National Settlement Conference 2
(Calgary - October 2-5, 2003)
Strengthening our Settlement Vision
The Small Centre Strategy
The Regional Dispersion & Retention of Immigrants
Preface and Methodology
&
Introduction
Preface and Methodology
Objective
The general objective of the National Settlement Conferences of 2001
and 2003 is to enhance the capacity of the settlement sector (both non-government
organizations and Citizenship and Immigration Canada) to address relevant
policy and program issues.
The particular objective of Working Group #2 has been to explore what
can be done to encourage new immigrants, including refugees, to move to
and stay in “smaller centres”—that is, those other than
Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.[1]
There has been considerable discussion about what is meant by “smaller
centres.” Consensus has agreed that the phrase is not precise. What
is clear is there needs to be an element of self-identification
by those parts or places of Canada that wish to receive more immigrants.
Some entities—such as the entire Province of Manitoba or the City
of Kingston—might consider themselves small, even though other communities
in search of immigrants regard them as large.
Several Jurisdictions
Several jurisdictions are involved in any regional dispersion and retention
strategy. Some aspects come within the purview and the abilities of the
federal government, and some must be dealt with by the self-identifying
part or place (the participating community). Within the participating
community provincial and municipal jurisdictions may play distinct roles.
There may also be roles shared at the local level by school boards, regional
training boards, business associations, and labour, trade and professional
organizations.
Short-term Goal
In preparing for the Second National Settlement Conference (Calgary,
October 2 - 5, 2003), Working Group #2 tried to find creative approaches
to the regional dispersion and retention challenge. As the Calgary conference
will have a policy emphasis, the working group hopes that its interim
work will be sufficiently complete that its circulation prior to, and
presentation in Calgary, could offer information and a perspective for
discussing a challenging and timely theme.
Structure / Strategy
The working group comprised three sub-groups or committees: Employment,
Welcoming Communities, and New Initiatives. There were inevitable topical
overlaps among the sub-groups. Therefore, members kept each other informed
through communication with the working group’s co-chairs, a series
of telephone conferences, extensive use of electronic communication, and
one face-to-face meeting.
The Impact of Events
Since this agenda was set in motion, the topic has moved from the wings
to the centre of the stage. The federal Minister of Citizenship and Immigration,
Hon. Denis Coderre, has spoken about it, the Metropolis Project has focused
on it, and there is even a Web site devoted to it under Metropolis aegis.[2]
Recently published books that have joined issue with current immigration
goals and policies, have caused “regionalization” (a term
introduced to condense the phrases describing the topic) to become an
important subset of the wider debate. There is by no means unanimous agreement
on either goals or tactics. Because of the many and frequent occasions
when the topic has come to the fore, to a considerable degree it has been
a moving target during the working group’s deliberations and the
various drafts that have preceded the final version of this paper.
In October 2002, the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers of
Immigration met in Winnipeg for the first time in 107 years, to discuss
the topic of immigration which is a “shared jurisdiction”
under Canada’s constitution. After the conference, in a joint press
release, the Ministers recognized the importance of a strategy for the
regional dispersion of immigrants to Canada. “[A]ttracting immigrants
to smaller centres....requires flexible approaches that respond to provincial
and territorial priorities. Ministers identified the need to develop broad
principles to guide the implementation of regional strategies. They established
a working group to guide implementation of the strategies.....”[3]
More recently, the 2003 – 2004 federal budget and Immigration Minister
Denis Coderre’s comments stemming from it, has continued to confirm
the government’s commitment to the topic. In its Report on Plans
and Priorities for 2003 –2004 [4]
Citizenship and Immigration Canada affirms “Regional strategies
will be developed in partnership with the provinces, the territories and
their communities to share the benefits of immigration more evenly across
the country.”
This paper is therefore not intended to be prescriptive, but offers its
ideas as a contribution to debate and planning within a relevant and developing
field.
Introduction
This paper challenges the negativity that has been directed at attempts
to advocate for greater regional dispersion of immigrants. Immigrants
have settled successfully in Canada’s small centres for decades.
However, while this practice has been common, it may need further study.
In one of the few recent publications that acknowledges this reality,
a 2002 Citizenship and Immigration Canada publication examined strategies
to achieve a more balanced geographic distribution of immigrants. Perhaps
predictably, it has reached discouraging conclusions.[5]
The report “was commissioned to investigate whether there are reasonable
and viable options for dispersing immigrants beyond the three largest
metropolitan areas.”[6]
The main findings of the report were:
There is little evidence to indicate that programs
encouraging immigrants and refugees to settle in small cities and towns
are likely to be successful, particularly in the long run. This results
from the fact that small cities and rural areas have difficulty meeting
the two fundamental criteria for successful settlement: 1) employment
and education opportunities for an entire household, not just the principal
household maintainer(s) and 2) support services for kin and friendship
networks of local ethnic/immigrant communities.
There is evidence of stronger possibilities for dispersion
to second-tier cities and permanent settlement in locations where a range
of employment and education opportunities are offered and where a significant
immigrant population exists.[7]
This paper also challenges the conventional wisdom that dispersion strategies
should only target “second-tier cities.” It asserts that self-identifying
small centres should be encouraged and helped if they have the interest
and the desire to retain immigrants or attract more immigrants.
Notwithstanding the obvious and documented difficulties, those who have
prepared this paper recognize the intense interest in the topic in many
smaller centres across Canada. They believe efforts must be made to strengthen
Canada in all its regions through a more balanced distribution of immigrants,
and that this is essential to the future of our country. They believe
in a positive, cooperative approach driven by national and regional stakeholders.
They believe that governments at all levels, the settlement sector, and
the participating communities, all have roles to play, and that they can
make a difference. This paper looks at these roles under three main heads:
Employment, Welcoming Communities, and New Initiatives. The ideas offered
are not exhaustive, nor are they appropriate to all situations, but they
represent practical approaches that have worked or could work for communities
of various sizes that want to attract and to retain newcomers.
Finally, in an appendix, this paper offers a framework for a practical
“tool box” of ideas and practices for hands-on guidance of
participating communities. As in any tool box, every tool will not always
be appropriate for every project or situation. But we hope that their
variety will contain elements of guidance for any self-identifying small
centre.
Index
Next...
[1] Reports emanating from the Census
of 2001 chose to characterize the Calgary - Edmonton corridor as a fourth
major population “centre,” although there are communities
like Red Deer within it that see themselves as needing and not receiving
sufficient numbers of newcomers. Back
[2] regionalization@metropolis.net.
Back
[3] Press Release 2002 - 35 Winnipeg, October
16, 2002. Back
[4] http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/20032004/CI-CI/CI-CIr34_e.asp.
Back
[5] Toward a more balanced geographic distribution
of immigrants, http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/Ci51-109-2002E.pdf.
Back
[6] Memorandum 04 03 2002, Ann Ratcliffe,
Director General Strategic Policy, Planning and Research, CIC. Back
[7] Ann Ratcliffe,supra. Back
| 
Multimedia Centre