PART III RESEARCH AND RESEARCH OUTPUTS

CERIS has been a source of funding for research; an academic home for university faculty, community partners and policy makers with shared interests and concerns centred on immigration and settlement; and a catalyst for research and for attracting funding external to the Metropolis budget. The research agenda was initially defined by three research Domains. By the end of the initial funding cycle, these had been expanded to six, including Community, Economics, Education, Health, Housing and Neighbourhoods, and Justice and Law.

In its first year of activities, CERIS elaborated its basic research agenda and consolidated the administrative mechanisms required for effective governance. For CERIS the second year saw an expansion of the research program, a consolidation of effective working relationships with community and government partners, and an expansion of the infrastructure required to support large-scale dissemination of the research findings. The third year of activities was marked by successful efforts to secure additional funds and a subsequent, as well as a dramatic increase in the scope and diversity of CERIS research and dissemination activities. Years four through six were marked by a further expansion of activities, increasing the scope of CERIS’ research agenda, concretizing and deepening inter-centre collaboration within the Metropolis project, and implementing plans for international comparative research.

A. Adjudicated Research and Major Research Initiatives (MRI) Projects

During the first six-year cycle of the Metropolis research project, CERIS used SSHRC research funds to support two types of research. The first was RFP (Request for Proposal) research projects, which were awarded through an annual adjudicated research competition based on themes and priorities determined by the Management Board and shaped by the annual research retreat. The second was Major Research Initiatives (MRI) projects, which received Board approval based on recommendations from a MRI committee. These projects were funded on the basis of several criteria, including:

• addressing a major question, often of national significance;

• having the potential to attract a great many participants not only from CERIS but often from other Metropolis centres;

• having the potential to generate external funding; and, most importantly,

• addressing an issue which policy makers, practitioners, or community partners articulated as a high priority concern, but which had not been addressed by the RFP competitions.

Since the centre’s inception in the fall of 1996, CERIS has provided $910,537.25 in funding to 47 RFPs selected from the annual funding competition and peer-reviewed adjudication process and 4 Major Research Initiatives. The number of projects and total funds awarded in each year were as follows:

· 1996: 12 RFPs amounting to $145,250.00;

· 1997: 11 RFPs amounting to $147,651.00;

· 1998: 9 RFPs and 2 MRIs amounting to $259,282.75;

· 1999: 5 RFPs and 2 MRIs amounting to $170,158.50;

· 2000: 10 RFPs amounting to $188,195.00.

Together these projects involved:

• 135 academics (faculty)

• more than 100 post‑graduate, graduate and undergraduate students working as research assistants
• 47 community‑based researchers and research assistants and

• 96 partnerships with community organizations.

See Appendix I for an overview of CERIS’ entire RFP research portfolio.

B. Major Research Initiatives (MRI)

Thanks to CERIS’ regular consultations with community, municipal, provincial and federal government partners, the centre identified major issues that were not being covered by the RFP process. To address some of these research questions, CERIS evolved a mechanism called Major Research Initiatives (MRI). An MRI working committee co-chaired by CERIS Director, Dr. Morton Beiser and Khan Rahi, current Chair of the PAC, identified projects and topics which called for a greater commitment of time and of resources than the typical RFP. Criteria for recommending a project for MRI funding from CERIS research funds included a) that a project involved a number of centre affiliates in at least one of the CERIS research Domains, b) that it provided an opportunity for comparative research involving other Metropolis centres as well as international partners, c) that it engaged the centre as a whole over an extended period of time, and d) that it had significant potential to attract external funding. After an MRI was approved by the CERIS Board, the Lead Researcher(s) worked in collaboration with the MRI Working Group and CERIS Executive to seek appropriate additional outside funding, and to provide periodic progress reports.

The CERIS Board approved funding for four projects recommended by the MRI committee:

· Integrating Diversity

· The New Canadian Children and Youth Study (NCCYS)

· Immigration and the Toronto Francophone Community

· Changes in the Demographic Composition and Health Status of Immigrant Populations in Toronto’s Inner City: Time Trend Analysis and Innovative Mapping

1. Integrating Diversity

Integrating Diversity, aimed at documenting the Toronto experience, was led by Dr. Michael Lanphier and Dr. Paul Anisef and involved the five CERIS research Domains in existence when the project began. The project received CERIS MRI funding at the beginning as well as additional support from Canadian Heritage, and had significant involvement from CERIS Domain Leaders and other affiliated researchers. This project assesses the process of integration as determined by the type and level of participation in various Domains or areas of activity in the Greater Toronto metropolitan area (GTA). The subject areas or Domains include economy, housing and neighbourhoods, education, health, and community.

This project, further described in Part V, has resulted in a book, World in a City, to be published in 2003 by University of Toronto Press.

2. Newcomer Canadian Children and Youth Study (NCCYS)

The New Canadian Children and Youth Study (NCCYS) began as a CERIS-funded MRI project and has since developed as the first pan-Canadian, collaborative Metropolis research project involving all four centres. Dr. Morton Beiser, Director of the Toronto Centre (CERIS) initiated the project, and is the NCCYS principal investigator. The site co-investigators include Dr. Jacqueline Oxman-Martinez (Montreal); Dr. Linda Ogilvie (Prairies) and Dr. Robert Armstrong (Vancouver). Dr. Laura Simich replaced Dr. Nazilla Khanlou as NCCYS Coordinator.

With new funding resulting from a successful application to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the four Metropolis centres are carrying out the NCCYS, an investigation of the adaptation of more than 4,000 children who came to Canada as immigrants and refugees, or who were born into immigrant or refugee families already living in Canada. The project is described in greater detail in Section III, Part C.

3. Immigration and the Toronto Francophone community

The CERIS MRI project, AImmigration and the Toronto Francophone community,@ was designed to improve our understanding of the situation of recently-arrived Francophones as minorities in Toronto, and of their impact on Francophone support services. Data from the 1991 Census show that these immigrants head towards the eastern half of the province and in particular the municipalities of Ottawa and Carleton, as well as the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). In this research project the focus of attention was on Toronto as a predominantly anglophone urban milieu in which the Francophone sector is witnessing the arrival of increasing numbers of immigrants and refugees (currently 15.6 % of Toronto‑area Francophones).

The ethnographic project had two main components. One aspect focussed on the impact of new Francophone arrivals on community support structures as well as the ways in which these organizations defined themselves as Franco-Ontarian agencies. The research also focussed on the new arrivals and their experiences with the Francophone networks and support services in Toronto (education, health, religion, employment, politics, leisure activities and arts and culture). This second research thrust concentrated on community and health organizations and on the Haitian and Mauritian communities.

The following persons were involved in the research team: the three principal investigators Dr. Adrienne Chambon (Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto) and Dr. Monica Heller and Dr. Normand Labrie (OISE/UT); the postdoctoral researcher Fasal Kanouté; and the research assistants Amal Madibbo (doctoral student and recipient of a 2000-2001 Graduate Assistantship Award, Department of Sociology and Studies in Equity in Education, OISE/UT), John Maury (doctoral student, Department of French Studies, University of Toronto), and Mueni Malubungi (doctoral student and recipient of a 1999-2000 Graduate Assistantship Award, Department of Sociology and Studies in Equity in Education, OISE/UT).

4. Changes in the Demographic Composition and Health Status of Immigrant Populations in Toronto's Inner City: Time Trend Analysis and Innovative Mapping

This research was motivated by a number of concerns. Immigrants often face language, cultural, and discriminatory barriers when accessing heath care and these problems may have been exacerbated by shifts in social and health policy in the mid and late 1990's. Reduced resources for immigrants on welfare, reduced access to social service agencies, reduced availability of public health services, a moratorium on new construction of public housing, and hospital closures and takeovers could have resulted in adverse impacts on access to and appropriate use of health care services.

This study explored the risk of hospitalization in high recent-immigration areas in Toronto compared to other Toronto neighbourhoods. The study used 1996 hospitalization and census data. Regression was used to examine the effects of recent immigration on hospitalization. Average household income was almost 60% lower ($36,122) in the highest versus the lowest immigration areas ($82,641). Most hospitalization categories showed significantly higher rates of admission as the proportion of recent immigrants increased. Income was significantly associated with all categories of hospitalization except surgical admissions. Higher recent-immigration areas exhibited higher risks for hospitalizations in contrast to the “healthy migrant effect.” These findings have important implications for health care planning, delivery, and policy.

This project was carried out as part of the work of the Inner City Toronto Time Trends Working Group. Group members include: Mohammad M. Agha, Eleanor Boyle, Maria I. Creatore, Yu Ding, Richard H. Glazier, Piotr Gozdyra, Stephen Hwang, Flora Matheson, Anne Rhodes, and Leah S. Steele (Inner City Health Research Unit, St. Michael’s Hospital); Elizabeth M. Badley (Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto); Rahim Moineddin (Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto); Dianne Patychuk (Toronto Public Health); and Lorraine Purdon (Southeast Toronto Project).

In addition to the Major Research Initiative Grant the project was supported by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, and by St. Michael’s Hospital Inner City Health Research Unit.

C. Externally Funded Research Projects

As CERIS activities developed over the past years, so has the scope of externally-funded research and dissemination projects. Researchers affiliated with CERIS attracted more than 12 million dollars in external research funding between 19926 and 2002. Below are some key projects. Please see Appendix II for a complete list.

1. The New Canadian Children and Youth Study (NCCYS): A National Multi-Centre Metropolis Study

We Canadians find our multiculturalism a source of pride: we were, after all, the first nation in the world to enact a multiculturalism law, and internal national struggles to achieve equity have not erupted into the violence and chaos that have troubled many other countries. Achievement has, however, failed to keep pace with nationalist rhetoric, a fact that is nowhere more apparent than in health research. The National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth (NLSCY), conceived and carried out by the federal Department of Human Resources, together with Statistics Canada, is one example. The NLSCY inception cohort -- 25,000 children aged 11 and younger -- is purportedly a representative sample of Canadian children. However, despite its many excellences, despite its scientific and policy importance, despite its innovativeness in both scope and method, the NLSCY sample’s under-representation of immigrant and refugee children compromises the validity of any claims to representativeness. Almost 20 percent of children currently living in Canada were either born outside the country or were born to immigrant families; however, the NLSCY sample of 25,000 contains only about 600 immigrant or refugee children, or 2.4% rather than 20%.

If it were the case that whatever is found about the health and development of native-born children also applies to their immigrant and refugee counterparts, the latter’s under-representation might be justifiable. There are, of course, difficulties in identifying and recruiting immigrant samples as well as the not-inconsiderable expense of translating study instruments, all of which militate against including them in surveys. However, a recent publication (Beiser and Hou, 2001) using NLSCY data reveals the perils of extrapolating results based on native-born children to other populations. The analyses focussed on comparisons in mental health between children living with native-born parents and their counterparts living in foreign-born families as well as on the mental health effects of poverty in both NLSCY sub-samples.

The NLSCY data revealed some grim facts. At the time the NLSCY began, 13 per cent of all families in Canada were living in severe poverty. For immigrant families resident in Canada less than 10 years, the situation was even worse: 33 percent were living well below the officially defined poverty line. Since poverty is one of the most powerful risk factors for children’s mental health, it would be logical to predict higher rates of mental and behavioural problems among immigrant children than in the national comparative sample. The results, however, reveal a curious and potentially important paradox: although immigrant children were almost three times more likely to live in poverty than their non-immigrant counterparts, they had fewer mental health and/or behavioural problems. These and other investigative threads emanating from the NLSCY data set pointed to the need for a study focussed on the health and developmental effects of uprooting and resettlement.

Initiated at CERIS under the leadership of CERIS Director, Dr. Morton Beiser, the NCCYS focusses on immigrant and refugee children living in 16 different immigrant and refugee communities in 6 Canadian cities: Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. It unites 40 academic researchers associated with the Health Domains of the four Metropolis Centres in a study of the strengths of immigrant and refugee families and communities as well as the developmental challenges that may be more or less specific to immigrant and refugee children (for example, the experience of discrimination), as well as those which affect all youth but which are amplified as a result of the resettlement experience (for example, identity formation, which is complicated by the competing pulls of the heritage and the majority Canadian culture). The NCCYS team, which is drawn from all four Metropolis Centres, received preliminary funding from the respective Metropolis centres as well as additional funding from Health Canada, Canadian Heritage, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the FRSQ in Quebec, the Alberta Foundation for Mental Health Research, and the BC Government, which provided support for preliminary studies. Following on the preliminary studies, the Metropolis team of health researchers submitted a successful proposal to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for 2.4 million dollars for a two-wave study. Dr. Morton Beiser is the over-all project Principal Investigator.

The project would not have been possible had there been no Health Domains in the four Metropolis centres. Data gathering is currently underway for the first wave of the NCCYS study. Workshop presentations at the Metropolis meeting in Edmonton in March of 2003 dealt with a number of issues, including: managing publication and data ownership in a multi-site, multi-disciplinary project; methodologies to ensure appropriate questionnaire translations; and sampling in “hard to find” communities. At CERIS, the project has not only been a magnet for participation, but it has stimulated the careers of junior scholars and students who might not otherwise have become involved in immigration-related research. The existence of a Health Domain at CERIS stimulated some or all of these people to become involved in immigration-related research, and the existence of a community of researchers with shared interests, and modest resources from CERIS in support of activities related to these interests, continues to nurture their interest in the field.

2. Settlement Needs of Newcomer Youth and Families

CERIS Associate Directors Dr. Paul Anisef (York University) and Dr. Kenise Murphy Kilbride (Ryerson University) have been involved in several research projects related to the settlement needs of immigrant families and youth. All of these projects were funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ontario Administration for the Settlement and Integration Services (OASIS), with reports available online at <settlement.org>.

The project Newcomer Youth Needs in Ontario (NYNO) became a collaboration of six settlement service and research groups in Ontario, resulting in the report “Between Two Worlds: The Experiences and Concerns of Immigrant Youth in Ontario” and will shortly be released as Managing Two Worlds by Canadian Scholars Press. The study on Newcomer Youth at Risk (NYAR) included the following partners: COSTI, the Centre of Quality Service Research at Ryerson University, the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University, and the Toronto District School Board.

The Parenting Issues of Newcomer Families in Ontario study examined the issues and concerns of new immigrant families in a large, medium-sized, and small urban areas in Ontario: Toronto, Ottawa, and Kitchener-Waterloo. This was a collaborative project by the Centre for Research and Education in Human Services (CREHS) in Kitchener and CERIS, with Joanna Ochocka and Rich Janzen (CREHS) as well as Drs. Anisef and Kilbride (CERIS) as the researchers. Community partners on the project were the Multicultural History Society of Ontario, who conducted the key informant interviews, and OCASI, who recruited, organized, and facilitated focus groups and individual interviews.

3. Experience of Sponsors of Kosovar Refugees in Ontario

Early in 2001, a group of researchers from CERIS and the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS) at York University, including Dr. Morton Beiser and Dr. Paul Anisef (CERIS) and Dr. Larry Lam (CRS), began work on a project analyzing the responses of sponsors of Kosovar refugees to a questionnaire administered by CIC-OASIS. The goal of this study was to collate data collected in the questionnaires and provide a written analysis of the findings. The results will assist CIC to determine how well the Kosovar refugees are settling in Ontario, their participation in various aspects of Canadian society, how well the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) worked for them, and what program lessons have been learned. The project is now complete and the report available at <settlement.org>.

4. “Multicultural Meanings of Social Support”

“Multicultural Meanings of Social Support” is an ongoing pan-Canadian, tri-city project located in Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver. The principal investigator is Professor Miriam Stewart from the University of Alberta; Dr. Morton Beiser, CERIS, and Professor Joan Anderson, UBC are co‑investigators. The funder is Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Global migration, the search for refugee, and resettlement are phenomena of this century, and will continue into the next. Social support is a key determinant of health, health behaviour, use of health-related services, and a resource for coping with stress (e.g., immigration, resettlement). Although there is emerging evidence that types, sources, and appraisal of social support may differ cross-culturally, and that social support has benefits for immigrants and refugees in Canada, the complexity of social support, support-seeking behaviours, appraisal of support received, and mechanisms by which support works for different individuals/groups of immigrants and refugees, have been overlooked until now. Furthermore, immigrants' and refugees' perceptions of their support needs, and of programs and policies that strengthen support have not been solicited. There is a gap in our understanding of the specific meanings of social support for immigrants and refugees in Canada; the perceived impact of support on their health, health behaviour, and use of health services; their use of support seeking as a coping strategy; and their preferred mechanisms for strengthening support through programs and policies. Moreover, the perspectives of service deliverers and policy makers regarding the types of formal supports offered to immigrants and refugees and requisite changes to programs and policies is critical.

In Toronto, the CERIS PAC and many others working in community-based organizations have been extremely helpful in this project. The data collected are essential to ensure the relevance and appropriateness of programs, services and policies for recent immigrants/refugees and those with longer-term residence. Accordingly, these research results of this project will be significant for consumer organizations, multicultural groups, non-government organizations, government-supported services and policy makers, and service providers in health and health-related sectors (e.g., social services, education, justice, and employment). A research report is currently in preparation.

5. Communities in Distress

The Communities in Distress study, an epidemiological investigation of mental health among the Tamil community in Toronto is headed by Dr. Morton Beiser, CERIS Director, and principal investigator. This is a joint project involving the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Family Services Association of Toronto (FSA), and the Tamil Advisory Council as well as CERIS.

The aim of the present project includes:

· conducting a survey of the prevalence of mental health problems among adult Tamils in Toronto, with a focus on depression, suicidal ideas and impulses, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder;

· Identifying determinants of disorder as well as of positive mental health;

· Identifying patterns of help-care seeking, perceptions of the formal health care system and barriers both to access and to equitable care;

· Documenting the use of settlement programs and the possible role of these programs in promoting mental well-being.

The insights gained through research will be used to initiate action to develop and promote accessible and culturally sensitive services and also to create a better informed community.

Dr. Morton Beiser is the Prinicipal Investigator of the project. Dr. Laura Simich and Dr. Joanna (Anneke) Rummens are the Research Scientists associated with the project. Nalini Pandalangat is the Research Coordinator and Abimanyu Singam is the Research Analyst with the project.

Dr. Beiser is also the principal investigator for a study of resettlement stress as a potential risk factor for the occurrence of tuberculosis among immigrants and refugees. Both the Tamil and the tuberculosis studies are funded by Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR).

6. Canadian Identities Database

The Canadian Identities Database (CID) is an interdisciplinary electronic reference database of English-language Canadian research on identity. It focuses on the major socio-cultural identities deemed relevant in the Canadian context, and includes aboriginal, ethnic, national, linguistic, regional, racial and religious identifications. The database contains complete references and abstracts for journal articles, books, reports, theses, videos, governmental documents, web-site materials, unpublished manuscripts, recent graduate work and research project reports from a wide array of disciplines and fields of study including anthropology, education, geography, history, literature, psychology, sociology, political science, as well as ethnic, native and women’s studies. The CID was developed to facilitate access to a highly specialized research literature to guide policy decisions and support future research initiatives.

The Canadian Identities Database is a designated University of Toronto Invention. In April 2001 it was made available in electronic format to the Department of Canadian Heritage where it is used by policy makers and analysts. The Principal Investigator for the CID project is Dr. Joanna (Anneke) Rummens.

7. Health Access and Equity

Under the direction of Dr. Morton Beiser, CERIS Director, and Ms. Wendy Kwong, CERIS PAC Executive member, Ms. Doris Rajan completed a report on access and equity in health care in the GTA. The project included a review of access and equity as reported in a study conducted by the Social Planning Council of Toronto a decade ago, two case studies of programs which seem to illustrate significant attempts to ensure access and equity in health care, and conducting focus groups with consumers, main-stream health care providers and providers from ethnocultural agencies. The project was carried out on a contractual basis with the regional office of Health Canada.

8. Review of the Health of Immigrant and Refugee Children in Canada.

Under the direction of Dr. Morton Beiser, CERIS Director, Ms. Angela Shik and Ms. Monica Curyk completed a review of the health status and the determinants of health among immigrant and refugee children in Canada. This valuable review, contracted by the federal office of Health Canada, supplies background framework for the New Canadian Children and Youth Study (NCCYS).

D. Research Publications

An initial list of research publications resulting in whole or in part as a result of the existence of CERIS has been appended (see Appendix III-A). For a more complete overview of the various forms and means of research dissemination employed by CERIS to communicate its researchers' research results please refer to Communication, Outreach and Dissemination section of Part IV ‑ Research Management and Communications. For a complete list of dissemination activities see Appendix III A & B.

PART IV TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS

Training the next generation of researchers (through opportunities for students) is integral to CERIS mandate. Projects funded through the RFP process have involved undergraduate, graduate or post-graduate students as team members or research assistants. In its original proposal, CERIS committed itself to provide at least seventy percent of its funding to student research assistants and ten percent to community research assistants. These targets have been met or exceeded for all three years of adjudicated (RFP) research projects and will continue to be respected in future awards. The specific roles of students in RFP projects, and the training opportunities presented to them, are discussed in the project reports (posted on the CERIS Website).

With the continuing expansion of the scope and variety of CERIS’ research program and dissemination activities, other training opportunities have developed at CERIS. Throughout the past six years, students have also been involved in CERIS as volunteers, interns and part-time staff working on dissemination activities. This involvement promotes skill development in diverse areas such as project management, media relations, fundraising, conference logistics, seminar organizing and much more. Several students involved with CERIS as interns and contract workers have already gone on to full-time employment in areas involving immigration research.

Some examples of student involvement include:

· a number of doctoral fellows, postgraduate and graduate students wrote literature reviews to help prepare the CERIS submission to the first stage of the Immigration Legislative Review;

· placement students from the Department of Urban Studies at York University worked on the CERIS Resource Centre, MetaDatabase project and Website development along with two masters students and a doctoral student from the three partner universities;

· the CERIS-PAC Training Project was coordinated by an OISE / University of Toronto doctoral student, and the pilot stage research of the NCCYS was carried out by a post-doctoral student from the University of Toronto;

· each year, one graduate students has been assigned to CERIS-York. These students have participated in various projects.

Facilitating access to Metropolis license immigration data has also provided opportunities for researchers to learn and to share skills. The University of Toronto data librarian has provided training to the data librarian at Ryerson and York, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada has provided training on the Metadatabase to Dr. Shuguang Wang of Ryerson University, Chair of the CERIS Data Committee, who has provided several well-attended workshops to pass these skills on to other CERIS researchers.

Considerable outreach to graduate students has been undertaken at both the University of Toronto and York University through seminars and brown bag discussions. About 85 per cent of the users of the Resource Centre are graduate students -- approximately 100 students each year.

During the last year of the first six-year cycle we engaged two graduate students to assist us with evaluating CERIS’ work and preparing for the future: Denise Tom-Kun prepared the report ANew Directions: Graduate Student Involvement at CERIS@ and Elke Winter the report AAcademic Research and Public Policy Impact: The Programme and Policy Relevance of CERIS Products@. During this last year as well two CERIS-affiliated graduate students, Elke Winter and Amal Madibbo, entered into an exchange program hosted by Immigration et Métropoles in Montreal.

Affiliation with CERIS is open to students and community partners as well as academic researchers specialising in immigration issues. See Appendix III for the categories of affiliation and the list of affiliates.

Master of Arts in Immigration and Settlement Studies at Ryerson University

Another initiative that has flowed directly out of the work of CERIS and the research arising in its various Domains, which will not only enhance immigration and settlement research but particularly graduate student development, is a Master of Arts Degree in Immigration and Settlement Studies at Ryerson University. Led by Dr. Kenise Murphy Kilbride, CERIS Associate Director, and subsequently by Dr. Myer Siemiatycki, CERIS Community Research Domain Leader, this program is currently in its final stages of the approval process at the Ontario Council of Graduate Studies. This M.A. is set to begin in the 2004-2005 academic year and will accept 25 to 30 full- and part-time graduate students annually.

This program will focus on the consequences and opportunities arising from transnational human mobility as it relates to Canada. Given the importance of immigration to Canada, it is surprising that there is no single or multi-disciplinary graduate program in the country that centres on the socio-demographic, historical, cultural, political, economic, and public policy (or legislative) issues that arise from this aspect of demographic change.

This degree in immigration and settlement is, in the Ontario Council of Graduate Studies terms, a single-field program. The field involves: research and public policy analysis about the challenges and opportunities arising from immigration in Canada, as well as those related to successful settlement, particularly as these occur in metropolitan areas, and comparative studies of the ways in which the consequences of transnational human mobility are addressed in public and private sectors around the world. The program will be offered to students who may be interested in research and perhaps contemplating doctoral activity in the field as well as those likely to engage directly in professional work with immigrants, refugees, and ethnic communities settling in Canada.

Among the innovative features of the proposed MA program in Immigration and Settlement Studies are: 1) as stated above, it will be the only graduate program in the country that focuses solely on the consequences and opportunities arising from transnational human mobility as it relates to Canada; 2) students will undertake a practicum in policy or service-oriented field placements; and 3) graduate students will have an opportunity to interact with other researchers in the Metropolis Project through CERIS.

The multi-disciplinary nature of the field is reflected in the wide range of disciplinary ‘homes’ of the participants in the program. The twenty-five faculty members represent twelve departments in four faculties – the Faculty of Communication and Design, the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Business, and the Faculty of Community Services. Of these faculty members, over half have held CERIS research awards or have been otherwise formally attached to the Centre. It is fair to say that the immigration-based research agenda at Ryerson University was very much a product of the establishment of CERIS. Prior to the existence of CERIS most of the Ryerson-based researchers associated with this degree had limited experience in immigration research questions. Immigration and settlement has in fact become one of the central research themes of Ryerson University, as it has moved from polytechnic to university status at the same time as the Metropolis Project was encouraging university-based research. The pan-Canadian orientation of the degree matches well with the research focus of Phase II of Metropolis and will open up significant opportunities for pan-Canadian immigration research and graduate student training.

PART V DISSEMINATION

The methods of dissemination at CERIS have grown steadily in scope and sophistication over the past six years, and provided wide accessibility to the Centre’s research products. Considerable effort as well has been devoted to publicizing the research initiatives and research results of academic, government and community colleagues both inside and outside of the Metropolis network, and to developing active external liaison. This diversity of modes of communication reflects the Centre’s commitment to reach beyond the traditional scholarly community to encompass the interests and involvement of other relevant groups.

CERIS has had several guiding principles for dissemination:

1) Research findings will be circulated as broadly as possible, to the multiple audiences who may benefit from and contribute to them. Dissemination methods have been designed to include immigrant communities, ethno-specific agencies, multi-service organizations, policy-makers and policy networks, practitioners, other interested groups and concerned citizens, in addition to researchers and students both within and outside of Canadian universities

2) Dissemination strategies were designed in consultation with researchers, community partners and other interested parties to ensure that they are appropriate for effectively communicating research findings to the varied audiences mentioned above.

3) CERIS has ensured reciprocity between dissemination of research findings and community input. Reaction from the community to the initial dissemination of findings, particularly through the annual conferences and PAC have been used to help shape subsequent rounds of research activities and the way they were circulated. This approach necessitates that research and its communication be interactive processes: research is not something that is conducted and then communicated downward by “experts,” but rather involves an engagement in which all research activities are informed by, and shaped through the researchers’ interaction with practitioners and communities on an on-going basis. Similarly, dissemination itself must be interactive, eliciting wide-ranging reaction and response to research findings.

4) Given that the research agenda of CERIS is of an applied nature, the presentation of research findings emphasizes their practical utility and policy relevance.

5) The dissemination of findings in all forms acknowledges the contribution of all those involved in the research: academics, community partners and practitioners.

These guiding principles are reflected in Strangers Becoming Us, both the radio and school versions, each of which involved researchers, community participants and policy experts.

The Centre attracted almost 3 million dollars in external funding to support its dissemination activities. Over the past six years, CERIS’ dissemination activities have included:

A. Web site

An important aspect of CERIS dissemination activities has been the continued development of the CERIS Website and Virtual Library, with funding support from both Canadian Heritage and Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ontario Administration of Settlement and Integration Services (OASIS). Among the special features of the website are the CERIS MetaDatabase or database of immigration-related databases, and the large number of both academic and community-based research papers available for downloading from the Virtual Library. The provision of basic information and access points for various CERIS committees and working groups and the updating on special events has also developed as an important and cost-effective use of the website.

The CERIS Website is linked to the sites of the other Metropolis centres, the Ottawa and international Metropolis sites, and the special website hosted by the University of Toronto Data Library for Metropolis license data products. The CERIS Website also includes hot links with a large number of academic, government and community partners involved in immigration research across Canada and internationally, including federal funding partners in the Metropolis project. It also contains a section on research on access to trades and professions, co-hosted with the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship.

In 2000 the Online Content Enhancement Project (OCEP), funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ontario Administration for Settlement and Integration Services (OASIS), was completed. In collaboration with the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS),York University and CIC, OASIS, and under the leadership of CERIS Administrative Coordinator Ted Richmond, CERIS digitalized and posted a large selection of historical immigration research documents. Selection of documents from the library collections of the three partners was based on their historical and contemporary significance, as well as their previously limited circulation.

B. Resource Centre

The CERIS Resource Centre was created with a collection of valuable immigration research documents, some of which are unique. The collection includes “grey literature,” such as unindexed publications and a large number of unpublished community needs assessments related to settlement and equity issues, documents produced by CERIS researchers and Metropolis Project affiliates, and donations from publishers and partners.

With funding support from Canadian Heritage, over the past years CERIS has considerably developed the resources available through the Resource Centre. Among the developments have been the expansion of CERIS’ program of acquiring and cataloguing limited and out-of-circulation community needs assessments, and the development of the CERIS MetaDatabase or searchable database of immigration-related databases for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

About eighty-five percent of the visitors to the Resource Centre are graduate students, with the remainder composed of undergraduates, media professionals, foreign scholars and academic researchers.

C. Data Access and Dissemination

One of the important components of the Metropolis Project during its first six-year cycle has been the efforts of Statistics Canada and other federal partners to make available to Metropolis researchers a significant amount of custom immigration data (Metropolis license data).

In Toronto, the process of promoting this data and supervising access has been managed by the Data Committee and its Chair, with staff assistance. Members of the Data Committee have also been active in the affairs of the National Data Committee, in developing information and training sessions in Toronto to encourage use of these invaluable data resources, and in planning the development of an online atlas using Metropolis license data.

D. Publications

1. CERIS Newsletter and Monthly Bulletin

CERIS produced a quarterly newsletter from 1997 to 2001 after which time it switched to a more cost-effective electronic format. With a circulation of approximately 1,000, the monthly electronic bulletin keeps us in contact with a wide range of persons interested in immigration research including many international colleagues.

2. Working Papers Series

The CERIS Working Paper Series offers researchers a more immediate means of communicating their research findings with an interested audience. Fifteen Working Papers were published during the first cycle. The Working Papers were distributed to a selected mailing list, posted for downloading on the Virtual Library, and made available for ordering of paper copies on a cost-recovery basis. CERIS at Ryerson takes responsibility for the series. See Appendix III A for a complete list of working papers.

3. World in A City

Co-edited by Dr. Paul Anisef and Dr. Michael Lanphier, World in a City will be published by the University of Toronto Press in 2003. A truly collaborative effort, World in a City involved 15 scholars drawn from all of CERIS’s Domains and from each of its three founding universities, a scholar from Memorial University in Newfoundland, and another from the University of Akron in Ohio, one research fellow, two federal government partners, and two community-based researchers. The authors represent such diverse fields as sociology, education, health, geography, politics and public administration, history, public policy, and community-based service. World in a City began with a Major Research Initiative (MRI) grant from CERIS of $20,000, and then received a grant of $58,000 from Canadian Heritage. Funding enabled the authors for the chapters making up World in a City to hire 5 or 6 graduate students to assist them in reviewing pertinent literature, and in conducting new analyses on public use and other data sets.

World in a City explores challenges relating to the accommodation of immigrants in Toronto with respect to health, education, housing, employment and community, and to the capacity of Toronto to sustain a civic society. The book offers a template for comparative studies of cities both within Canada and across countries.

4. Managing Two Worlds

Co-edited by Dr. Paul Anisef and Dr. Kenise Murphy Kilbride, Managing Two Worlds is based on an extensive and collaborative research effort and will be published by Canadian Scholars’ Press in 2003. It features findings from particular ethno-racial groups in Ontario, highlighting family life, social relations, citizenship, education and employment. It also includes comparisons of immigrant and refugee youth from different countries of origin. In the introductory and concluding chapters, Anisef and Kilbride provide an overview of current research on immigrant youth settlement, as well as an integrated summary of research findings and perspectives for future investigation.

This original work provides a much-needed reference on the settlement experience of immigrant youth, and will be of interest to those concerned with immigrant and refugee rights, education,
multiculturalism, citizenship, and youth and social inclusion.

5. Ethno-Racial Inequality in the City of Toronto: An Analysis of the 1996 Census

In March 2000, the City of Toronto published a report based on the results of a CERIS-supported research project on ethno-racial inequality in the city conducted by Dr. Michael Ornstein, Director of the Institute for Social Research, York University. The research report “Ethno-Racial Inequality in the City of Toronto: An Analysis of the 1996 Census” had a distribution of more than 1,000 copies within the first few months of its release, and generated considerable media attention both domestically and internationally. A coalition of more than 40 NGO’s involved in ethnoracial service provision led by the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) organized a press conference and public meeting to discuss the policy implications of the report.

6. Traditional Scholarly Journals

CERIS members also publish in traditional scholarly journals. See Appendix III A for a partial list of publications.

E. Oral Dissemination

1. Seminar Series

The Monthly Research Seminar Series which brings together university‑based researchers, community and government partners to listen to CERIS‑funded researchers, visiting scholars, and guest speakers, and to discuss policy and programmatic implications of CERIS’ ongoing research. See Appendix IIIB for a complete list of CERIS seminars.

2. Conferences and Presentations

CERIS affiliate and Data Committee member, Dr. Eric Fong was the organizer of a conference on Comparative Perspectives on the Chinese Ethnic Economy at the University of Toronto in September, 2000. Participants included a number of CERIS-affiliated researchers as well as colleagues from the Metropolis network across Canada. The conference provided researchers with a much‑needed opportunity to start developing work in this area in Canada. Prior to the conference Dr. Fong was invited to be the editor of a special issue of Asian and Pacific Migration Journal dedicated to the Chinese ethnic economy. Dr. Fong is a member of the CERIS Data Committee.

In October 2000, Tim Rees (City of Toronto) and Ted Richmond (CERIS) organized a panel discussion on AModels of Settlement Services@ for the annual Professional Development Conference of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI). The workshop was well-attended and presentations from the session were later posted to the internet site for Ontario settlement workers, generating a lot of interest.

Also in October, CERIS hosted a two-day Workshop on Globalization and Social Cohesion, organized by Dr. Valerie Preston of York University and Dr. Audrey Kobayashi of Queen=s University. The workshop brought together scholars concerned with the question of social cohesion from across Canada. CERIS staff assisted with the organization and logistics of the workshop.

Please see Appendix II B for a full listing of conference participation by CERIS affiliates during the past six years.

F. Pedagogical Dissemination

1. EMPIRICAL

EMPIRICAL (Educational Media Partnership on Immigration and Refugee Issues for Computer Assisted Learning), a package of eleven undergraduate computer-assisted courses about immigration and settlement, has been developed by Dr. Raymond Breton and a team of academics he recruited for CERIS under a contract with the Ontario Administration of Settlement and Integration Services (OASIS), the regional settlement arm of CIC. Each course is devoted to a specific topic and is designed to be stand-alone. Taken together, the package could constitute an undergraduate major in immigration studies. The courses are flexible, media-rich packages utilizing the most advanced forms of computer-assisted learning including chat rooms, instructor assignments and Internet linkages to relevant web-based materials. The courses will be released in 2003. Dr. Morton Beiser, CERIS Director, was the Principal Investigator for the creation of the courses.

2. Strangers Becoming Us

Strangers Becoming Us began as a 12-part radio series on immigration and settlement, conceived, written and narrated by Dr. Morton Beiser, CERIS Director. Throughout the year 1999, the series was broadcast on several occasions by CJRT public radio in Ontario as well as on public radio in Alberta. Following the success of the radio series, Dr. Beiser was approached with the idea of developing an educational program for Canadian schools. In this new evolution, Strangers Becoming Us became a resource kit consisting of a CD and associated teaching materials, was developed by CERIS in partnership with “Classroom Connections,” a Toronto-based organization specializing in the development and dissemination of educational materials for Canadian schools. Again, the project was conceived of, written and directed by Dr. Morton Beiser. Following the distribution of Strangers Becoming Us to all public elementary schools in Canada in the fall of 2000, CERIS was asked to produce another version of the educational package, this time for high schools. This was completed and the high school version was distributed by CIC and Classroom Connections to all public high schools across Canada in the spring of 2001. Following the events of September 11, 2001, CIC distributed Strangers Becoming Us to all schools across the country once again, as part of a national effort to deal with the implications of that tragedy. Dr. Beiser received a seed grant for the project as a whole from the Maytree Foundation and contract funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ontario Administration of Settlement and Immigration Services (OASIS)

G. International Colloquia

CERIS has played host to several high-level visitors from foreign governments. Key visits include:

· In 1997, policy advisors Roy Blinker, Robert Flos, and Zuhel Gul from the Dutch Ministry of Home Affairs who were interested in Canadian policies on multiculturalism, immigration and integration, particularly the social aspects of integration;

· Also in 1997, a high ranking governmental delegation from France, including M. Gerard Moreau, Member of the National Audit Court and M. Andre-Clement Decouflé, Population and Migrations, Ministry of Employment and Solidarity who came to learn more about Canada’s policies on multiculturalism and its implications for social integration;

· In June 2000, a large delegation from Denmark representing the Standing Committee on Employment of the Parliament of Denmark. The delegation included ten Members of Parliament; the Danish Ambassador to Canada, Mr. Svend Roed Nielsen; Mr. Verner Sand Kirk, who is the Chief of Planning for the Danish Ministry of Labour; and Ms. Lise Christoffersen, the Danish Consul and Trade Commissioner, as well as committee secretaries and interpreters. The Danish parliamentarians were visiting Canada in order to become better acquainted with this country=s immigration and settlement policies and practices. During their visit to CERIS, the parliamentarians heard from Centre researchers and affiliates about research findings relating to immigrant selection, labour market issues, challenges in the educational system, NGO=s and the resettlement of immigrants and refugees, and the impact of Canadian multiculturalism policy on settlement;

· In September, 2000 CERIS Economic Domain Leader Dr. John Shields at the request of the Canadian Embassy in France hosted a group of French journalists interested in the integration of immigrants in Canada. He made a presentation to them entitled: “The Canadian Labour Market and the Immigrant Experience: Economic Well-Being, Settlement and Adjustment”;

· In February, 2001, CERIS was pleased to again welcome a group of visitors from Denmark. The Honourable Karen Jespersen, Minister of the Interior of Denmark, Mr Niels Preisler, Deputy Minister and a seven-member diplomatic delegation involved in immigration and settlement issues and policy, attended a luncheon meeting to explore integration policies in Denmark and Canada. Returning to CERIS for a second time were Mr. Svend Roed Nielsen, Danish Ambassador to Canada, and Ms. Lise Christoffersen, Consul, Royal Danish Consulate General. Other delegates included Mr. Henrik Kyvsgaard, Head of Section and Mr. Peter S. Willadsen, Head of Department for Integration Policy. The visitors spoke about Danish immigration policy, and social and economic integration, expressed their concerns, and posed a number of questions to the CERIS Directors and affiliates;

· In April 2001, a group of researchers from New York, representing a five-university consortium whose area of research interest is immigration and settlement, met with CERIS Directors Dr. Morton Beiser, Dr. Paul Anisef and Dr. Kenise Murphy Kilbride and CERIS researchers. The purpose of the visit was to exchange views on topics of mutual research interest, and to look ahead to collaborative projects in the future;

· In October 2001, CERIS members Dr. Michael Lanphier, Dr. Robert Murdie and Mwarigha M.S. met with two British officials, Rachel Reynolds, Head of Refugee Integration at the UK Metropolis Home Office and Dr. Carolyne Tah, Senior Research Officer working on integration research in connection with best practices. The purpose of the visit was to explore how Canada is integrating refugees and other migrants, what research is taking place, what practical issues have been encountered, how they have been overcome and various initiatives at work at the federal and provincial level.