Regular Research Seminars

During the year CERIS continued its series of regular research seminars as well as hosting public forums on special topics. The regular seminar activities were as follows:

October 20, 1999

Moderated by Shuguang Wang, School of Applied geography, Ryerson Polytechnic University

David Lai, University of Victoria

Mohamad Qadeer, Queen’s University

November 17, 1999

Moderated by Robert Murdie, York University

David Hulchanski, University of Toronto

Sylvia Novac, Housing Policy Consultant, Toronto

M. S. Mwarigha, Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation, Toronto

Ken Dion, University of Toronto

Jan. 19, 2000

Moderated by Jennifer Welsh, Ryerson Polytechnic University

Susan Anstice, graduate student, University of Toronto

Adriana Premat, graduate student, York University

Mustafa Koc, Ryerson Polytechnic University

Feb. 23, 2000

Paul Thompson, University of Essex

Elaine Bauer, University of Guelph

September 29, 1999

Alan Simmons, York University

October 20, 1999

The Politics of Rescue: Canadian Involvement in the Covert Removal of Jews from Syria.

Harold Troper, OISE, University of Toronto

January 26, 2000

Lucia Lo, York University

February 9, 2000

Strangers Becoming Us

Morton Beiser, University of Toronto

The CERIS Partnership Advisory Council sponsored a research seminar on evaluation of settlement services:

April 22, 1999

Panel Presentation and Discussion with:

Chair -- Paula de Coito, Social Planning Council of Peel

Defining Settlement Services -- Paulina Maciulis, OCASI

Measurement Issues -- Ted Richmond, CERIS

Commentary -- Collin Mercer, Affiliation of Multicultural Social

Service Agencies of British Columbia (AMSSA)

CERIS Director Dr. Morton Beiser and Academic Coordinator Winston Husbands organized the following public forum which generated considerable public interest and media attention:

Sept. 21, 1999

Moderated by Morton Beiser, MD, Director of CERIS

Jay Keystone, MD., Tropical Disease Unit, Toronto General Hospital

David Miller, Councillor, City of Toronto

Margaret Wente, Columnist, The Globe and Mail

Haroon Siddiqui, Editor Emeritus, The Toronto Star

Ron St. John, Director, Global Surveillance and Field Epidemiology, Health Canada

Barbara Yaffe, MD., Director, Communicable Disease Control, Toronto Public Health

More than 80 people came to this forum to discuss questions such as, What does research have to say? What is the public being told? The panel consisting of medical professionals, government representatives and journalists, was moderated by CERIS Director Dr. Morton Beiser. After the presentations, questions and discussion focused on the topic of responsible media coverage. Participants expressed satisfaction that such a range of expert commentary was available on these controversial issues. The forum's success in injecting research results and expert opinion into public debate concerning the important issue of immigration and public health was very gratifying and constituted a real accomplishment in the area of dissemination of Metropolis research.

The public forum received extensive coverage by the mainstream and ethnic media in Toronto including print, radio and television. An article in the Spring 2000 issue of the Ryerson Review of Journalism entitled "600 Is Too Many. How the press used four boatloads of Chinese migrants to create an immigration crisis," highlights the quality of the forum discussion in dissipating misinformation created by recent anti-immigration media campaigns.

Two issues of the CERIS newsletter were published during the past year. The June issue featured the research awards from the 1999 RFP and the September issue highlighted our annual Research Retreat to set priorities for the 2000 RFP. With a circulation of more than 1,000, the newsletter keeps us in contact with wide range of persons interested in immigration research including many international colleagues.

The CERIS electronic monthly news bulletin was distributed ten times in the past year to about 350 subscribers. Readers of the Monthly Bulletin are mainly CERIS affiliates and Metropolis colleagues in Ottawa and across Canada. This continuing development of this bulletin has been received with a lot of enthusiasm; this form of publication has proven particularly suitable for communicating upcoming events of CERIS and it partners as well as new research resources.

The CERIS Working Paper series developed considerably during the past year, with the number of publications rising to a total of fourteen. CERIS at Ryerson has taken on the responsibility for publication. The University has provided a student research assistant to supply the necessary editorial production work, and Professors Kenise Murphy Kilbride and Susannah Wilson provide editorial support.

Since June 1, 1999, 7 papers were published:

by Engin F. Isin and Myer Siemiatycki.

by Mohammad Quadeer.

by Harold Troper

by Barbara Burnaby, Carl James, and Sheri Regier

by Kenise Murphy Kilbride.

by Robert A. Murdie and Carlos Texeira

by Lucia Lo, Valerie Preston, Shuguang Wang, Katherine Reil, Edward Harvey, and Bobby Siu.

These joined the 7 papers published the previous year, 1998-1999. The editors are looking forward to receiving more manuscripts from CERIS-funded researchers as they complete drafts of their findings. A complete list of CERIS Working Papers is provided in the Appendices to this report.

The CERIS Website has undergone considerable development in the past year, particularly with respect to the expansion of the holdings in the Virtual Library and the launching of the MetaDatabase. Details are provided in the preceding description of the Immigration Information Outreach Project with the CERIS Special Projects research portfolio. Collaboration with the overall development of the Metropolis websites has required an important investment of human resources.

During the past year CERIS York launched its own website to keep the York community of immigration researchers and other interested parties up to date on York CERIS activities.

With both volunteer assistance and staff support, the Resource Centre continued steadily to expand its holdings of rare and valuable immigration research documents. Documents are catalogued regularly and the listing is available online through the CERIS website. Our modest but unique collection includes a large number of unpublished community needs assessments related to settlement and equity issues, as well as documents produced by CERIS researchers and the Metropolis project affiliates. Publications can be reviewed on site or photocopied at cost.

CERIS researchers and affiliates have provided a host of valuable documents, and with volunteer support the Resource Centre is now open full-time during regular office hours. Feedback from visitors has been very positive.

The past year has been a very fruitful period for CERIS researchers. Along with the reports from our funded research projects which are posted to our website, a number of important and thought-provoking works were published. These received considerable interest from the media, and through the media brought important immigration issues to the attention of the general public.

Dr. Morton Beiser’s Strangers at the Gate, a book describing a ten year study of more than one thousand of the original "Boat People" - refugees from Southeast Asia who came to Canada between 1979 and 1981 - was released by the University of Toronto Press this year. Admitting the "Boat People" constituted an important experiment for Canada. The Southeast Asians made up the single largest group of refugees ever admitted during a short period of time, and the need to respond to a crisis of this magnitude stimulated some creative thinking about resettling refugees. The author suggests that the experiment was, on the whole, a success. Findings from his longitudinal and comprehensive study showing that a decade after coming to Canada, the former refugees are more likely than their Canadian-born counterparts to be employed and to use fewer social services were quoted in various media. Dr. Beiser is the David Crombie Professor of Cultural Pluralism and Health and Program Head of Culture, Community and Health Studies at the University of Toronto, as well as Director of CERIS.

CERIS Management Board member and leader of our Economic Domain John Shields, along with his colleague Mike Burke, published The Job-Poor Recovery: Social Cohesion and the Canadian Labour Market as part of the Ryerson Social Reporting Network (RSRN). This controversial work proposes that behind the veil of the official story, which speaks of sustained economic growth and a job creation boom, lies a deeper reality of a crisis within the Canadian labour market. This is a crisis of sustaining employment, a crisis centred around the deterioration in the quality of the job stock both in terms of employment security and income sufficiency. Rising levels of economic marginalization, polarization and increased market vulnerability are contributing to the erosion of Canadian social cohesion.

Dr. Jeffrey Reitz, CERIS researcher and Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, was featured in The Toronto Star (November 21, 1999: A18) under the title "Recent immigrants have tougher time finding good jobs." The article highlighted Reitz's study Immigrant Success in the Knowledge Economy, based on Statistics Canada 1996 census data. In the interview Reitz emphasized, along with the importance of changing labour market conditions and educational requirements, the tremendous barriers faced by recent immigrants because of Canada's lack of recognition of foreign credentials and experience.

The Autumn 1999 issue of "The American Ethnic Geographer" featured an article by CERIS Administrative Coordinator Ted Richmond on Information Resources at CERIS. Thanks to Carlos Texeira, editor of the newsletter, for organizing this collaboration.

As well, Carlos Texeira has just published Portugueses Em Toronto: Uma Comunidade em Mudanca (Direccao Regional Das Comunidades, 1999). Forthcoming is "The Portuguese in Canada: From the Sea to the City", to be published by University of Toronto Press.

In October 1999 many members of the CERIS Board and staff were among the two hundred persons attending a banquet hosted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health honouring the tenure of Dr. Morton Beiser as the David Crombie Professor of Cultural Pluralism and Health.

A Special Edition of the Applied Research Bulletin of Human Resources Development Canada (Fall, 1999) focusses on Child Development and includes an article entitled "More Immigrant Children Enjoy Good Mental Health than Canadian Children". Research cited includes work by Morton Beiser, Feng Hou and Ilene Hyman of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Clarke Site, University of Toronto and Michel Tousignant of the University of Quebec at Montreal, using the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY).

The January 2000 issue of the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association featured a profile of Dr. Morton Beiser, CERIS Director, entitled Fighting for Fairness for the Strangers at the Gate. The author highlighted the decisive approach taken by Dr. Beiser to educate the public and counteract racist media campaigns by organizing a public forum on immigrants and health.

The Toronto Star article of Saturday, January 22, 2000 "The 21st century belongs to suburbia (A Vision for Toronto)" discusses recent settlement patterns of immigrants in the GTA. Cited are a number of CERIS-affiliated researchers including Michael Doucet and Myer Siemiatycki of Ryerson Polytechnic University and Larry Bourne of the University of Toronto.

In the Winter 99 issue of the Vis-à-Vis Magazine, published by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, appeared an article on a study by University of Toronto, Social Work Professors Usha George and Esme Fuller-Thomson. The CERIS funded project entitled "To Stay or Not to Stay: Characteristics associated with newcomers planning to stay in Canada" was fully covered in bilingual version.

In March 2000, CERIS Health domain leader Dr. Samuel Noh, attended the eight New Pioneers Awards Gala, organized by New Pioneers Awards. The event celebrated and highlighted the achievements and contributions of immigrants and refugees.

The Fourth National Metropolis Conference, hosted by CERIS in Toronto in March, 2000, generated a significant amount of media attention. Our media outreach and liaison for this event was organized by Sine MacKinnon, Senior Advisor and Director of Media Relations at York University. The conference and the research it promoted gleaned national media coverage in the Globe and Mail, in the country's largest circulation newspaper The Toronto Star, in the community and ethnic media, and on radio and television broadcasts.

A number of reporters from newspapers, television and radio including both mainstream and ethnic media visited the conference to attend workshops and interview Metropolis researchers. Newspaper coverage included reports by the Toronto Star on research on the employment opportunities of foreign-trained professionals by Michelle Goldberg of the Access to Professions and Trades Unit of the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, on analysis of job opportunities, wages and poverty for visible minority immigrants by CERIS-funded researchers Edward Harvey and Kathleen Reil, and on bias against blacks in the criminal justice system in Toronto by CERIS Justice and Law Domain Leader Scot Wortley and Gail Kellough of York University. The Toronto Sun also featured the research by Wortley and Kellough, and the Globe and Mail reported on the deteriorating economic conditions of immigrant as researched by Valerie Preston, Chair of the CERIS Data Committee and former Associate Director of CERIS.

Radio interviews with Metropolis researchers were broadcast in Toronto (3), Sudbury (2), London (4), and Chatham (1). Fairchild Television, Global Television, Caribbean Camera, Ming Pao, India Journal and SHARE magazine were also involved in media coverage for the Fourth National Metropolis Conference.

Following its commitment to collaborative work and public education, CERIS members and affiliates also participated actively in various public events and community-academic partnerships during the last year.

In April 1999, CERIS Board Member, Prof. Usha George represented CERIS at the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto first Annual General Meeting and Special Panel Debate: "Mega-City Year Two: For Better or for Worse?" The Panel Debate included City Councillor David Miller, Ratna Omidvar, Executive Director, Immigrant and Refugee Program, The Maytree Foundation, Debbie Field, Executive Director of Foodshare and journalist Royson James from the Toronto Star.

In May 1999, Dr. Reva Joshee of the Centre for Policy Studies in Higher Education & Training of the Faculty of Education of the University of British Columbia, organized a Seminar on Social Justice and Multiculturalism at the Government Conference Centre, hosted by Canadian Heritage in Ottawa.

Four invited papers served to focus discussions at the Seminar: "Legislative responses to hate-motivated crime" by Julian V. Roberts of the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa; "Human rights, racial equality, social justice: Can we get there from here?" by James W. St.G. Walker of the Department of History at the University of Waterloo; " Justice and reconciliation: An analysis of responses to past human rights violations" by Rosemary Nagy of the University of Toronto; and "Toward an integrative approach to equity in education" by Roxana Ng of the Department of Sociology & Equity Studies in OISE/University of Toronto. Over sixty participants represented universities, government, and community organizations; they were divided into one of the four groups discussing the papers for two half-day sessions, and reported at the end of the second day to a plenary session.

CERIS was represented by Presenter Roxana Ng, Associate Director Kenise Murphy Kilbride, Interim Academic Coordinator Mwarigha M.S. of the Committee for Equal Rights in Accommodation, and PAC Executive Member Khan Rahi of the Access Action Council.

Several of the groups reached consensus on collaborative research and pilot projects needed to further the aims of the seminar; for example, the Education group identified: a need for an overview of models of community-academic research partnerships, including an overview of any evaluations of such partnerships; a need for research on the impact of neoconservative policy on equity, including the nature and extent of the dismantling of equity programs; and a need for research identifying the links between having teachers who represent various communities and the successful academic and other outcomes of the students from those communities.

CERIS also needs to have the flexibility to use knowledge to direct action when changing needs dictate a quick response. CERIS has been able to meet such challenges. Dr. Morton Beiser, Director and Ms. Mary Alberti, PAC Executive representative, participated in a session organized by CIC to plan for the reception of the Kosovo refugees. Then, drawing on the community network represented by the PAC, CERIS took the lead in organizing a community initiative to respond to the Kosovo crisis.

During the past year financial support was also provided to the "Sisters or Strangers" workshop organized by University of Toronto scholar Franca Iacovetta with the goal of producing a collection of essays on the subject of immigrant and minority women and the racialized ‘other’.

Under the auspices of CERIS and our Partnership Advisory Council (PAC), a broadly-based coalition representing settlement agencies, universities, various levels of government, foundations, health care facilities, and members of the affected communities, met to address the effects of the Kosovo crisis in the GTA. The objectives included: 1. To form an alliance with selected media in order to increase

public awareness and understanding of local issues, as well as to supply accurate information about refugees, refugee health, and about the potential impact of refugee resettlement in our communities. 2. To develop a school-based anti-discrimination initiative to help resolve inter-ethnic conflicts which have been erupting in the schools. 3. To help develop and coordinate services to assist in conflict resolution, and to provide supports that will facilitate the reception of the Kosovo refugees.

Together with colleagues from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), CERIS director Dr. Morton Beiser organized psychiatric coverage for the refugees passing through Trenton Air Force Base, the port of entry for all those coming to Ontario. Basing their efforts on a literature of research and previous experience, Dr. Beiser and the CAMH team worked with Health Canada and with CIC to provide psychiatric services for the refugees during their stay in the sustainment centres at Borden and Trenton; they also helped to plan optimal resettlement strategies and rehabilitative services for the refugees in anticipation of their eventual transfer to communities in Ontario.

Members of the Education Domain from the four national Metropolis centres met at the Learned Societies conference in Sherbrooke the past June. The session was well attended by people from all four centres, and from the four sub-domains within education. As agreed at the Vancouver national conference last January, there were working group sessions rather than formal paper presentations, although, of course, there was a lot of informal reporting on research in progress. The language and literacy group met separately because they had already decided to spend the time planning a special issue of the TESL Canada Journal using papers that had resulted from Metropolis research. The other groups met together and also planned a special issue of a journal. In the final half day, the group met in plenary session to consolidate plans for the journal issues and for future meetings. A report on the Sherbrooke meeting is available.

In September 1999, CERIS Director Dr. Morton Beiser presented at the National Interest Forum on "A Matter of Perspective: BOAT PEOPLE - Refugees or Illegal Immigrants?" The program produced by Canada’s National Interest Council, took place at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

The October 13, 1999 Qualification Recognition Conference "Shaping the Future: Qualification Recognition in the 21^st Century" held in Toronto featured a number of researchers affiliated with CERIS. Dr. Valerie Preston (former CERIS Associate Director and Chair of the CERIS Data Committee) presented in a session entitled "Women's Issues in Assessment". Other presenters included Karen Schmidt of Windsor Working with Immigrant Women, and Shelly Das and Lucya Spencer from the National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada. Dr. Preston discussed the preliminary findings from the CERIS-funded research project entitled "Employment Experiences of Chinese Immigrant Women in the GTA". The findings indicate accreditation is only one of several barriers for these women to find appropriate employment. The women’s limited understanding of job searches in Canada, lack of access to language and job training, and employers' unwillingness to recognize years of work experience in Hong Kong and China are also barriers. Women's responsibilities for child care and other domestic work often constrains their participation in the paid labour market.

Michelle Goldberg, of the Access to Professions and Trades Unit, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, one of the provincial government departments represented in the CERIS PAC, also presented this conference. She introduced a research project titled "The Facts Are In! Newcomer's Experiences in Accessing Regulated Professions and Trades in Ontario". The study interviewed 643 newcomer immigrant professionals on what helps and hinders them in obtaining relevant employment in Ontario. The presentation covered demographic information from the Landed Immigrant Data Base and the methodology used in the "Facts Are In!" study.

CERIS participated in the annual OCASI Professional Development Conference at Geneva Park in Orillia, Ontario in late October. We presented a participatory information session with recent results from a variety of research projects relevant to settlement issues in Ontario. The session was designed to be suitable for Board members, management personnel and front-line service providers who wanted to incorporate the latest research findings into program planning, evaluation and funding proposals.

The topics and presenters included: Building Bridges: The Collaborative Development of Culturally Appropriate Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect for the South Asian Community, by CERIS researcher Sarah Maiter; Ethnoracial Inequality in Toronto -- 1996 Census Data, presentation of Michael Ornstein's research results by Tim Rees of the Access and Equity Department at the City of Toronto; An Analysis of Socioeconomic Situation by Ethnocultural Groups, Periods of Immigration and Gender for Canada and Toronto CMA: 1986, 1991 and 1996 Compared. Presentation by CERIS researcher Kathleen Reil; Access to Immigration Databases -- the CERIS MetaDatabase, by CERIS Administrative Coordinator Ted Richmond; Community Research in Progress -- the Integrated Settlement Planning Consortium Research Project, presentation of a CIC-funded community research project coordinated Maria Wallis.

The session was well received. Over 25 participants including many community researchers showed up for lively discussions on each topic. The CERIS-PAC training curriculum was distributed on CD-Rom to the participants. The conference format also allowed for many informal discussions of research priorities and related policy issues.

CERIS Associate Director Kenise Murphy Kilbride, attended COSTI’s Annual General Meeting in November, 1999. The meeting featured guest speaker, Kenneth Bagnell, author of the best selling book "The Little Immigrants."

In January, 2000 many CERIS affiliates, Board and PAC members as well as staff attended the forum "Economic Migrants or Refugees? Trends in Global Migration." Towards a progressive public policy option for Canada. Historical, economic, international and social justice perspectives. The forum organized by The Maytree foundation in cooperation with The Caledon Institute of Social Policy & The Canadian Institute of International Affairs, took place at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Toronto. The forum which was also publicized by CERIS, addressed a number of key subjects around the question of the obligation of wealthy countries, such as Canada, towards economic refugees and the opportunity for Canada to benefit from those seeking better economic conditions.

In February, 2000 a one-day conference on "Planning in a Multicultural Region" was held in Vari Hall, York University. The conference was presented in collaboration with Metropolis and Urban Forum, as part of a four-city (Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal) series of workshops on immigration and urban planning. The opening speaker was CERIS Data Committee Chair and former Associate Director, Dr. Valerie Preston, who presented an informative session entitled "Portrait of Diversity in the GTA." The policy oriented conference had presenters from various levels of government as well as professionals in the area of urban planning both national and international. Some of the featured workshops dealt with topics such as: "Resolving Conflict: The Role for Planning;" "Accommodating Difference: The Case for Land Use;" "Multiculturalism: A Source of Economic Development? ;"and "Housing a Diverse Population: Building Neighbourhoods." Also in attendance for CERIS were Dr. Paul Anisef, Associate Director, Ted Richmond, Administrative Coordinator, Rose Lee (City of Toronto, PAC member), and CERIS affiliate Carlos Texeira. The one day conference was co-sponsored by: The GTA Forum, the GTA Programme Committee of OPPI, and York University's Faculty of Environmental Studies and Dept. of Geography.

CERIS continues to be represented in the City of Toronto Working Group on Immigrant and Refugee Issues. Administrative Coordinator Ted Richmond is the CERIS delegate to this group. Mr. Richmond also represented CERIS on the ExtraNet/Internet Advisory Committee, working with OCASI and its member agencies on the development of the Ontario CIC-funded settlement sector website.

CERIS worked closely over the past year with the University of Toronto/York University Urban Study Centre, as well as the Women's Health Centre of the University of Toronto, supporting SSHRC-CURA applications by these bodies. In partnership with the Urban Study Centre, CERIS is participating in the UNESCO-MOST project. By attending national and international Metropolis meetings as well as conferences sponsored by other bodies, and by hosting national and international scholars, members of CERIS have benefited not only from the exchange of ideas and experiences, but from the opportunities provided to develop international collaborations.

Dr. Morton Beiser, CERIS Director, was appointed to the Immigration Medical Advisory Board of Citizenship and Immigration Canada during this past year.. Dr. Beiser, MD, FRCP(C) is also the David Crombie Professor of Cultural Pluralism and Health and the Program Head, Culture, Community, and Health Studies at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Clarke Division and Vice Chair, Research, Department of Psychiatry, at the University of Toronto as well as a Health Canada National Health Scientist.

The Fourth National Metropolis Conference hosted by CERIS in Toronto in March, 2000 is now over and feedback from participants has been very positive. We believe the success of this year's conference is due to a number of factors. First, the quality of the participants and the blend of academics and practitioners produced a favorable environment for meaningful discussion. Secondly, we are now at the stage of the Centres' development where a wealth of research results is now being released --- this produced the conditions for high quality papers. Lastly, the relationships between academia, community and government has matured to the point where we all feel more comfortable to engaging in a meaningful dialogue --- the gelling of this relationship was clearly evident at the conference.

The Fourth National Metropolis Conference hosted 500 people, registered either for the full program or for specific events. Details of the workshops and plenaries are still available on the CERIS website at <www.ceris.metropolis.net/events/conference_toc.htm> Papers from the workshops and plenaries are being posted to the website as we receive them. Also, conference proceedings will be published shortly in both French and English in summary form, similar in style to the Proceedings from the 3rd National Conference in Vancouver.

The interest and support for Metropolis initiatives from municipal government representatives was clear at the Fourth National Conference. On the initiative of City of Toronto representatives and in particular CERIS PAC Executive member Wendy Kwong from the City of Toronto Department of Public Health, municipal delegates from across Canada came together for pre-conference discussions on settlement policy. As well the Thursday conference activities started at City Hall with a breakfast sponsored by the City of Toronto, followed by greetings from Mayor Mel Lastman through a video presentation. Councillor David Miller, Chair of Toronto Advisory Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Issues greeted the delegates to the Thursday Plenary with these words: "We are sure that collaboration with municipal delegates will continue to be fruitful for all Metropolis activities."

The conference was also an occasion for consolidating working relationships with various partners. For example, in February 1999 the CERIS Management Board had provided $5,000 in support of a Special issue of Canadian woman studies/les cahiers de la femme dealing with "Immigration and Refugee Women", for which the editors received a grant of $5,000 from CERIS. This publication was used as a gift for workshop and plenary contributors and chairs at the Fourth National Metropolis Conference.

We owe sincere thanks to all the presenters, chairs, panelists, and commentators at the workshops and plenaries for contributing to the success of the conference. Our gratitude is also extended to the volunteers who contributed so much to organizing of the program, fundraising, special events, and media liasing. And thanks go to the staff team that worked many late nights to keep things running smoothly.

There was an abundance of riches at the workshops held in the Community Domain, confirming that the contours of community have inspired a substantial body of immigration research in Canada. A total of 42 papers were presented in 10 Community and 2 Religion workshops.

The themes of these sessions afforded an appreciation of the breadth of research currently underway in the field. Sessions were held on: immigrant youth and children; community-based immigration research; immigrant experiences of abuse and violence; immigration and civic participation; the intersection of gender, race and class in the experiences of immigrant and refugee women; transnational identities in Canada; confronting racism; building immigrant community organizations; religion and immigrant integration; Islam in Canada; and a session devoted to Jeffrey Reitz's book Warmth of the Welcome.

The Economic Domain sessions provided an opportunity for researchers, community practitioners, and public policy analysts to share their findings, ideas and experiences regarding immigration research and policy. Five conference sessions were held: 1) Immigrants and Self-Employment; 2) Wages and Income Structures Among Immigrant Groups; 3) Access to Professions and Trades: Opportunities, Obstacles and Alternatives (Panel Discussion); 4) Immigrants and Labour Markets; and 5) Contemporary Immigration Issues in Economics and Social Demography. The sessions attracted leading immigration researchers from across Canada representing the four Centres of Excellence, community-base practitioners/researchers; policy experts from the federal & provincial governments and graduate students. The mix of participants and their issues generated lively and productive exchanges. These sessions were well attended, with the rooms packed to overflowing. Moreover, a number of the presentations were reported in the Toronto media. For example, two substantive stories which appeared in the "Toronto Star" dealt with the issue of access to professions and trades and the question the inequality of earning power among various ethnic groups in Canada.

The Education Domain had a strong showing at the Metropolis Conference, with more sessions than any other domain. All four Metropolis centres were well represented.

Topics covered included: oral metalinguistic and reading strategies of refugee children in Montreal; language and literacy use by Chinese families in the home compared with assumptions about and treatment of those children the Saskatchewan schools; effectiveness of the use of morphological analysis (e.g. Latin and Greek root identification) with ESL learners; the rich backgrounds and achievements of early Japanese women immigrants to Canada; patterns of ethnic concentration and language use in schools in Montreal; extent of racial stereotyping and students’ and schools’ responses in Saskatchewan; issues and challenges for policy-oriented research on citizenship education in faculties of education in the prairies; Spanish speaking women’s definitions of their legal education needs in Toronto; a case study of one community college in Toronto with respect to immigrant student needs; participants’ perceptions of citizenship education for adults in Quebec; immigrant youth’s construction of identity on the prairies; voice, identity and language issues compared between Japanese, Sikh, Greek and Jewish immigrants on the prairies; identities and professional role perceptions of teachers of Chinese ancestry; responses to cultural differences by teachers in training in Alberta; and parent-school relationships in Toronto schools through collaboration between teachers and families, an Afro-Canadian parents’ group, and pre-school parent centres.

There were seven workshop sessions in the Housing and Neighbourhood domain. Three sessions focussed on various issues concerning access to housing by newly arrived immigrants and refugees. Two other sessions concerned additional aspects of immigrant settlement, one focussing on the property market and the other concentrating on municipal service provision. In another session, research opportunities and completed analyses using the 1996 census were explored. Finally, in a seventh session, participants were given an opportunity to visit two local refugee shelters and speak with shelter staff and residents.

In the first session the housing experiences, discrimination and other systemic barriers facing immigrants and refugees in their search for housing both in Toronto and Quebec was explored by various presenters. The role of shelters in assisting refugees to move from transitional accommodation to permanent housing and the effectiveness of different resettlement models was also an important theme of this session.

The session on relationships between immigration and the property market addressed topics such as the association between immigration and house price changes in Toronto and Vancouver; the future of Asian-theme malls in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond and the role of real estate agents in shaping the ethnic structure of the city.

The session on municipal service provision featured three complementary presentations. The first one used the analogy of hospitality to explore the social transactions taking place between immigrants and the host society in a variety of Montréal area municipalities. The second compared the ways in which municipal councils in Vancouver and Sydney address cultural differences in local service provision and the last one spoke about immigration and municipal service provision in a sample of municipalities in greater Toronto, all with a relatively high incidence of immigrants.

In the census data session there were presentations on a recently released CMHC monograph on immigrant housing conditions in Canada and the nature of CMHC's custom tabulations from the 1996 census; new findings concerning the segregation of visible minority populations in Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver and the nature of the core data tables that have been produced for the Metropolis Project with examples of their potential use.

The final session took a somewhat different turn. Participants were invited to leave the hotel and visit two refugee shelters, Sojourn House and Romero House. Sojourn House is a short-term shelter in downtown Toronto dedicated to accommodating and counselling refugees while Romero House is a longer term shelter with three houses in a west Toronto neighbourhood. The background presentations on resettlement models, and the opportunity to interact with staff and residents at the shelters, made this a very meaningful experience.

At the 4th National Metropolis Conference in Toronto, there were four workshop sessions in the Health domain. The first of the sessions was entitled "Immigrant Health and Health Care Services". The four following papers were presented offering participants very current research in the field: "Health of Immigrants in Canada: A Longitudinal Perspective;" "Discourses of Health Care Reform:'Scarcity, Efficiency, and Issues for Immigrant Populations;" "Cultural Brokering: An Alternative to Public Health Services;" "Pathways and Barriers to Mental Health Services: Preliminary Results from Ethiopians in Toronto."

A panel discussion entitled "Is Immigration a Threat to Public Health" was the second workshop in the Health domain. "Health and Well-Being of Refugee and Immigrant Women" was the theme of the third workshop session which covered issues related to immigrant and refugee women's health in the Atlantic provinces, British Columbia and Quebec.

The final health domain session of the conference was on the topic of "Children of Immigrants." Workshops on this session focussed on "Poverty and Developmental Behaviours of Immigrant Children," "Assessment of Acculturative Stress Among Temporary and Permanent University Students" and "Perceived discrimination and Coping Mechanisms Among Adolescents and Young Adults of Koreans in Toronto."

The Justice and Law Domain, CERIS's most recently formed domain, hosted three workshops. The twelve presenters offered rich, informative research and discussion.

The first session, "Hate Crime in Canada", dealt with issues such as the under-representation of racial minorities in studies of hate crime directed against the homosexual community; the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies and community organizations when trying to collect accurate information and standardize reporting procedures on hate crimes; recent trends in hate crime and finally the results of a recent high school survey on hate crime victimization. In conclusion, it was decided that one of the more salient themes in this session was the need to have a uniformly accepted definition of "hate crime" so that police agencies and other community organizations can better advocate for changes to the present system.

The second justice session on "Race, Immigration and Criminal Punishment" presented an informative analysis of how race has impacted the operation of the criminal justice system in the United States. The workshop ended with the important warning that Canadians should be cautious when seeking to adopt American-style crime control policies that could harm their immigrant communities. Also as part of this session there was a presentation by a Toronto Police Service representative which gave a description of the relationship between the police and various racial/ethnic groups in the Toronto area. Finally a presentation on the findings from a study of the criminal courts pointed out that in Toronto black accused are much more likely to be denied bail than white accused. Furthermore, if they are granted bail, black accused are far more likely to have restrictive conditions applied to their release. The analysis further documents that racial differences in court outcomes are largely explained by police discretion.

In general, the police provide court officials with much more negative, subjective information on black than white accused. In conclusion, this session highlighted the need for more research on race and the operation of the criminal justice system in Canada.

The third session "Special Issues in Justice" opened with a discussion of Dirk Hoerder’s (Universitat Bremen) recent research on immigrant youth in Hamburg, Germany. The second presentation consisted of an in-depth analysis of how recent changes to deportation laws have had a negative impact on Canada’s Jamaican community. Next, a historical analysis of the intersectionality of racism and criminal justice in 19^th Century Ontario, highlighted the fact that the problems currently faced by immigrants and other racialized people are influenced by the history of racial injustice in Canada. Finally, the last paper focussed on ways in which Canadian authorities have criminalized the Chinese refugees who have recently arrived on the coast of British Columbia. All four of the papers presented in this session demonstrated the complexity of the issues surrounding race, immigration and criminal justice and highlighted the importance of integrating contemporary and historical work in this area.

During the Wednesday evening opening ceremonies the delegates were welcomed by CERIS representatives and the following universities representatives:

Dr. Claude Lajeunesse, President and Vice- Chancellor (Ryerson)

Dr. Rena Mendelson, Associate Vice-President Academic (Ryerson)

Prof. Michael Marrus, Dean of School of Graduate Studies (UoT)

Dr. Carl Amrhein, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science

Dr. Michael Stevenson, Vice President (York)

Besides the welcoming remarks and reception participants enjoyed an informative "marketplace" display by publishers, service agencies, and organizations.

Thursday activities started at City Hall with a Breakfast sponsored by the City of Toronto. Councillor David Miller, Chair of Toronto Advisory Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Issues greeted the delegates to the Thursday Plenary: " Working in a Community Setting in the Midst of Institutional and Structural Change"

The plenary was chaired by Dr. Carl Amrhein (Dean of Arts and Sciences, University of Toronto). Participants included: Stephan Reichhold, Table de concertation des organismes au services des personnes refugiees et immigrantes; Vera Radyo, Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Serving Agencies of BC (AMSSA); Fariborz Birjandian, Calgary Catholic Immigration Society; and Debbie Douglas, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)

Thursday evening provided an opportunity for participants to get to know the City of Toronto. "An Evening on Baldwin Street" was the featured activity which allowed delegates to visit a sample of the multicultural variety of the city, in a downtown area which featured a variety of ethnic restaurants and businesses.

Friday Plenary: "Creating Healthy Cities" was chaired Mary Alberti ( Executive Director, Family Service Association of Toronto). Participants included: Rinus Penninx, Institute of Migration and Ethnic Studies, University of Amsterdam; Howard Adelman, York University, Dpt. of Philosophy and

Uzma Shakir, Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA)

The closing plenary on Saturday entitled "The High - Tech Industry and Immigration" was introduced by Minister Elinor Caplan. The discussion was chaired by Jean-Pierre Soublière (PDG, Anderson Soublière, Inc.).Participants from the Federal Government included: Joan Atkinson, Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy and Program Development, Citizenship and Immigration Canada; Serge Nadeau, Director General, Micro-Economic Policy Analysis, Industry Canada; Ging Wong, Director, Strategic Evaluation and Monitoring, Human Resources Development Canada. Participants from the Industry were: Robert E. Crow, Vice-President Policy, Information technology Association Canada.; Jim Roche, Chief Operating Officer, Tundra Semiconductor Corporation; Kevin Higgings, President-Chief Executive Officer, CivicLife.com. Don Devoretz (Simon Fraser University), Co-Director of RIIM acted as Academic Commentator in the plenary panel.

A highlight of the Friday night dinner at the National Metropolis conference in Toronto was the presentation of awards to outstanding individuals and organizations involved in the field of immigration and settlement in our city. The three individuals were Alberto DiGiovanni, Michael Dang, and Paulina Maciulis.

Mr. Alberto Di Giovanni has been a leading force in the field of language education in Canada, particularly in Ontario. He pioneered the International Language Program in the Toronto Board. Thanks to his efforts some 32,000 children are enrolled in programs of Italian language and culture in the GTA alone.

Michael Dang has longstanding interests and experience in immigration and settlement issues in Toronto. Originally from South Vietnam, he emigrated to Canada in 198.1 Mr. Dang has been extremely active in seeking recognition of foreign trained professionals and their credentials in Ontario. Today, Mr. Dang continues to actively participate in many organizations which play an important role for the community at large.

Paulina Maciulis was born in Argentina to immigrant parents. She came to Canada in 1978 as a refugee after spending 4 years as a political prisoner in Argentina due to her involvement in the Labour Union Movement in that country. Over the years, Ms. Maciulis has been involved in numerous community groups and government advisory committees. Today Ms. Maciulis is Program Coordinator at the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI).

The Toronto Star was the awarded organization for their "Beyond 2000" series, which covered a variety of immigration issues. As explained by CERIS Director Dr. Morton Beiser in presenting this award, 1999 was a challenging period in terms of media coverage of immigration issues. Hardly a day went by without at least one item about immigration in the news; and hardly a day went by without criticism of the reportage. The coverage and the complaints were, and continue to be, both justified. Immigration and the changes it has brought about constitute some of Canada’s most important challenges. Because immigration affects everyone – native-born and newcomer alike – we need continuing public debate about our country’s policies. However, too much of what passes for debate is simply rhetoric, both pro and con. Real debate requires information. The public looks to the media as a source of information, but what we get is, too often, less than we have a right to expect. In a notable exception the Toronto Star published the "Beyond 2000 Home to the World" series, a year-long study of greater Toronto’s growing ethnic and cultural mix. Under the direction of Michael Pieri, the series featured in-depth coverage of a variety of immigration issues. Dr. Beiser, consulted with Mr. Pieri, and a number of CERIS-affiliated researchers and partners cooperated with this initiative by providing information, interviews, or suggestions for articles.

In recognition of the important role played by The Star’s commitment to insightful, balanced and sensitive coverage of immigration and diversity, CERIS presented this award to The Toronto Star’s publisher, Mr. John A. Honderich. CERIS Management Board Chair Marie Truelove and CERIS Director Dr. Morton Beiser presented the award to Mrs. Honderich in her husband’s absence and thanked the Star’s staff and Mr. Honderich for fulfilling their responsibility to inform and for dealing so well with difficult and important issues.

CERIS gratefully acknowledges the following contributions to the Fourth National Metropolis Conference.

Access to Professions and Trades Unit, Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities

Canadian Heritage, Multiculturalism Program

City of Toronto

Health Canada

Metropolis Project Team

Office of the Solicitor General

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Status of Women Canada

The Maytree Foundation, Refugee and Immigrant Program

The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation

The Toronto Star

Canadian Woman Studies

CultureLink

Family Services Association of Toronto

Fernwood Books

Garamond Press

Learning Enrichment Foundation

Metropolitan Hotel

Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)

Ontario Region Settlement Directorate (OASIS) Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration (PCERII)

Rexdale Community MicroSkills Development Centre

Strategic Planning and Research Division, Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Thompson Educational Publishing

University of Toronto Press

This conference was held at Georgetown University in Washington, DC from December 8 to 11, 1999. The following 19 researchers and community affiliates represented CERIS at the conference:

Paul Anisef, CERIS Associate Director, York University

Morton Beiser, CERIS Director; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto

Winston Husbands, CERIS Academic Coordinator

Kenise Murphy Kilbride, CERIS Associate Director; Early Childhood Education,

Ryerson Polytechnic University

Ted Richmond, CERIS Administrative Coordinator (Website, Data Committee)

Marie Truelove, Chair, CERIS Management Board; School of Applied Geography,

Ryerson Polytechnic University

Robert A. Murdie, Dept. of Geography, York University

Samuel Noh, Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto

Myer Siemiatycki, Dept. of Politics & School of Public Administration, Ryerson Polytechnic University

Scot Wortley, Centre of Criminology, Robarts Library, University of Toronto

Valerie Preston, Dept. of Geography, York University; Chair, CERIS Data Committee

Etta Anisef, Project Manager, CERIS Newcomer Youth Needs Ontario Project

Debbie Douglas, Executive Director, OCASI; (NGO delegate)

Usha George, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto; CERIS Board Member

Carl E. James, Professor Faculty of Education, York University;

Wendy Kwong, Multicultural Health Consultant, Toronto Public Health; CERIS PAC (NGO delegate)

Tim Owen, Associate Executive Director, COSTI; CERIS PAC; (NGO delegate)

Khan Rahi, Executive Director, Access Action Council of Toronto; CERIS PAC; (NGO delegate)

Laura Simich, CERIS Health Researcher

There was excellent participation in the conference by members of the CERIS delegation, as workshop presenters and organizers.

The following workshops were organized by members of the CERIS delegation:

Wendy Kwong (with Janet Dench)

Kenise Murphy Kilbride

Diversity and Justice (2 workshops)

Scot Wortley (with Julian Roberts)

Myer Siemiatycki (with John Biles)

Khan Rahi and Tim Owen

Morton Beiser

Usha George

Valerie Preston

During the 1999-2000 period CERIS representatives were quite busy participating in and coordinating various international exchanges.

In April 1999, Dr. Chandra Mohan, Distinguished International Visitor, President of the Indian Association of Canadian Studies, was working at the CERIS University of Toronto doing research in his area of interest, Canadian and Comparative Studies. Earlier in March 99, Dr. Mohan was awarded a Certificate of Merit by The International Council for Canadian Studies in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of Canadian Studies in India.

As well in April, CERIS Board member, Michael Lanphier was invited by the School of International Affairs at University of Western Sydney to deliver three lectures on immigration and settlement topics, and also at the University of Wollongong in Australia. This series formed part of a month's sabbatical trip to Asia while on leave from York University.

Also in April, in Toronto, CERIS Director Dr. Morton Beiser was invited to participate in the planning meetings for the Canada-Japan Social Policy Research Project organized by the Policy Research Secretariat. Dr. Beiser’s expertise and commitment to policy research both nationally and internationally was greatly appreciated by the organizers of the meeting as well as the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Japan Division/Asian and Pacific Branch. The consultations with Japanese parliamentarians included Dr. Jeffrey Reitz as well as Dr. Beiser and took place at Simcoe Hall at the University of Toronto.

CERIS Housing and Neighbourhood Domain leader Robert Murdie spent May as a guest researcher at the Amsterdam Study Centre for the Metropolitan Environment (AME), University of Amsterdam. While there he gave two lectures on comparative aspects of immigrant access to housing in Amsterdam and Toronto. The results of this research will be published in AME's monograph series.

Also in May, the CERIS University of Toronto office had received a request from the Office of the mayor of the Town Hall of Rome, Italy to organize and host a meeting with Avocatto Luigi Lusi, Immigration Delegate for the Mayor of the Town Hall of Rome. Attending for CERIS were Management Board members, PAC representatives, the Administrative and Business Coordinator, affiliated CERIS scholars and Ontario CIC representative, Marilyn Ziendengberg. The meeting on May 17, 1999 covered wide areas of immigration research and policy.

In June 1999, CERIS received the visit of senior Australian official Dr. Des Storer, First Assistant, Parliamentary and Legal Division of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Australian High Commission. Dr. Storer met with Director Dr. Morton Beiser, Associate Director Dr. Kenise Murphy Kilbride and CERIS PAC Executive representative Mr. Tim Owen to discuss the influence of world’s economic globalization, the restructuring of Western economies, changing demographic trends and the establishment of new geo-political trade relationships on immigration policy planning.

Later in June, CERIS Associate Director, Kenise Murphy Kilbride travelled to Rome to continue her participation as external advisor to a European Community funded project. This seven-nation research initiative is about "Child Migrants in the City." It was the long experience of North American societies with integrating immigrant families and their children that led to the request for an external advisor from Canada.

Also in June 1999 June Won Kim visited CERIS. Mr. Won Kim came to continue his research in the area of how cities market ethnic diversity for tourism and economic development. During his visit Mr. Won Kim met with CERIS affiliated researchers and representatives Dr. Lucia Lo, Dr. Myer Siemiatycki, Ms. Rose Lee and Mr. Tim Rees as well as conducted interviews with CERIS community partners Urban Alliance on Race Relations and the Hispanic Development Council. As a result of his research Mr. Won Kim completed his baccalaureate thesis, a copy of which he later donated to the CERIS Resource centre.

Also during June 1999, Professor Gila Menahem from the Tel Aviv University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Public Policy Program, Israel came as a visiting scholar to the CERIS York office. Prof. Menahem met with many CERIS associated researchers and scholars while working on her research interests in the area of comparative research involving urban restructuring and immigrants’ economic opportunities.

Another visiting scholar working at the CERIS York offices during the summer 99 period was Dr. Christiane Herzog from the Department of English Studies, University of Bremen, Germany. Dr. Herzog came to research historical archival materials regarding domestic workers in Canada.

In August, Professor Murdie, CERIS Housing and Neighbourhood domain leader, attended a conference in Hungary on New European Housing and Urban Policies. At this conference he participated in a workshop on the Housing Careers of Immigrants and presented a paper on The Housing Careers of Polish and Somali Newcomers in Toronto's Rental Market.

Also in August, Dr. Ludger Basten from the Department of Geography, Rurh-University, Bochum, Germany, came to visit CERIS. Dr Basten was interested in collecting material on a range of topics such as immigration trends and economic development. He visited the CERIS Resource Centre and also met with various CERIS representatives and associated researchers such as Dr. Valerie Preston, Dr. Paul Anisef, Dr. Marie Truelove, Ted Richmond, Dr. Michael Lanphier, Dr. Lucia Lo and Dr. Larry Bourne among others. Around the same time another international visitor, Dr. Elsie Ho from the Department of Geography, University of Waikato, New Zealand, met with CERIS-PAC representative Wendy Kwong to discuss research interests on international migration.

In November 1999, CERIS received a visit from Dr. Elena Dingu-Kyrklund a partner in the EC-funded "Child Migrant in the City Project," as a result from Associate Director Dr. Kenise M. Kilbride’s earlier participation as external advisor in the European Community project. Dr. Dingu-Kyrklund gave a presentation at Ryerson Polytechnic University on research implications for working with immigrant families and young children.

In January 2000 Dr. Dirk Hoerder, CERIS former visiting scholar from the University of Bremen in Germany, published his new book "Creating Societies. Immigrant Lives in Canada," by Mc-Gill-Queen’s University Press. Dr. Hoerder did extensive research for this publication during his last visit to CERIS in the summer of 98.

In February 2000, CERIS organized a special meeting of researchers and community partners at the request of Her Excellency Danièle Smadja, Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Commission, who made her first official visit to Toronto. Ambassador Smadja and her First Secretary, François Massouli, were particularly interested in learning more about the functioning of CERIS, the partnership between researchers, community organizations and policy- makers, and hearing from us about our interests in linkages with Europe. CERIS members were also interested to learn more about the European Commission's reform of its research agenda, as outlined in the Fifth Framework Programme (1998-2002), and the prospects of collaboration between Canadian and European researchers. One of the defined "strong points" of the programme is better coordination of research between Member States and countries outside the EU.

In March 2000, Associate Director Kenise Murphy Kilbride represented CERIS as part of a study tour organized by the Canadian Bureau for International Education on "Management of Ethnic Diversity: Canadian and Crimean Experience." The five day long series of presentations took place at Ryerson Polytechnic University. The study tour involved representatives from the Ukrainian government, the Crimean governance, Regional Administrations, Educational Institutions, United Nations (Crimea), Toronto’s Municipal government and NGOs.

Continuing its commitment to welcoming international scholars, CERIS has invited Drs. Petra Jonkers from the Centre for Migration Law, Faculty of Law, Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, Germany who will be working on a comparative study of Canadian and Dutch employment equity legislation during the summer of 2000.

The issue of the SSHRC-Metropolis Midterm Review received the attention of the Management Board as well as the CERIS Executive and staff throughout the past year. Early in June, 1999 we received the visit of the Expert Committee which consisted of:

Prof. Stephen McBride (Chair), Department of Political Science, Simon Fraser University,

Dr. Min Zhou, Department of Sociology, UCLA,

Dr. Roberta Russell, Director, Research and Statistics Division, Justice Canada, and

Dr. Lydio F. Tomasi, Centre for Migration Studies, New York.

The Committee was assisted by Patricia Dunne, Program Officer, Strategic Programs and

Joint Initiative, SSHRC. Dr. Howard Duncan (International Project Director, Citizenship and Immigration Canada) and Ms. Katharine Benzekri (Assistant Director, Research and Dissemination Grants Programs, SSHRC) accompanied the Committee as observers.

Approximately thirty CERIS Board and PAC members, domain leaders and funded academic and community researchers participated in the discussions with the members of the Expert Committee, along with senior adminstrators from the three founding universities, and local representatives of Metropolis federal funding partners. The discussions were divided according to the following themes:

Overview of the CERIS Research Program

Partners

Communications and Research Planning

The report of the Expert Committee was produced at the end of July and noted the strengths of CERIS while suggesting areas for improvement. The Committee concluded that "CERIS is fulfilling its mandate satisfactorily, is well structured and run, has excellent interaction with community partners, and is beginning to generate useful research." Various excellent proposals to improve the research program and improve operations were noted by the Management Board at its subsequent meeting and will be incorporated into future plans.