentioned above and to contribute to the development of a departmental Aboriginal strategic plan. The intent is to create links with the government-wide Framework for Aboriginal Economic Development through initiatives and identifying opportunities within the Agriculture sector.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Increasing the usefulness and impact of the “Newcomer’s Guide to Housing”
A review of the Newcomer’s Guide to Canadian Housing was undertaken in 2007-2008 in which stakeholders identified ways of increasing the usefulness and impact of the guide for assisting newcomers and the agencies involved in the settlement process to access adequate housing.

The objective of this project was to update the “Newcomer’s Guide to Housing”, first developed in 1999 as a practical source of housing information to immigrants and refugees recently arrived in Canada. The intended outcomes were the identification of changes and improvements needed to update the guide and ways to optimize use of the guide by newcomers. The study began with a literature review and concluded with workshops held with settlement agency staff in three major immigrant reception cities: Toronto; Vancouver; and Montréal.

This project allows for the continuous improvement of the Newcomer’s Guide and for regular reviews on strategies for its distribution to newcomers, both those already in Canada and potential newcomers abroad.

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

Equitable Portrayal Code
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s approval of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Equitable Portrayal Code in March 2008 represents a significant new standard for the equitable portrayal of all identifiable groups. The Code is self-regulatory and a condition of licence for all television and radio licensees. Canadians will be better served by this new code of conduct for Canadian broadcasters, as it establishes common standards for the prevention of negative, harmful portrayals. In applying this code to all programming broadcast by Canadian radio and television broadcasters, the Commission aims to facilitate a broadcasting system that is fair, accurate and inclusive in its delivery of informative, entertaining and enlightening programming to all audiences, in furtherance of the multicultural objectives of the Broadcasting Act.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission continues to track all broadcasters’ progress in improving the representation of ethnocultural groups and Aboriginal peoples in television and radio via ongoing monitoring of broadcasters’ annual reports on the implementation of their cultural diversity corporate plans.

Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP

Enhancing knowledge of and improve access to the public complaints process for members of the Aboriginal community
The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP has a pilot project with the National Association of Friendship Centres to enhance knowledge of and improve access to the public complaints process by members of the Aboriginal community. The RCMP is also involved in the project and has representatives on the working group.

The pilot project’s main activities focus on communications and training/awareness sessions and developing and strengthening contacts among the participating organizations.

The key elements of the project plan are the conduct of site visits to Friendship Centres and the development of communications materials for use at the centres. Representatives of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP and the National Association of Friendship Centres met with the management and employees/volunteers of Friendship Centres to give them a general overview of the Commission’s function and respond to questions, provided a briefing on the pilot project; and sought to learn from their perspective what the policing issues are in the community. Information was provided to ensure everyone understood the various processes to achieve resolution of complaints against police and how to access the Commission. In addition to concrete referral practices and contacts, written material (i.e. brochures and posters) were given to community members as needed.

The pilot project also included engagement with local RCMP detachments to brief on the role of the Commission of Public Complaints Against the RCMP and to ensure the police and staff members understood the nature of the site visits. The meetings also provided an opportunity to learn from the police perspective what the issues are in the community and how community concerns can be addressed regarding police conduct.

Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Young Newcomer Internship Program
The Young Newcomer Internship Program is a new pilot project initiated and led by the Youth Network at the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. The Program has created an opportunity for the Department to recruit and mentor a small number of young immigrants and refugees coming from around the world and who are new to the Canadian work force. The objectives of the Youth Newcomer Internship Program are to ensure that the Department of Citizenship and immigration leads by example in promoting the hiring of newcomers; to allow the Department to draw on the expertise and unique perspectives that newcomers can bring; to provide young newcomers with meaningful work experience; and to contribute to the renewal and diversification of the workplace. The program was developed in 2007-2008 and launched in September 2008. It is the first of its kind in the federal government.

Diversity awareness sessions are provided to all managers and staff working with an intern who is part of the Youth Network Internship Program.

Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces

Creating Aboriginal leadership opportunities in the Canadian Forces
In 2007, the Royal Military College launched a new one-year programme called Aboriginal Leadership Opportunity Year, which offers Canadian Forces Aboriginal members the opportunity to develop sound leadership, to serve Canada and the option to continue the proud tradition of past Aboriginal leaders in the military.

This new program provides a highly positive, productive, preparatory educational and leadership experience for the participants in the context of a service to Canada theme. upon completion, this may lead to continuation at Royal Military College in a degree programme as well as service as a commissioned officer in the Canadian Forces, a career in the civil service or to return to the community. Participants in this program are enrolled in the Canadian Forces as Officer Cadets.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada

Promoting Canadian multiculturalism abroad
The Government’s foreign policy priorities are identified with three key regions of the world: Afghanistan, The Americas and Emerging Markets. Within Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, there is an emphasis on the issues of prosperity, security and governance. each of their efforts supports these priorities and represents the Canadian reality abroad. Their efforts include engaging diaspora communities in foreign policy consultations, ensuring Canada’s Aboriginal and visible minority reality is represented abroad, assisting other countries to understand the Canadian multicultural model, and establishing best practices in training for staff going abroad.

Diaspora communities are a rich source of perspective in the development of foreign policy. The Human Rights Bureau consulted with members of ethnocultural and indigenous communities to assist in formulating Arctic policy. In China, Canada hosted consultations with Canadian non-governmental organizations engaging in human rights related advocacy. This included groups from a range of backgrounds, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, Han Chinese, and others. During his visit to Montréal in 2007, Monsieur Edmond Mulet, united Nations Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping, met with the Haitian diaspora to discuss how to ensure stability and reconstruction of their home country and the key role they might play in assisting those efforts undertaken by Canada. To get a greater sense of the turmoil in the African Great Lakes, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada staff consulted with African diaspora communities from Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Great Lakes Region (Democratic Republic of the Congo; Rwanda; Burundi) as well as Canadians from Somalia, Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria.

At the Canadian High Commission in London in June 2007, High Commissioner James Wright hosted an event maintaining a dialogue on multiculturalism with the objective of expanding Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada’s network of contacts, in particular with representatives of Muslim groups.

In Atlanta, Georgia, the Consulate arranged a high-profile book tour for African-Canadian novelist Lawrence Hill, to encourage a Canadian/African-American dialogue. As part of Black History Month in Kingston, Jamaica, the mission hosted educator, researcher, and prominent member of the Jamaican diaspora Dr. Inez Elliston, and staged a Black History Poster Art Competition for students on the theme: ‘Distinguished Jamaicans in Canada.’

In the Czech Republic, Aboriginal authors Tomson Highway, Daniel David Moses, Ian Ross, Drew Hayden Taylor, Shirley Cheechoo, and Yvette Nolan presented their work at the launch of the translation into Czech of an anthology of Canadian native drama.

While Canada may be shy to blow its own horn, it is known in many countries as a success in recognizing many cultures as part of the Canadian fabric. As a result, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada has found an interest in Canadian approaches to immigration and integration. The Canadian embassy in Vienna promoted a study tour in Canada for Austrian officials and migration experts. The Paris office organized a consultation in a neighbourhood of Bordeaux which has large numbers of African immigrants, involving a dialogue between Governor General Michaëlle Jean and Paris Mayor Alain Juppé, focusing on the challenges of integration and how to help people understand one another. The Kuala Lumpur office supported a project that involved training by Radio-Canada International for television and radio producers from South East Asia on the role of the media in promoting pluralism and tolerance for migrant communities.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

Racism Prevention Officers
As part of the Racism-Free Workplace Strategy, Racism Prevention Officers are working in different regions of Canada to promote workplace integration of visible minorities and Aboriginal peoples and educate managers and employees about the benefits of fair and inclusive workplaces, to build a network between community resources and employers to facilitate access to employment, to develop ways to use research in operational decision making, and to assist employers with recruitment, retention and more efficient dispute resolution measures. Nine Regional Racism Prevention Officers were hired and given training in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montréal, and Halifax.

Consultations with key stakeholders including the National Film Board, the Aboriginal Human Resource Council, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration-Metropolis to plan joint activities and future cooperation also took place. Discussions on barriers faced by Aboriginal peoples and members of visible minorities, as well as potential solutions, were held by the Racism Prevention Officers in the regions, bringing together employers, unions, non-governmental organizations, government agencies, and community groups. These Open Sessions benefited from significant interest and engagement from participants, resulting in valuable feedback to help improve the delivery of the initiative.

These various activities have increased public awareness of the work being done by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada’s Labour Program to address employment equity issues in the workplace. They also provided an opportunity to recognize certain employers and stakeholders for their continuous efforts and commitment to achieving equitable, diverse and inclusive workplaces.

The Racism-Free Workplace Strategy is intended to advance the Labour Program’s fair workplace mandate and forms an important part of the Government of Canada’s broader commitment to enhance social inclusion and multiculturalism and to address racism and discrimination. It is also educational in nature and aims at educating managers and employees in workplaces covered under the Employment Equity Act and the Federal Contractors Program about the benefits of fair and inclusive workplaces.

Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada

Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement
The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement was implemented on September 19, 2007, and includes a series of individual and collective measures to provide tangible acknowledgment to former students of their Indian Residential Schools experience. It is intended to foster reconciliation between Aboriginal people, their families and communities, and all Canadians.

This inclusive approach to resolution reflects the responsibility under the Multiculturalism Act to recognize and promote the participation of Aboriginal people in the continuing evolution and shaping of all aspects of Canadian society.

This comprehensive approach is part of a continuum of historical and contemporary approaches addressing past institutional or systemic abuse that ensures greater recognition of human rights, greater acceptance of perpetrators’ responsibility, and stronger response to past abuse. It reflects the responsibility under the Multiculturalism Act to assist Aboriginal people in the elimination of any barrier to their participation in Canadian society by acknowledging the role Canada played in the development and administration of Indian Residential Schools and the legacy of personal pain and distress that continues to reverberate in Aboriginal communities.

As of June 1, 2008 Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada ceased being a separate department and joined Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages

Official language policies as they apply within a multicultural Canada
The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages is undertaking a set of three discussion fora across the country to examine the linkages between cultural diversity and linguistic duality and to gain a better understanding about how Canadians of diverse origins view linguistic duality. These are pioneering meetings to eliminate preconceived notions of both diversity and linguistic duality, to encourage discussion and deepen understanding of linkages, and to advance dialogue, learning and critical analysis of the intersection of these two overarching areas in Canada’s policy and legislative framework.

The first forum was held in Toronto in October 2007. It brought together about 50 participants representing various ethnocultural communities in Ontario. The participants at the Toronto forum expressed a desire to contribute to Canadian society and the national dialogue. They see linguistic duality as part of what binds Canada together and feel that it has opened the door to multiculturalism. Some participants representing Francophone ethnocultural organizations expressed concern over a lack of integration services in French. They also feel that the tendency to define a Francophone as a mother-tongue speaker excludes many immigrants and this has an impact on their sense of belonging. The full report of the Toronto forum is available on the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages website at:
www.ocol-clo.gc.ca/html/discussion_forum_e.php

In order to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages produced a short video in April 2007 entitled, “One Charter, two languages, a thousand and one voices”. The video presents young Canadians from a variety of backgrounds describing in their own words what the Charter and linguistic duality mean to them.

The video is accompanied by a discussion guide for secondary school teachers and it provides tools to teach students about the origin of the Charter and the rights that are protected. The guide proposes activities around language rights, as well as around the integration of new Canadians into Canada’s linguistic duality. The video and teaching guide have been well received and the government of Alberta has asked permission to use the material in its secondary school curriculum. To view the video and teaching guide, see: www.ocol-clo.gc.ca/html/videos_e.php

Telefilm Canada

Featuring Aboriginal stories
As part of its strategic objective to Build Industry Capacity, Telefilm Canada develops policy and programs that support visible minorities, official languages minority professionals and Aboriginal professionals in benefiting from opportunities to advance their careers. In 2007-2008, Telefilm Canada brought together an Aboriginal Task Force to design a new Feature Film Development Program for Aboriginal Communities. The goal of the program is to provide support to mid- and advanced-career level Aboriginal audiovisual professionals and companies in their professional and industrial development. The program also aims at creating opportunities for the development of long-lasting relationships between industry decision-makers and Aboriginal creators. The long-term intent is to ensure that these creators have the skills and tools to better access Telefilm’s main funds and to increase the representation of Aboriginal films in the Canada Feature Film Fund’s development portfolio.

Key challenges identified by federal institutions

When asked if they faced barriers or challenges with respect to implementing the Canadian Multiculturalism Act, federal institutions that sent submissions identified a number of key issues in 2007-2008. These included the cost and time associated with training, development and implementation of initiatives related to diversity, and the difficulty of implementing multiculturalism initiatives if their organization’s mandate does not include service delivery.

Figure 4: Institutions implemented planned initiatives in 2007-2008

One of the barriers identified during hiring was related to security clearances for new Canadians. Background information must be verified for between five and ten years, which often takes a significant amount of time when background research involves countries outside of Canada. Additionally, some institutions identified barriers when collecting data on multiculturalism, as one of the only means of collecting information about its work force was through self identification, which most institutions undertake related to the designated groups defined under the Employment Equity Act, and not the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.

As reported in 2006-2007, institutions continue to report that official language proficiency is a barrier when hiring, and also that it is difficult to recruit a diverse work force when recruiting in remote areas or when a specialized skill set is required.

Figure 5: Institutions facing barriers or challenges with respect to implementing the Canadian Multiculturalism Act

Implementation across federal institutions

Over the 2007-2008 period federal institutions have undertaken many other activities to implement the Canadian Multiculturalism Act in their organizations. These activities reflect a wide array of creative and effective interventions impacting all areas of federal public service including corporate governance and culture, preserving and sharing cultural diversity, policies, program delivery and practices, employment opportunities, language and cultural understanding, research, and consultation and collaboration with communities.

Several significant examples have been selected from the 114 submissions from federal institutions.

Reflection of Canada’s multicultural reality in federal institutions

Federal institutions have reported many activities in the past year to ensure Canada’s multicultural reality is reflected in their organizational vision, mission, mandate or corporate priorities.

The activities highlighted in this 2007-2008 report range from corporate governance and senior leadership, to activities fostering a corporate culture that embraces Canada’s diversity. They are a sample of information provided by federal institutions in this area.

Vision, mission and mandate
Activities undertaken by these institutions to incorporate multiculturalism and diversity into their vision, mission, mandates and corporate priorities include corporate planning, corporate statements, and new institutions.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada was created on December 12, 2006 with the coming into force of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act. The Public Prosecution Service of Canada is transitioning from the former Federal Prosecution Service of the Department of Justice Canada to a new independent organization. During 2007-2008, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada established its governance structure, including an Executive Council and Senior Advisory Board, supported by various business-related committees with regional representation. Corporate priorities were also established. One of the Corporate Priorities related to “Our People” is aimed at enhancing a recruitment and retention strategy which includes fostering a culture where people development, management and diversity, multiculturalism and multilingualism are valued and recognized as important to reaching organizational goals.

According to the Canada Council Act, the role of the Canada Council for the Arts is “to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.” To best fulfil this mandate within a contemporary context and to be relevant to stakeholders and the public, the Council adopted, in October 2007, Moving Forward, a three-year Strategic Plan for 2008-2011. There are five directions in the strategic plan. One of the directions is Equity: “Enhance the Council’s leadership role in promoting equity as a critical priority in fulfilling Canada’s artistic aspirations.”

The plan provides a clear strategic focus to guide the Council over the next three years by incorporating values of equity and diversity. This plan will also assist Council employees in maintaining a consciousness of and integrating multiculturalism into the institution’s day-to-day operations.

A new three-year Diversity Action Plan (2007-2010) was implemented at Transport Canada in 2007-2008. This plan will move towards the integration of other important themes (official languages, values and ethics, etc.) leading to a corporate culture of true inclusion and integration. The Plan contains initiatives to help managers increase representation among the designated groups. efforts are supported and driven by the National Diversity Advisory Committee, which won the Public Service Award of Excellence in 2007, and a network of regional diversity committees.

Specific priorities related to diversity are well reflected in the Transport Canada Integrated Human Resources Plan for 2008-2011. In addition, Transport Canada’s 2008-2009 Report on Plans and Priorities deals with diversity in Transport Canada.

All Transport Canada Management Executive Committee members signed a Diversity Declaration, a document that outlines Transport Canada’s commitment to the Diversity strategy and its vision of inclusiveness and fairness for all.

In 2008, the Bank of Canada established a corporate statement on diversity that is used in its external and internal communications. The statement is as follows: “The Bank of Canada is a vibrant workplace that benefits from the unique perspectives, attributes and talents of its diverse workforce.”

Through focus groups, about 60 employees from different backgrounds had the opportunity to share their vision and to contribute to the recommended diversity statement. Adding a diversity statement reinforces senior management’s support and clarifies the Bank’s position by providing employees with a more structured approach to diversity. Aligned with the Bank’s strategic orientation, other initiatives (programs, activities, etc.) will follow so that employees will be able to integrate the concept into their daily activities.

Senior management responsible for implementing multiculturalism
In addition to infusing values of diversity and multiculturalism into their corporate priorities, federal institutions are also holding senior managers responsible for implementing multiculturalism in their organizations.

Under the leadership of the Multiculturalism Program, the Multiculturalism Champions’ Network continued to operate in 2007-2008 with the goal of facilitating greater implementation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act and fostering a better understanding of multiculturalism throughout federal institutions. There are currently 77 Champions across the Government of Canada.

At the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada the Multiculturalism Champion is the principal coordinator of the strategic and business plan processes. In this capacity, the Champion raises and tables awareness issues related to changing demographics and other related issues that should be considered when developing the Agency’s strategic and business plans. The Champion also monitors with the help of the Human Resources Division, through the management committee, human resources practices in recruiting, promoting and retaining Financial Consumer Agency of Canada staff.

At the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Management Level accountability has been implemented as part of the recommendation from the Diversity Committee. It is the responsibility of every manager to promote diversity and multiculturalism within their branches and is reflected in their annual Performance Evaluations. They are also responsible for submitting an annual accountability report to the Director General, Personnel Services as to how this was achieved.

Corporate culture
Under the Canadian Multiculturalism Act, federal institutions are required to promote policies, programs and practices that enhance the understanding of and respect for the diversity of the members of Canadian society. Federal institutions have undertaken a myriad of activities in the past year to foster a corporate culture that embraces diversity.

Figure 6: Federal institutions with senior management responsible for implementing multiculturalism

The National Research Council Diversity Committee developed a statement of “Diversity Core values and Objectives” linked to the National Research Council’s Values which states: “Diversity promotes mutual respect, acceptance, teamwork and productivity among people who differ in work and cultural backgrounds, experience, education, age, gender, race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religion, physical abilities, and other ways that make us individuals. Our challenge is to complement diversity with mutual esteem to create an invigorating environment where each person is treated with dignity and respect. Nurturing diversity and inclusion is a business imperative—each one of us is responsible for creating such a supportive environment.” The document includes core values, program goals and expected outcomes.

In October 2007, the National Research Council launched its “Diversity Ambassador Initiative.” The Launch was hosted by Dr. Sherif Barakat, the National Research Council’s Diversity Champion and Dr. Marie D’Iorio, Director General of the National Research Council Institute for Microstructural Sciences. This voluntary pilot project forms part of the National Research Council’s strategy for 2006-2011, Science at Work for Canada.

The Diversity Ambassador is a dynamic individual who takes a leadership role at the Institute/Branch/Program level in order to engage and positively influence co-workers. The Ambassador’s role is to raise awareness around diversity in order to help the National Research Council move toward an increasingly inclusive workplace, and to help achieve the Management Team objectives under the Diversity Management Accountability Accord.

In fulfilling this role, the Ambassador can also recruit colleagues to help plan and organize special events to promote diversity.

To support this initiative, the National Research Council’s Human Resources team created a new logo which depicts the colourful inhabitants of a tropical coral reef, symbolizing both the fragility and balance of an ecosystem. This is a useful metaphor for the workplace since, just as all species play a role in maintaining the balance of an ecosystem, all employees also have a role to play in the workplace.

Human Resources also created a comprehensive Diversity Ambassador’s Tool Kit and a Diversity Ambassador Online Forum that enables Ambassadors to communicate with each other. To date, 30 Diversity Ambassadors have been appointed, representing 21 Institute/Branch/ Programs.

At the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, a marketing campaign has been implemented as per one of the recommendations from the Diversity Committee whereby diversity messages are published on a monthly basis on its intranet. To date, these messages have included Language Diversity, Diversity and Inclusion and the Business Case for Diversity. Future messages will consist of Canadian Diversity, Generational Diversity, Religious Diversity, Diversity during the Holidays, Social Diversity and Intellectual Diversity to name but a few.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has also developed a Diversity Award Program that will be given to employees who have demonstrated innovative measures, helped organize events, implemented best practices and or results in achieving the objectives or the Employment Equity and Diversity in the Workplace programs.

During the 2007-2008 reporting year, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority established its first ever Diversity Council. This Council supports the organization’s ongoing efforts towards developing a culture where inclusiveness is an integral part of the decision making process as well as functional, and operational activities. It also provides a transparent forum where management and employee representatives can engage in bilateral discussions on various diversity related policies and activities.

One of the Council’s roles is to advise the Champion of Multiculturalism and Diversity on how the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority can better support and retain employees of different backgrounds.

Preserving and sharing cultural diversity

Federal institutions undertake many initiatives that encourage and support the preservation, enhancement, sharing, and promotion of multiculturalism in Canada, and promote exchanges and cooperation among diverse communities. Below is a sampling of federal institution activities in this area in 2007-2008.

Celebrating Canada’s cultural heritage with the public
In February 2008 Library and Archives Canada launched Under a Northern Star, an online resource that presents seven unique collections held at Library and Archives Canada. These seven collections document the diverse historical experiences of African Canadians, and include digitized versions of historical papers that put the life and work of early African Canadians in context, including those who fought against slavery and racism, built settlements, and flourished as early Canadians. This rich site gives visitors access to material on topics such as Ontario’s Elgin settlement, the private collection of noted abolitionist Mary Ann Shadd Cary, and the influential newspapers Voice of the Fugitive and The provincial Freeman.

Canadian Heritage’s Building Communities through Arts and Heritage Program was established in the fall of 2007 and provides grants and contributions for local arts and heritage events—such as festivals and commemorative activities—that enrich local community life and give Canadians an opportunity to engage in their community. While new, the program has already funded many initiatives that celebrate Canada’s diverse cultural heritage, such as the Caribana Festival, the Latin Festival and the Taste of Asia 2008 Street Festival.

Also at Canadian Heritage, cultural industries programs fostered the creation of and access to Canadian cultural content as well as the viability of the Canadian music, book and periodical publishing and film and video industries initiatives, thereby contributing to Canada’s economy and sense of cultural identity that is reflective of our society. A concrete example is the Canada Magazine Fund/Publications Assistance Program which helped connect Canadians from coast-to-coast to the literature, reporting and opinions contained in Canadian magazines and community newspapers. By having criterion for ethnocultural publications that encourage access, the Program has ensured that magazines or non-daily newspapers primarily serving a commonly recognized specific cultural, racially distinct community, or specific linguistic groups (other than Canada’s official languages) are supported. Ethnocultural publications in English, French, a third language or a combination of official and non-official languages, are made available to the general public. One of the objectives of the Canada Magazine Fund is to increase Canadians’ access to Canadian magazines. By not having the 50 percent paid circulation criterion for two components of the Fund for ethnocultural magazines, the Fund is able to encourage promotion of Canada’s cultural heritage with the general public.

The National Film Board celebrated Canada’s cultural heritage with their event Women and Islam/Femmes et Islam, organized in May by the Cine-Robotheque and the Mediatheque for UNESCO’s World Day for Cultural Diversity. Thousands of filmgoers listened to experts on the history of religions, watched documentaries like Nadia’s Journey and Faith Without Fear: Irshad Manji’s Quest, and discussed the issues raised, often with the directors in attendance. In Montréal, Women and Islam was a huge success, attracting almost 2000 people in four days. Its impact in Toronto was enhanced by a new training workshop specifically designed for teachers, with user guides to help teachers lead discussions in the classroom.

Nunavut Independent TV Network received funding over a two year period from the Canada Council for the Arts to disseminate the film Atanarjuat the Fast Runner directed by Zacharias Kunuk. The film’s release on screens in major cities, followed by DVD and Pay-TV distribution, meant remote fly-in Inuit and indigenous communities with no 35mm cinemas and small populations would be the very last people in Canada to see the first successful Inuit-language film ever made. On the basis of this finding and in partnership with IsumaTV, the Nunavut Independent TV Network received a grant from the Canada Council to connect five isolated Inuit communities through the Internet and digital projectors. Now launched by Internet as www.isuma.tv, linking the communities of Igloolik, Rankin Inlet and Pond Inlet (Nunavut), Puvirnituk and Inukjuaq (Nunavik), and other remote communities across Canada, the new network will reinforce this social dimension by presenting works by Inuit filmmakers to Inuit audiences.

In 2007, CBC’s inaugural national Asian Heritage Month website, www.CBC.ca/asianheritage showed a daily archival Web blog by a CBC media archivist, featuring content from CBC’s Radio and Television archives. The daily posts often tied into events taking place in major centres. The national website was also connected to the local Asian Heritage Month websites in Calgary, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

The Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation held new special exhibitions at the Canadian War Museum in 2007-2008 to celebrate Canada’s cultural heritage. In one of these special exhibitions, an evocative installation of paintings by artist Bev Tosh, along with photos, objects and commentaries, conveyed the life-changing experiences of some of the 44,000 women who came to Canada at the end of the Second World War as war brides. The historical material spoke of love and war, adventure and hardship in a time of tremendous upheaval.

Promoting exchanges and cooperation among diverse communities
Many federal institutions undertake initiatives to promote exchanges and cooperation among Canada’s diverse communities. In the past year, federal institutions have highlighted key exchanges and cooperation in a range of areas, including business, economic development, learning, justice, health and culture.

In 2007-2008, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency assisted the Multicultural Women’s Organization of Newfoundland and Labrador to administer a business skills workshop aimed at women from diverse cultures. In addition, the organization hosted its annual International Food and Craft Fair, at which its member entrepreneurs showcased and sold their products. The International Food and Craft Fair is an annual event, which commemorates the International Day of elimination of Racial Discrimination and International Women’s Day. The Fair acts as a means by which to promote the multicultural population of St. John’s, by exposing the local population to diverse cultures, foods and goods.

In September 2007, the Cape Breton Development Corporation became involved with the Unama’ki Economic Benefits Steering Committee through their Unama’ki Partnership for Prosperity — Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership. The Partnership, which comprises Cape Breton’s five First Nation communities, is partnering with several government departments, industry and union representatives to create and retain approximately 150 sustainable full-time jobs for local Aboriginal people in the construction industry and provide construction industry training and upgrading for approximately 500 local aboriginals over a five year period. As part of the Devco Site Closure Program, which also involves Public Works and Government Services Canada, the Corporation requires a broad spectrum of skills and professions in order to realize its closure mandate. Partnering with groups such as the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership will positively impact both entities as they work toward achieving their respective goals.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada’s International Academic Mobility Initiative is a grants and contributions program that provides funding to universities and colleges to run student exchange programs and other activities that increase international cooperation, including cultural exchanges. In 2007-2008, in addition to other objectives, the program launched a call for proposals focusing on methods and policies by which international learning opportunities can be provided to students who have not traditionally participated in academic exchange and/or students who do not have the financial means to participate in academic exchange (for example, remote and distance learners, students in rural communities, aboriginal students, students with disabilities, etc.).

On March 19, 2008, the Department of Justice held a day-long Forum on Justice Programs in Northern and Remote Aboriginal Communities at the Ottawa Congress Centre, with speakers including representatives from the Hollow Water community Holistic Circle Healing Program and the Rankin Inlet Spousal Assault Program.

A total of 79 people, including speakers and organizers were in attendance.

The purpose of the forum was to showcase community-based justice programs that have the potential to assist in reducing the over representation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system and to build on the momentum of last year’s event titled “Justice System Responses to Violence in Northern and Remote Aboriginal Communities” where Rupert Ross (Assistant Crown Attorney responsible for a number of fly-in remote communities in north-western Ontario), a featured speaker at the event discussed the hard truths regarding life in northern and remote First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities. Feedback from participants was positive, indicating that the forum was useful, met expectations, and provided most with a better understanding of community-based justice programs in northern and remote Aboriginal communities.

Among further initiatives to promote exchanges and cooperation, the Department of Justice provided a contribution to the Black Law Students Association of Canada to host an annual conference on February 22 and 23, 2008 in Vancouver. The conference served as a means of networking and discussing ideas and strategies in the areas of law relating to race, gender and employment. The conference was also a vehicle to allow the organization to begin implementing ideas from previous discussions and conferences. This conference addressed issues around diversity and racism and their effect on the administration of justice and legal professional organizations, with a long term goal of contributing to more diversity in the judiciary and among practitioners. It explored ways to address these issues and increased awareness among legal organizations about diversity issues in the justice system and racism.

Canadian Heritage, in cooperation with the Embassy of France in Canada, organized an international Francophonie film festival annually, DiverCiné, les écrans de la Francophonie du monde to celebrate International Day of La Francophonie. The fifth annual DiverCiné Festival was held in April 2007, at Ottawa’s ByTowne Cinema. It showcased films from various Francophonie countries, including Guinea, Benin, Morocco, Lebanon, Vietnam, Romania, France and Canada. Programming for the public attracted 1,630 movie goers from various origins, attending the nine screenings. They also offered free screening to 400 local school students, teachers, and parents.

In another initiative to promote exchanges and cooperation, Canadian Heritage provided key support to facilitate the China Central Television event, China-Canada Hand in Hand — Celebration of the Olympics. This program, aired to as many as 20 million viewers around the world and on CBC in Canada. It celebrated the fact that China and Canada will host back to back Olympic and Paralympic Games. Canadian and Chinese artists were showcased and a Witnessing Ceremony, organized by the Four Host First Nations Society, took place.

Policies, program delivery, and practices

The Canadian Multiculturalism Act acknowledges the diversity of Canadians as a fundamental characteristic of Canadian society and the need to preserve and enhance the multicultural heritage of Canadians while working to achieve equality for all Canadians in economic, social, cultural and political life. Some federal institutions have new policies, programs and practices specific to preserving and enhancing Canadian multiculturalism. Initiatives range from internal practices, such as training, to practices related to their respective mandates. Below is a sample of information provided by federal institutions in this area.

Policies related to multiculturalism
Many federal institutions endeavour to consider diversity and multiculturalism when developing their policies and programs, and have identified progress in this area over the past year.

Several federal institutions adopted new accommodation policies, or revisited their existing accommodation policies in 2007-2008. In December 2007, the Canada Council for the Arts adopted a new accommodation policy, which provides directions and guidelines to ensure reasonable accommodation for employees and job candidates. The policy has been distributed to all employees and information sessions for employees were held. Section 5 of the accommodation policy refers to accommodation for religious beliefs and cultural traditions. During an all staff meeting focusing on the organizational design review, Canada Council employees were given a 2008 multicultural calendar which highlights holidays, festivals and other special dates for a wide range of cultural groups.

In 2007-2008, the Canada Border Services Agency also developed its own Duty to Accommodate Policy to provide guidance on the concept of accommodation in a multicultural work force. One of the key elements of the policy is the idea that accommodation is not just an issue for persons with disabilities, but that it applies to all groups protected under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

In May 2007, the National Capital Commission officially put a Duty to Accommodate policy into place to create a workplace that is inclusive, free of barriers, respectful of differences and free of discrimination, in accordance with the Canadian Human Rights Act.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority developed a new uniform Accommodation Policy and Procedure for Screening Officers who perform front-line screening duties in the airports located across Canada. The objective of this policy is to establish effective mechanisms for responding to individual uniform accommodation requests made by Screening Officers. In this policy, the Authority recognizes the diversity of Screening Officers and is committed to ensuring that all Screening Officers are able to carry out their duties in an inclusive and non-discriminatory environment.

The policy acknowledges the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority’s duty to provide Screening Officers individual uniform accommodations, in addition to the Authority’s responsibility to minimize the need for individual accommodation by ensuring that any rules, policies, standards or practices related to the Authority’s uniform program are not discriminatory. The Authority recognizes that changes to the Screening Officer uniform may be required in certain circumstances and respects the need for accommodation based on, but not limited to, race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, age, sex, or disability.

Programs related to multiculturalism
The Aboriginal Ambassadors in the Natural Sciences and Engineering supplement at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada aims to engage Aboriginal students and fellows in promoting interest and participation in the natural sciences and engineering by visiting Canada’s Aboriginal communities and schools and sharing their research and education experiences or participating in science promotion events and activities. The value of the supplement is up to a maximum of $5,000 and will cover costs associated with the proposed science and engineering promotion activity and Aboriginal community visit. Applications are evaluated based on several criteria including the anticipated value to Aboriginal youth and the Aboriginal community.

Since the launch of the program in April 2008, program staff have been involved in promoting the program at various meetings and conferences. To date, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada has received significant interest in the program from both students and partner organizations. There are approximately 60 potential applicants eligible to apply to the program in 2008-2009.

Arts Presentation Canada at Canadian Heritage gives Canadians direct access to a variety of quality artistic experiences through financial assistance to arts presenters or the organizations that support them. In 2007-2008, 43 recipients, (7.1 percent of Arts Presentation Canada-funded clients) reported that they serve culturally diverse audiences exclusively and 70 percent reported that they serve various audiences. Access to a greater variety of work representing Canada’s demographic makeup is increasing. Of Arts Presentation Canada clients, 70 percent of program artists were from culturally diverse communities in 2007-2008, up from 54 percent in 2002-2003.

The Cultural Capitals of Canada Program of Canadian Heritage promotes arts and culture in Canadian municipalities, recognizing excellence and celebrating arts and culture, integrating them into community planning. The work presented by the City of Nanaimo, British Columbia, a 2008 Cultural Capital of Canada, is exemplary in terms of partnerships with culturally diverse communities, First Nations and artists. The Multicultural Arts Festival helped people explore the culture, traditions, and artistic works of different Aboriginal and ethnocultural communities. A series of concerts, workshops, and competitions were also organized to showcase and celebrate Nanaimo’s rich musical heritage. In addition, the Giving Voice to Our Diverse History project offered two exhibits to mark the opening of the Nanaimo Museum. The exhibits showed the history of some of the region’s key industries, the contribution of immigrants, and the culture and knowledge of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

Status of Women Canada Women’s Program funding is made available to eligible projects that demonstrate the integration of diversity issues and involvement of women of diverse backgrounds. As such, projects are assessed to determine the extent to which they integrate diversity issues and involve women of diverse backgrounds in all aspects of a project. Moreover, Status of Women Canada recognizes the need for strategies that address specifically issues pertaining to women from diverse backgrounds. For example, 28 percent of projects completed in 2007-2008 targeted immigrant and visible minority women while 12 percent targeted Aboriginal women.

Projects were funded by Status of Women Canada to integrate immigrant and visible minority women in decision-making bodies, to address racism and social exclusion, to improve service delivery, to facilitate the integration of immigrant women, and to develop and implement culturally appropriate community-based models that respond to violence against women.

The Canada Council for the Arts, through its Equity Office, entered into a partnership with Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and seven other partners to launch Vivacité Montréal. Delivered by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, this program is intended to fund young immigrant and visible minority artists and writers to enable them to integrate into and participate in the arts community and foster their career development. It also seeks to recognize the contribution that these young professionals make to Montréal’s artistic and cultural life, promote the contribution made by the upcoming generation of professional artists from immigrant or visible minority communities, and make the artists’ work accessible to the public in Montréal.

Given the changing demographics of immigrant and visible minority populations in Montréal, the Canada Council found this partnership to be opportune. While encouraging the growth and integration of these young artists in Montréal, the funds contribute to their professional development and this can lead to greater artistic opportunities such as federal arts funding and regional and national dissemination. In many instances, the grants awarded were the first for many artists who are relatively new to Canada. In addition, these funds will increase the artists’ impact on their community which in turn can elevate their participation, integration and contribution to Canadian society as a whole.

Policies and programs that enhance respect for the diversity of Canadian society and take multiculturalism and diversity into consideration
Many of the 155 films produced or co-produced by the National Film Board (NFB) in 2007-2008 were either made by filmmakers from diverse cultural communities or were about the experiences of members of those communities in Canada and abroad. The National Film Board’s productions won awards related to cultural diversity during the year: Reema, Allers-Retours, directed by Paul Émile d’Entremont and produced by Jacques Turgeon (NFB) received the Golden Sheaf Award in the “Best Multiculturalism” category; and, QALLUNAAT! Why White People Are Funny, directed by Mark Sandiford and coproduced by Kent Martin (NFB) and Mark Sandiford (Beachwalker Films Inc) was the recipient of the Golden Sheaf Award in the “Best Aboriginal” category. Both awards were received during the Short Film and video Festival Yorkton, in May 2007.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada joined the British Columbia Securities Commission to develop, in 2007-2008, The City: A Financial Life Skills Resource. The City is a free Web-based interactive tool designed to help young Canadians acquire strong financial skills. Launched in fall 2008, the resource features an engaging, story-driven approach with a cast of characters, including some from ethnocultural communities, at different stages of life. The plan is to disseminate the youth-oriented resource to educators nationwide.

In Ontario, the Correctional Service of Canada has contracted with the Black Inmates and Friends Assembly to provide a variety of programs to Black inmates and other ethnocultural groups. One of the programs brought together federal offenders with their ethnocultural communities in Ontario in order to assist in their successful reintegration. Specific activities include the provision of training to staff, meetings with ethnocultural groups, establishment of volunteer visiting programs, and the creation of a network of volunteers from the different communities to work with offenders in the community.

The Department of National Defence produced a video, Strength Through Diversity, to generate awareness about the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination — March 21 and promote the importance of eliminating all forms of racial discrimination and embracing diversity. It incites the Defence Team to come together in this commemoration and features inspiring messages from the Defence Champion for Visible Minorities, Lieutenant-General Marc Dumais, and the Director of Diversity and Well-Being, Josée-Ann Paradis.

The Canada School of Public Service has redesigned its Orientation to the Public Service program, which contains a strong focus on diversity training when welcoming new public servants to government. This program provides new public servants with a common understanding of their roles and responsibilities, Parliament and the public service, its culture and values and ethics, including diversity and multiculturalism.

In terms of conditional release programs a number of activities have been implemented within the regional offices of the National Parole Board. This includes the establishment of diversity committees inclusive of staff and Board members, as well as the Manager responsible for Aboriginal and diversity initiatives regionally. Further, the Board has representation on Regional Ethnocultural Advisory committees. These committees are established in partnership with Correctional Service Canada and serve to provide both agencies with suggestions on how to enhance services for offenders and victims from diverse communities. Where possible, regional diversity committees provide opportunities for Board members and staff to share cultural insights in terms of training needs and service delivery.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s policy on self-identification was revised to include the collection of data on ethnocultural groups as part of the visible minorities category. The purpose was to account for ethnocultural differences, in order to better report on multiculturalism in the future. The new self-identification form also includes an optional section inviting respondents to self-identify for inclusion on committees, mentoring programs, succession planning and assessment boards. This is intended to increase diversity in those initiatives. In addition, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada policy now requires acknowledgment of receipt of the self-identification form, to gain a better understanding of the degree of under-reporting.

Telefilm Canada committed through the Canada Feature Film Fund over $2.1 M in support to What’s Cooking?, a project with significant multicultural content. This film deals with the confusion that results when a first generation Canadian accepts a Canadian diplomatic post in the Indian homeland of her parents. The impact of her Canadian culture shapes her reactions to the differences that she finds between her perception of India and the realities she faces.

In 2007-2008, Western Economic Diversification Canada invested an additional $1.3 million in the Women Building Futures Training Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, bringing total federal funding to $2,493,977. The Training Centre supports low-income and Aboriginal women training for careers in the trades. The new Training Centre will enable the Women Building Futures Society to increase the number of students graduating from its 16-week, pre-apprentice training program from 60 to as many as 400 annually. Ninety percent of Women Building Futures graduates find employment in Alberta’s construction and oil and gas trades. Women Building Futures is also retrofitting the top floor of an existing warehouse and adding two additional floors to create 42 affordable housing units for low-income women who want to enroll in its program.

Training on multiculturalism and diversity
During the past year, several federal institutions have provided cultural awareness training to their employees. Prosecutors at the Public Prosecution Service of Canada who practice in the territories benefit from cultural sensitivity training to better understand the communities they serve. Public Prosecution Service of Canada Crown Witness Coordinators, who are members of the local cultural communities, provide invaluable assistance in this area. In 2007-2008, the Yukon Regional Office provided an intensive three-day cultural session where prosecutors spent time on the land and heard from a number of long-time residents who spoke passionately about subjects such as residential school issues, traditional medicines and the challenges faced by Aboriginal justice committees. The session received positive feedback from participants.

The Canada Revenue Agency successfully launched a new electronic learning tool called “Diversity: Our Differences, Our Similarities”, in 2008. This online learning product has been developed for Canada Revenue Agency employees who have face-to-face interactions with internal and/or external clients of the Agency. This product was created to provide employees with awareness, knowledge and strategies on managing diversity. It is meant to either serve as a refresher to any classroom diversity training that Canada Revenue Agency employees may have taken or as a learning product for employees who may be new to the topic of diversity, and would benefit having this information to conduct their job more effectively.

The main goals of this e-learning tool include creating awareness of key concepts related to diversity, providing strategies that Canada Revenue Agency employees can apply, on the job, towards promoting a professional and equitable service to Canada Revenue Agency’s multicultural clientele, and employees, and acting as a vehicle towards creating positive conversations in the workplace about diversity.

Figure 7: Institutions with senior managers responsible for multiculturalism are more likely to deliver multiculturalism and diversity training to employees

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Assisted Housing sector held a training conference in April 2008. Leading up to the conference (during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008) the sector geared up by adding many components that incorporated multiculturalism. The group prepared sessions entitled “First Nations Market Housing Fund”, “Sharing Experiences in Aboriginal Client Relations”, “Assisted Housing Program System Training — Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program On-Reserve”, “Administrative Challenges On-Reserve”, “Comprehensive Community-Based Aboriginal Capacity Development Strategies”, and “Emerging Trends with Indigenous Peoples Internationally”.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Assisted Housing sector also arranged for a representative from the “Les Habitations Jeanne-Mance” Cooperative to speak on how they innovatively manage a social housing complex while being faced with multiple demographic, cultural and urbanistic issues. The purpose was to enhance staff training and create awareness about cultural diversity.

Via Rail held a 1-hour training session to all managers with unionized employees (covering 2600 + employees) on the new duty to accommodate policy. It was explained that religion is one of the grounds of the Canadian Human Rights Act for which the corporation has an obligation to accommodate employees up to undue hardship.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada organized a regional professional development seminar from October 3 to 4, 2007 that focused on cultural competence and language skills which are essential in delivering the Refugee Protection Division’s operations: preparing for hearings, hearing cases, and rendering and/or writing reasons for decisions. The following topics were discussed and presented: history marked by state-sanctioned racism, human rights, discrimination, racism, prejudices, stereotypes, historical injustice, individual and group responsibility, religious disputes, cultural awareness, the challenges of cultural diversity and the importance of listening.

The Department of Citizenship and Immigration’s diversity training program was created in 2007-2008 and consists of four 3.5 hour modules. The fundamental objective of this training program is to increase and strengthen managers’ and employees’ knowledge on the value of diversity. The training program also assists managers and employees in obtaining work abilities and competencies in an environment where diversity is seen as an extremely important value, and facilitates cultural change as it relates to diversity in the Department. Additionally, the program promotes the Department of Citizenship and Immigration as a model of employment equity and diversity and as an attractive employer that provides a positive, integrated and diversified working environment. It presents diversity, in all its forms, as a strategic lever enabling the Department to achieve its mission and mandate and allows managers and employees to see diversity as an advantage that leads to innovative ideas and programs, but also recognize the need to instill in them the necessary competencies.

Only the pilot training has been given in Montréal and Ottawa to about 20 employees and 20 managers in each of these two regions, for a total of about 80 participants all told. Training will begin during the 2008-2009 year.

In 2006-2007, 50 percent of all managers at the Economic Development Agency for the Regions of Québec had received training for Managing a Diversified Team. In 2007-2008, 100 percent of all managers were trained, including staffing advisers. Compulsory training for managers on how to manage a diversified team on the one hand and activities for all staff on the other hand will contribute to increasing knowledge about members of the various cultural groups while helping retain staff from various cultural backgrounds.

To enable employees to better understand and manage conflict situations in the workplace, the Public Service Commission’s Office of Conflict Management developed and delivered, during 2007-2008, workshops on Informal Conflict Management. In developing the workshop, aspects of multiculturalism and diversity were incorporated into the course content as well as the workshop exercises. This was done so as to enhance the employees’ abilities in anticipating and dealing with potential conflict situations involving individuals from different ethnocultural backgrounds.

Employment opportunities

When asked the benefits of having a multicultural work force, a number of federal institutions appreciated the diversity of views and opinions brought forward by employees of different cultural and religious backgrounds and the insight they bring to the decision-making process. Federal institutions also benefit from diverse language skills brought to the workplace, as it meant that service delivery in languages other than English or French was efficient and meaningful to Canadians. For federal institutions that regularly work with different countries, having a multicultural work force allows them to better understand and communicate with international stakeholders.

The Canadian Multiculturalism Act requires federal institutions to ensure that Canadians of all origins have an equal opportunity to obtain employment and advancement in their institutions. Several federal institutions have reported initiatives that seek to increase the number of employees of different backgrounds, and to better support and retain employees of diverse backgrounds.

Equal employment advancement opportunities
Greater access to Public Service jobs increases the opportunities for Canadians, including ethnocultural communities, to work and contribute to Canada’s social and economic development.

On April 2, 2007, further to a 2006 policy change, the Public Service Commission extended the mandatory use of a national area of selection to include officer-level positions open to the public in all regions across Canada. This latest development is an integral part of the Public Service Commission’s phased-in approach to extending the National Area of Selection (NAOS) requirement.

The change in policy means Canadians from across the country have access to an increased number of federal government jobs — those identified as “officer-level”. Officer-level jobs include scientific, professional, administration and technical positions. Examples of these jobs include auditors, commerce officers, and statisticians. Officer-level positions exclude administrative support and operational jobs, such as clerical and trade jobs. Examples of these include secretaries, plumbers and general labourers.

Extending the mandatory use of a National Area of Selection (NAOS) is expected to result in enhanced employment opportunities for members of visible minorities.

The Department of National Defence’s Headstart Program is a departmental funding program that seeks to advance employment opportunities for Aboriginal and visible minority students across the country. The fund consists of $245,000 to assist managers to cover part or all of the salary costs of hiring Aboriginal and visible minority students via the Federal Student Work Experience Program. Students are given an opportunity to acquire career-related experience and at the same time gain exposure to the Department. A bridging mechanism enables managers to appoint qualified students to indeterminate positions after graduation. In 2007-2008, 41 Aboriginal and visible minority students were hired by the Department of National Defence across the country.

The hiring of Aboriginal students under the Headstart Program has had an extremely positive impact. Some of the Aboriginal students hired are working in the Aboriginal Affairs section of a major organization and are able to provide valuable information, contacts and an Aboriginal perspective.

In the first part of 2008, the Canadian Commercial Corporation worked with various community centres such as the Odawa Native Friendship Centre, Minwaashin Lodge and the Immigrant Women Services in order to post job advertisements for their clients to see. The goal of this initiative is to increase the number of women, Aboriginals and visible minorities who are exposed to the Canadian Commercial Corporation and its career opportunities with the end result being more applicants from these groups and potentially more future employees of various backgrounds.

The Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Canada has committed to a Visible Minority Talent Management Program that is specifically tailored to visible minorities at the executive feeder groups. The objective of the program is to recruit, retain and maximize the visible minority talent through internal and external initiatives, which will serve to increase the representation of visible minorities at the executive level in the Department. The long term outcome (2011 and beyond) of this Program is that self-identified visible minorities are representative at all levels of Natural Resources Canada. The Department will achieve this outcome through a combination of internal and external initiatives. They include talent mapping of high potential visible minority employees, coaching and mentoring services, development programs tailored specifically for visible minority, culturally appropriate language training programs, and workshops on preparation for competitions.

Other federal institutions have also developed initiatives to increase the representation of First Nations, Inuit and Métis in the federal Public Service, and have reported results for 2007-2008. In last year’s report the Public Service Commission presented information on a pilot project designed to increase the participation of Aboriginals in the Public Service. In the 2007-2008 fiscal year the Aboriginal Centre of Excellence was quite busy. With the support of staff from Public Service Commission offices across the country, the Centre worked to raise awareness of its activities while also carrying out major recruitment projects.

Since June 2007, the Aboriginal Centre of Excellence worked closely with Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada on a major staffing initiative. This project is part of an effort to evaluate the federal government’s ability to recruit and retain Aboriginal employees. More than 1700 individuals applied for seven different staffing processes. At the same time, the Centre was asked by Indian and Residential Schools Resolution Canada to conduct a post secondary recruitment process targeting Aboriginal candidates only. One hundred candidates were tested and a pool of 37 individuals was created.

At the end of July, the Centre was also asked to assist in the staffing of Racism Prevention Officers for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. Staff provided English and French Aboriginal staff to sit on over 70 interviews across the country.

Supporting and retaining employees
The Ontario Region Diversity Project was created in 2007-2008 at the Canada Revenue Agency to identify any barriers inherent in the recruitment, retention, promotion, training and talent management processes or practices that impact people of diverse backgrounds. The initial phase focuses on visible minorities and Aboriginal Peoples. Focus groups with managers and employees were held to identify priorities and issues. The project has as its initial focus the multicultural demographics within the region, particularly the large population of visible minorities. A key component of the project is diversity education for managers to increase their awareness and effectiveness in accommodating cultural differences. A series of ‘Management Group Fireside Chats” were held between a Senior Management Champion of Diversity and managers at a Regional Management Forum.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s Human Resources Group added a statement in the “Exit Interview Form” to provide employees the opportunity to identify whether their departure was related to issues of culture. The President of the Agency personally reviews all exit interview reports and requests to meet the employee if discrimination is involved.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) reported a student population accounting for approximately 27 students per work term, which is a large number for an organization of their size. In 2007-2008, FINTRAC was able to retain and rehire 17 students from previous work terms, 12 percent of them identified themselves as being part of visible minority groups. During this same year FINTRAC was successful in recruiting 35 new students and 31 percent of these students identified themselves as being part of visible minority groups.

FINTRAC continues to attract a great pool of future candidates representative of the Canadian diversity through their co-op student program. During the fall 2007 work term, 21.4 percent of the student population were from visible minority
groups and this percentage was 28.5 percent
during the winter 2008 work term.

Language and cultural understanding

The Canadian Multiculturalism Act requires federal institutions to make use, as appropriate, of the language skills and cultural understanding of individuals of all origins. During the past year, institutions have undertaken initiatives to incorporate the language skills and cultural insights of their employees to improve policy-making and enhance service delivery, in addition to other initiatives.

In 2007-2008, a delegation from the All China Women’s Federation visited the National Research Council to learn about best practices for encouraging women to enter scientific careers. The delegation was particularly interested in the Council’s policy of promoting flexible work arrangements, and employment programs that encourage women to come to the Council. The visit included presentations by two Chinese women scientists, who spoke about their work at the Council.

The Canada Council for the Arts maintains a list of employees who are fluent in nonofficial-languages. They are called upon to assist clients when needed and often are consulted when applicants are creating work in languages other than French or English. By law, Canada Council is not required to provide materials in non-official-languages, but in an effort to increase access to Canada Council programs and better assess applications, Canada Council has hired peer assessors to assess work in non-official-languages, translated evaluations written in non-official-languages and had specific publications translated into Inuktitut. Specifically, the Dance section hired a Korean speaking assessor to evaluate a performance by a Canadian arts organization specializing in Korean dance.

Approximately 17 percent of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s population is able to communicate in at least one of 56 languages other than French or English. The top 5 languages (in descending order) are Spanish, Italian, Cantonese, Mandarin and German. The Corporation maintains a Corporate-wide Skills Inventory that includes language skills. This inventory allows Business Centres and business lines to track languages spoken by employees within their work forces. Language competency can then be taken into consideration, along with the extent of representation of employment equity groups, by Business Centres and business lines when they are hiring.

Research

Federal institutions were asked to report on research, including statistical gathering relating to Canadian multiculturalism or support provided to research projects to enhance the development of policies, programs and practices that are sensitive and responsive to the multicultural reality of Canada. During the past year, many federal institutions have undertaken research relating to Canadian multiculturalism.

Canadian Heritage provided financial support for various kinds of research activities in the field of religious diversity, linguistic and cultural accommodation, as well as sport, youth, the arts, and ethnocultural publications. In 2007-2008, the Policy Research Group commissioned a background paper titled Religious Pluralism and Public Policy, by Karim Karim and Faiza Hirji to inform a workshop at Metropolis Melbourne, and the Ethnicity and Democratic Governance conferences in October 2007. A third panel was held at the ethnicity and Democratic Governance conferences focusing on Canadian discourses of accommodation.

The Karim and Hirji background paper was subsequently presented at the Canadian Religious Diversity Forum in February 2008. The Forum was followed by a Director General Round Table where the research was discussed with senior management, which identified potential policy and research directions, followed by the circulation of an internal questionnaire asking sectors how religion and religious diversity impact on their work. The focus of the work of Canadian Heritage’s Policy Research Group contributes to an understanding of how government policy can contribute to a society embracing people in all their diversity, including religious diversity, exploring constraints on achieving multicultural inclusiveness. A specific volume (6:1, Winter 2008 edition) of Canadian Diversity, a quarterly publication of the Association for Canadian Studies featured articles on religious diversity and was distributed to all members of the Association of Canadian Studies. The publication of volume 4:1 (Fall 2007) of the Canadian American Research Series was entitled “Religious Diversity in North America: More or Less Accommodating?” and was used at the Canadian American Research Symposium, “Accommodating Religious Diversity in Canada and the United States”, in September of 2007, at Drew University, New Jersey, United States of America.

In January, 2008, the Official Languages Secretariat of Canadian Heritage organized a symposium entitled “Official Languages Research Issues” in Ottawa that dealt with topics related to official languages, including ethnocultural diversity and immigration issues in Canada. The research conference brought together 165 people from universities, communities and the government. A detailed report on the plenary sessions, the workshops and guest speakers’ presentations can be found on the website of the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities.

The Metropolis Project is among the best practices used by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration to further the principles of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act. The project has two main objectives: 1) to build a national and international network of researchers working on migration and diversity, and 2) to ensure knowledge transfer/mobilization of the research to federal policy-makers and other end-users. Most of the activities conducted by Metropolis are supported by a range of federal partners.

During the 2007-2008 period, Metropolis collaborated with a number of partner agencies to organize the Tenth National Metropolis Conference on Expanding the Debate: Multiple Perspectives on immigration to Canada (Halifax, April 3-6, 2007), the Twelfth International Metropolis Conference on Migration, Economic Growth and Social Cohesion (Melbourne, October 8-12, 2007), Metropolis Presents — a half-day public panel discussion on Divided Loyalties? Transnationalism and the Meaning of Citizenship in the 21st Century (Ottawa, December 11, 2007), a Policy Research Seminar on Justice, Policing and Security in a Diverse Canada: Building an Empirical Evidence Base (Ottawa, February 25-26, 2008), and a Policy Research Seminar on Should I Stay or Should I Go? Temporary Migration (Ottawa, March 12, 2008).

In addition to the Working Papers published by the five Centres of Excellence, the Metropolis Project produced the following publications in 2007-2008, many of which were supported by the Multiculturalism Program and included projects funded by the Program:

• Special issues of peer-reviewed journals, including Refuge — Canada’s Periodical on Refugees (Vol.24, No.2, 2007): Informing Integration, and the Journal of International Migration and Integration (Vol.9, No.2, 2008) — Attracting New Arrivals to Smaller Cities and Rural Communities: Findings from Australia, Canada and New Zealand
• Our Diverse Cities (Summer 2007) — Immigration and Diversity in Rural Communities in Canada
• Our Diverse Cities (Spring 2008) — Immigration and Diversity in the Atlantic Region
• Canadian Issues (Spring 2008) — Immigration and Diversity in Francophone Minority Communities
• Canadian Diversity (Spring 2008) — The Experiences of Second Generation Canadians

Copies of these publications can be found at: canada.metropolis.net/publications/index_e.htm

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and other federal departments have renewed their support to the five regional research centres for Phase 3 of the Metropolis Project (2007-2012) and will provide ongoing financial support to stimulate policy-relevant research on immigration issues. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation joined key federal departments as a member of the National Metropolis Committee of primary funders which will provide guidance and feedback to the Project secretariat and the Centres on use of research results and efforts required to assure that research meets federal partners’ requirements. Housing and Neighbourhoods is one of the six renewed Policy-Research Priorities established by the Federal Consortium.

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency supports the Atlantic Metropolis Centre (one of five such centres across Canada that sponsor research into movement of populations to and within Canada) in various ways during the year, including the support for a project to prepare a series of socio-economic and demographic profiles of immigrants in Atlantic Canada. This research is led by Professor Ather Akbari at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, who coordinates a team of researchers at Memorial University of Newfoundland, the University of Prince Edward Island, and the University of New Brunswick.

In 2007-2008, the Advertising Coordination and Partnerships Directorate at Public Works and Government Services Canada improved a reference library which was created in the previous year. The reference library gathers qualitative information on ethnic newspapers in Canada as well as their reach, circulation, audience, etc. This tool will allow Government of Canada employees who are responsible for the planning of advertising campaigns to research ethnic media available throughout the country, providing information such as demography and reach. It will also allow Government of Canada advertisers to better plan their campaigns to communicate to Canadians of all ethnocultural backgrounds.

In 2007, Elections Canada published Working Papers on the Electoral Participation of Aboriginal People and the Electoral Participation of Ethnocultural Communities. These papers analyse the electoral participation literature, review “best practices” in elector outreach, identify areas for further research and make recommendations to improve outreach to these groups. The papers are available on Elections Canada’s website (www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=loi&document=index&dir=res/
paper&lang=e&textonly=false).

The Department of National Defence is undertaking research to examine ways in which the Canadian Forces can become a career of choice for visible minorities. This nation wide research will be completed within the next two years and will reach out to visible minority communities to try to understand their perception and knowledge of the Canadian Forces and to provide information about the benefits of joining. The Canadian Forces has set out on a path to become more diverse not only to be reflective of Canadian society but because it is the right thing to do as an inclusive profession.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada works closely with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to better understand various key social and economic questions. During 2007-2008, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada’s Labour Programme and the Canadian Human Rights Commission answered a questionnaire prepared by the OECD that examined the anti-discrimination legislation in force in Canada, and in other OECD countries. The OECD released “The Price of Prejudice: Labour Market Discrimination on the Grounds of Gender and Ethnicity” in June 2008.

In April 2007, the Social Policy Development Directorate published a report entitled “A Study of Poverty and Working Poverty among Recent Immigrants to Canada” that, using the data from the Survey on Labour and Income Dynamics, attempts to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon of poverty and working poverty among the group of immigrants who arrived in Canada since the early nineties (also called in this study “recent immigrants”).

In 2007-2008, Status of Women Canada worked in collaboration with other departments to develop a framework for a set of indicators that would track the situation and monitor key gaps and progress between women and men. The framework focuses primarily on women’s economic security and personal safety and identifies key cross-cutting issues that need to be included in gender equality indicators, such as race, culture, language, Aboriginal status, immigration status, and visible minority status.

In early 2008, the National Battlefields Commission added a question to the survey sent to all groups on all the animation activities they offer. The purpose of this question is to find out how many representatives from ethnocultural communities participate in their activities and whether their activities allow them to learn more about Canada’s culture and history and better integrate into Canadian society.

Results show that out of 293 groups for the January 1 to March 31, 2008 period, 68 surveys were returned and compiled. Out of 68 groups, 37 groups said that they had ethnocultural representatives, in other words 232 representatives. 51 responses out of 68 indicated that they were satisfied with the National Battlefields Commission’s activities and that the latter helped them learn more about Canada’s culture and history and better integrate into Canadian society.

With funding received from the Department of Canadian Heritage the National Parole Board was able to undertake a study to examine the quality of interpretation services at conditional release hearings.

The findings from this study serve to identify a number of areas requiring attention in both the short and long term. In the short term a handbook for interpreters is being developed to facilitate their understanding of the Board’s hearing process. Another handbook is being developed for Board members and Hearing Officers to increase their skills in conducting interviews and sharing information through the use of an interpreter.

Consultation and collaboration with communities

The Government of Canada promotes the full and equitable participation of individuals and communities of all origins in the continuing evolution and shaping of all aspects of Canadian society and assists them in the elimination of any barriers to participation. In the past year, federal institutions have undertaken several initiatives to improve services for communities. They have consulted, collaborated and partnered with community organizations to promote and deliver federal programs. Federal institutions have also developed practices to enhance contributions from diverse communities.

Improving federal services for communities
The Department of Justice, through the Justice Partnership and Innovation Program (Family Violence Component) worked closely with the Department of Citizenship and Immigration to translate the Justice Canada brochure titled “Abuse is Wrong in Any Language” into 16 languages and assisted the Department of Citizenship and Immigration in the delivery of its Orientation Abroad Program that facilitates the settlement, adaptation and integration of future immigrants. In addition, a children’s booklet, What Happens Next, was illustrated to avoid racial and cultural stereotypes, while allowing children from all racial groups to see themselves reflected in the pictures. The children’s names are also derived from a number of cultures.

The Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation continued its advertising campaign to raise awareness of Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation deposit insurance among select target groups. The campaign included a television commercial that aired in Cantonese, Mandarin, Italian and Punjabi (in addition to English and French). The commercial aired for a period of six weeks (January–February 2008) on TV channels, including ethnic television stations. The print media campaign, in addition to ads in English and French, included ads in Chinese, Italian and Punjabi that appeared in ethnic community newspapers in February and March 2008.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority worked collaboratively with the Vancouver Airport Authority in order to educate certain cultural communities about air travel security regulations. For example, several Chinese media sources located in the Vancouver region were invited to attend a media outreach campaign that focused on educating the public about the different items that are prohibited when travelling on a plane. The event was successful as the story was covered by several different Chinese Media sources.

From a programming perspective, English Television at CBC/Radio-Canada is implementing new communications practices that reflect the needs of new Canadians. Consider ‘Test the Nation’ and ‘Dragon’s Den’ where press releases were translated to Chinese and Punjabi and distributed to third-language media. Or Radio Canadian International’s Web service, ‘RCI viva’, targeting both recent and aspiring immigrants to Canada with services broadcast in not only English and French, but also in Arabic, Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Ukrainian.

Public Works and Government Services Canada provided an information session entitled “Advertising to Ethnic and Aboriginal Audiences” delivered in three sessions to groups of Government of Canada communicators from various departments (60 participants), Canada Revenue Agency (40 participants) and Service Canada (26 participants) for a total of 126 participants. The information sessions provided information from the 2006 Census to depict the changing demographics of Canada and how this applies to advertising.

By providing information on the demographics and media habits of Canada’s population, these articles and sessions help federal employees responsible for advertising activities better understand their audience therefore enabling them to better inform Canadians about their rights or responsibilities, about government policies, programs, services or initiatives, or about dangers or risks to public health, safety or the environment.

Recognizing the diversity of Canada’s population, the Canada Revenue Agency’s website has been redesigned to allow easy reference to important information and publications targeting specific segments of our multicultural society, such as Aboriginals, newcomers to Canada, international students in Canada, seasonal agricultural workers, and non-residents. The Canada Revenue Agency has also developed self study, online educational programs, “Learning About Taxes” and “Responsible Citizenship and Canada’s Tax System”, providing Canada’s diverse population with the means to learn about the history of our tax system and assist the population in becoming more self-sufficient with regard to its tax obligations.

Beginning in February 2008, the Canada Revenue Agency external website featured audiocasts of the Agency’s popular Tax Tips. They produced five 30-second audiocasts as “Tax Tips to Go” offering important information to individuals about Charities, Electronic Services, Children’s Fitness Tax Credit, Benefits Online Application and Service Complaints. The audiocasts were available for listening or download in five languages (English, French, Punjabi, Mandarin and Italian) from the Canada Revenue Agency website.

Promoting federal programs
The Canada Revenue Agency ran a multimedia advertising campaign in February 2008 to improve Canadians’ awareness of the tax relief measures introduced by the Government of Canada and to increase the number of Canadians who file and who receive all the benefits and credits available to them. The print and radio ads were published in Aboriginal and ethnic languages, including Spanish, Italian, Polish, simplified Chinese, Cantonese, Punjabi, Inuktitut, Arabic and Tagalog. In addition, the Agency ran a print campaign in the fall of 2007 to promote tips for safe giving and to direct donors to the Canada Revenue Agency website for further details. The ads ran in ethnic publications, including Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Punjabi.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has continued to promote the successful ‘Be Aware and Declare’ campaign that outlines import restrictions for travellers coming into Canada. This program has been translated into a variety of languages in order to cater to the diverse nature of the Canadian population. These promotional messages were also published in both of Canada’s official languages and were of equal quality. In 2007-2008, new television advertisements were created for the campaign and were shown on channels such as CTV, CBC, the Weather Network, Météo Media, and on several ethnic stations in various languages.

In 2007-2008, Western Economic Diversification Canada launched the Community Economic Diversification Initiative, a two-year, $33 million, federal contribution program aimed at helping to diversify the economic foundation and contribute to the long-term stability of forest dependent communities and First Nations. As part of the implementation plans for this program, a four-pronged Aboriginal engagement strategy was developed. Firstly, the strategy aimed at enhancing First Nations awareness of the Community Economic Diversification Initiative program through community workshops and promotional materials. Secondly, First Nations were provided opportunities to access the program through partnerships, regional networks, and in concert with local Community Futures Development Corporations. Thirdly, the strategy targeted successful First Nations projects by preparing proposal writing workshops in community and establishing a resource path finding document. Finally, Western Economic Diversification Canada has worked to cement relationships and opportunities by stimulating industrial and geographic cluster building in areas such as value-added wood products, bio-fuel production, information technology, and cultural resources management services.

During the 2007-2008 fiscal year Statistics Canada continued to establish and maintain relationships with ethnocultural organizations and ethnic media through various outreach
activities. A project was developed in an effort to measure the impact of ongoing ethnocultural outreach initiatives. Specifically, an effort was made to measure the impact of a basic, straight forward third language communication strategy. In consultation with methodologists using Census Mother Tongue results in Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver, dwellings were selected from clusters with a concentrated population of people whose mother tongue was Cantonese, Mandarin, or Chinese. For the Labour Force Survey collection, numerous interviews were arranged with the Chinese media to promote the Labour Force Survey release on immigrants over several months. The standard introductory letter was translated into Chinese and was mailed to the respondents as well. After participation in the survey, a validation activity took place to determine if the outreach activities in their mother tongue had an impact on their participation in the Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada is in the process of analyzing the results of this project and determining the impact that these activities had on the Labour Force Survey results.

Delivering federal programs to ethnocultural communities
Another aspect of Statistics Canada’s ethnocultural outreach initiatives is to establish and maintain partnerships with ethno-cultural organizations, which play an increasingly important role in Statistics Canada’s data collection efforts. One of their approaches to fostering such partnerships is to help ethnocultural organizations understand the wealth of Statistics Canada data that they could use to better serve their communities and clients. For example, at the invitation of S.U.C.C.E.S.S., an immigrant-serving agency in British Columbia, Statistics Canada did a presentation on “Census of Population and Other Sources of Data on Immigration and Ethnic Diversity”. The two hour presentation was very well received. The 16 participants were asked to fill out a feedback form, and all of them said that their knowledge of Statistics Canada had much improved and that they would use the knowledge they gained in areas such as proposal development and program planning for immigrants.

When it comes to allocating funds to non-profit organizations, to provinces and territories in the area of services and education, and to federal institutions, programs supporting official languages at Canadian Heritage take into account the multicultural reality of Canada’s Francophone and Acadian communities in Canada. The Interdepartmental Partnership with the Official Language Communities has provided financial support for projects submitted by other federal institutions that promote the integration of French-speaking immigrants in minority Francophone communities, including a project from Carrefour d’immigration rurale (in PEI and the Yukon, it was financed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Rural Secretariat) as well as a project submitted by the Regroupement des femmes immigrantes (in Toronto, financed by Status of Women Canada). These two projects support the elimination of barriers that prevent new arrivals from participating in the socio-economic life of their host communities.

The Economic Development Agency for the Regions of Québec’s mission is to promote the long-term economic development of regions in Québec with particular attention paid to those regions where economic growth is weak or regions where there are not enough productive job opportunities. In this context, the Economic Development Agency is targeting the integration of groups who are traditionally or at the present time cut off from economic development, particularly multicultural communities, into existing regional development structures. In this way, the Economic Development Agency wants to increase opportunities for multicultural communities in the various regions of Québec to participate and contribute economically.

The Corporation de développement économique Listuguj-Pointe-à-la-Croix is the result of an agreement signed between the town of Pointe-à-la-Croix (non-Aboriginal communities) and the Listuguj Micmac Band Council (Aboriginal reserve and neighbouring community). The purpose of this agreement is to establish a general relationship framework between the two communities that would promote the mutual exchange of information, dialogue, the conclusion of particular agreements on the various subjects of common interest to the two parties, the elimination of misunderstandings and conflicts or the resolution of these through discussion and the peaceful path of understanding and mutual respect. One of the objectives of the agreement is to promote the economic, social and cultural development of the two communities through partnerships in order to take full advantage of the many spin-offs. The project will implement a common economic development plan for both communities. The project ended on June 30, 2008.

In 2007-2008 Canada Revenue Agency delivered some 3200 sessions open to all Canadians including members of various ethnic and cultural groups on topics ranging from taxation issues for seniors, medical expenses and the disability tax credit, to starting a business and how to remit payroll deductions. In addition, 175 sessions were recorded as targeted to newcomers and 39 events were specifically targeted to Aboriginal individuals, businesses, organizations and bands.

Consulting ethnocultural communities
In keeping with Parks Canada’s priority to promote the commemoration of subjects in Canada’s rich ethnocultural past, the agency continued to consult with ethnocultural communities across Canada including the Black, German and Finnish communities. Through these consultations, Parks Canada is building relationships and addressing the under representation of this part of Canadian history in the government’s commemorative program and seeking to broaden all Canadians’ understanding of the nation’s complex past.

Among other initiatives, Parks Canada has met with interested parties to discuss possible submissions to the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada related to Italian-Canadian history (fall 2007); made a presentation to the National Congress of Chinese Canadians (November 2007); met with the Canada-Hungary Educational Foundation (November 2007) and with members of the Jewish community in Toronto (February 2008). Research has been commissioned on Norwegian block settlements in Saskatchewan and on the multi-ethnic coal mining communities of the Crowsnest Pass in Alberta.

Canadian Heritage regularly consults with ethnocultural communities. In 2007-2008, the Official Languages Secretariat organized several consultation meetings and made sure that the question of ethnocultural diversity was taken into consideration both in how the documents were prepared and where the events were held. In December 2007, and January 2008, in the context of renewing the Federal Action Plan on Official Languages, the Official Languages Secretariat organized Government of Canada consultation meetings on linguistic duality and official languages in 7 Canadian cities. The consultation document noted the importance of ethnocultural diversity in understanding the challenges facing official languages in the country; the first question participants were asked dealt with how to benefit from and face the challenges created by changes to demographics, including diversity. Regions facilitated the inclusion of ethnocultural communities in these federal government consultations on the promotion of linguistic duality and the vitality of the English and French language minority communities. Information gathered during the consultations helped shape the recommendations in Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality 2008-2013: Acting for the Future.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) undertook consultations in 2007-2008 to enhance contributions from diverse communities. CSIS has been in contact with the Sikh community in order to establish a good working understanding of the Service’s requirements as well to better understand this community’s needs from a potential employer’s perspective.

An outreach strategy was developed by the Financial Transactions and Report Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) to communicate the changes related to Bill C-25 that would
affect the Money Services Business.

In order to communicate these changes to the largest Canadian audience possible a series of ads were strategically placed in various ethnic newspapers. The message comprised of inviting individuals to assist the outreach sessions where information would be given and questions could be answered. FINTRAC’s officers, who speak various languages answered questions when possible in the native language of the attendees. For example, some FINTRAC staff in the Vancouver Office regularly answer questions over the phone and in person in Mandarin and Punjabi. Moreover, they also conduct examinations utilizing those language profiles from time to time. This is usually in service of the Money Services Business community who operate exclusively within those cultural enclaves.

The series of 24 outreach sessions were held over the first three weeks of February to present all Money Services Business with their new obligations under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. These sessions took place in 10 major Canadian cities (including two days each in Toronto and Montréal). In each of the cities, FINTRAC made sure that consideration was given to linguistic minorities. In order to ensure outreach to a larger audience, the outreach sessions will be supplemented by additional web-based seminars or “webinars” available in both official languages. Also as part of FINTRAC’s new obligations under Bill C-25, the Communications Directorate ran a series of advertisements in various ethnic newspapers throughout Canada to raise awareness about the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act requirements, and the need for Money Service Business to register with FINTRAC. The ads ran in 19 different language communities in both official languages in order to reach the largest audience possible. FINTRAC is very mindful of Canada’s diversity while implementing and delivering its programs.

With a largely regulatory role, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission works principally with its key stakeholders and partners to protect health, safety, security and the environment, and to meet international obligations. In 2007-2008, the Commission created a new staff position, the Senior Adviser, Aboriginal Consultation and external engagement. The incumbent’s main role is to develop and support the Commission’s Aboriginal Consultation program and provide advice to senior management on matters related to Aboriginal consultation. The Senior Adviser will also develop training sessions on best practices in Aboriginal consultations and external engagement, manage projects relating to Aboriginal consultations and external engagement, and develop and maintain relationships and networks with Aboriginal communities, the private sector, and other federal and provincial departments and agencies. The Commission began the recruiting process for the position in the late 2007-2008 fiscal year and staffed the position in May 2008.

By developing best practices related to Aboriginal consultations, the Commission believes this senior adviser position will enable the Commission to better understand and, where possible, accommodate the needs of Aboriginal communities that may be affected by licensees’ proposed projects.

Enhancing contributions from ethnocultural communities
In the spring of 2007, Canadian Heritage coordinated the development of two themes to promote greater linkages among its activities in China between 2008 and 2010. To ensure maximum alignment with Government of Canada foreign policies, “Diversity and Dialogue” was identified as one of the themes (focus on Canada’s contributions to diverse communities, dialogue among them through media, arts and sport, successfully integrated into the Government of Canada country strategy for China). Portfolio-wide input was then included into the content and themes of the British Columbia-Canada Pavilion in Beijing, shared with Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and the British Columbia Government in fall 2007. Canadian Heritage’s contribution led to a greater visibility of Canada’s diversity in the final themes adopted for the British Columbia-Canada Pavilion. The contribution also created an interest among Canadian Heritage and other government partners to develop programming in China focused on these issues. The following initiatives were identified: a showcase of contemporary Aboriginal films which will highlight the work of young Aboriginal creators in urban spaces; a Canada-China forum of digital heritage; a symposium focused on Canadian literature in which the featured writer, Madeleine Thien, is from a visible minority community.

Helene Klodawsky’s Family Motel, which had its world premiere at Montréal’s World Film Festival before being released in theatres last fall, illustrates the key role the National Film Board has played in forging authentically Canadian alternative drama. The film tells the story of Ayan and her daughters — Somali refugees evicted from their home and forced to live in a motel- combining painstaking research with thoughtful improvised performances. Driven by the remarkable talent of three first-time performers, the films is an artistic breakthrough, relating a vital, uncompromising story, which for ethical reasons could not have been told in purely documentary form. The production team worked with an advisory group representing the Somali-Canadian community in Ottawa headed by the executive Director of Ottawa Community Immigrant Services organization and with a creative consultant.

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