Annual Activities Report -- Metropolis Project CERIS Toronto Fiscal Year 1997-98 Submitted to SSHRC April 30, 1998 Contribution to Policy Development Policy Issues in the Greater Toronto Area Immigration and settlement policy issues in the Greater Toronto Area, as discussed in our previous activities report, are defined by the context of federal and provincial devolution and cutbacks to essential health and social services including ethnoracial equity programs and settlement services. During the past year the patterns of this process have become more clear in relation to municipal governance and the provincial education system. As reported by Mwarigha M.S. ( Program Director, Metro Social Planning Council) at the Urban Forum on Immigration & Refugee Issues, September, 1997, the six lower-tier local municipalities in Metropolitan Toronto are becoming one single-tier municipal government, to be known as the "City of Toronto". Based on recommendations made by the Provincial Government's Who Does What Panel, the City of Toronto will assume significant new funding and management responsibilities in a number of social services, including social assistance, child care and public health. In the case of social housing the City of Toronto will be fully responsible for its management and funding. It is critical that the new settlement services funding system that is put in place be adequately resourced. This will enable the new city of Toronto to meet the high demand for settlement services in its area of jurisdiction, without placing undue extra pressures on its finances and existing municipal services, especially given the extra burden already imposed on it as a result of cutbacks, privatization and devolution or downloading. As reported by Associate Director Dr. Kenise Murphy Kilbride, the context in which CERIS educational researchers undertake their work is at once an unusually challenging one. At the socio-political level, we see the federal-provincial shifts regarding services to immigrants occurring at precisely the same moment as the planned downloading of social services in general from the province to the municipalities, and we see the new division of funding responsibilities for education. Within the educational structure we see an array of changes that specifically impact upon immigrants and their children at the same time as an array of changes that affect all involved in the system. Policy Relevance of CERIS Research All CERIS-funded research is evaluated for, among other criteria, its policy relevance. Detailed descriptions of our funded research projects along with a summary interpretation of their relation to research domains and policy issues are found in the Appendices -- Overview of CERIS' Research Programme (1996 and 1997) and Funded Research Projects 1997 Funding Competition. A major component of CERIS' policy-oriented research during the past year was our participation in the process of the Immigration Legislative Review. CERIS' meetings with the Immigration Legislative Review Committee were coordinated by Dr. Scot Wortley of the Centre for Criminology at the University of Toronto. Based on these discussions and further review of the literature CERIS Director Dr. Morton Beiser prepared a position paper on the issues under review, published in June, 1997. Contributions to the paper were made by Drs. Sarah Wayland, Geoff King, Laura Simich, Edward Opoku-Dapaah, and Xiofeng Liu. Topics covered in this comprehensive paper include the protection of immigrants, managing the system of immigration, economic integration of immigrants, immigration and the family, and goals for Canada's immigration system. Later in the year CERIS was active in monitoring and facilitating public discussions of the issues raised by the recommendations that arose from the review process. Towards the end of the year Dr. Morton Beiser along with representatives of the other Metropolis centres in Canada met with the Minister of Immigration, the Honourable Madame Lucienne Robillard, to discuss research issues relevant to continuation of the review process. Other CERIS initiatives during the past year to guarantee the policy relevance of our research portfolio, described in more detail throughout this report, included: organization of a theme-based research competition for the 1998 RFP expansion of our research domains and development of new CERIS-specific research plans extensive consultations with our community and government partners on research priorities regular participation in local conferences and forums addressing research and settlement issues involvement in Metropolis Domain, National and International conferences development of public radio broadcasts on the impact of immigration on Canadian life Fundamental Issues Currently there is a great deal of public interest in immigration issues, as witnessed by the extensive media coverage across Canada devoted to the release of Census data on immigration, citizenship and visible minority status, and to the public hearings on the Immigration Legislative Review. Within the Metropolis network there is also a strong concern by our federal funding partners to develop a research agenda that addresses their policy concerns, as revealed by the discussions of the recent Metropolis Management Review. For CERIS, these issues of policy relevance will be addressed and resolved within the framework of two assumptions that we believe to be fundamental: that national and/or federal policy concerns must be linked to research rooted in the distinct realities of the urban areas receiving the overwhelming majority of Canada's immigrants and refugees; and that policy research must include settlement as well as selection issues, needs as well as numbers. Opportunities Enormous progress has been made in the past year by CERIS in particular and the Metropolis network in general. Nevertheless, important opportunities for further improvement still exist, and CERIS will continue to contribute in the following areas: joint work within Metropolis on data issues including resolution of the proposed joint data purchase, clarification of restrictive licensing conditions that may limit use by students and community and government partners, and improved access to LIDS and IMDB data improved linkages between international conferences and the domestic and local research programs and activities clarification within the Metropolis network of the nature of policy relevant research and issues of coordination and governance For CERIS, the fundamental challenge of the coming year remains that of securing the resources needed to fulfill the expectations of our Toronto area, Canadian and international partners. This issue is particularly acute in relation to equitable relations with our community partners and making use of the full capacity of many student and foreign researchers seeking training and employment with CERIS. Back to Table of Contents