Perspectives for Year Five

CERIS is about to enter its fifth year. It will be one of the most important years in the centre’s history, a transitional year which will require us to review our relatively brief history and to lay plans for the future.

On the one hand we will be nearing the end of our initial funding cycle. The last round of research projects from this first phase will already be underway, and the focus of our activities will shift more towards dissemination activities, including forums for policy discussion.

On the other hand, the CERIS research community along with our colleagues throughout Canada and internationally will be increasingly preoccupied in this coming year with the future of the Metropolis project. With this in mind CERIS will also concentrate on drawing our researchers and partners into a productive analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of CERIS and the Metropolis project to date. With the leadership of our Management Board and the support of our Partnership Advisory Council, we will develop and implement clear orientations and recommendations for renewal of this vital work.

Therefore, the dominant themes of our activities throughout the coming year will be to maximize the benefits of our research program, and to prepare for creative renewal of the Metropolis project. At the same time the growing relevance of CERIS and the Metropolis project will continue to be translated into a a growing scope and volume of Special Projects. These projects, developed and executed in collaboration with our various partners, are described below.

Core Activities

decisions on the 2000 RFP will be made by the Management Board early in April 2000

a considerable body of research findings will be available during this year including those from several major MRI research initiatives and Special Projects as well as completion of 1998 and 1999 RFP projects. Our research program will therefore focus on dissemination of these research results through the Working Paper series and website Virtual Library as well as discussion of the policy implications in seminars and other types of forums.

CERIS will continue to welcome and host visiting scholars. As 1999 drew to a close, we concluded arrangements for Petra Jonkers from the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands to visit the Centre in 2000.

CERIS will facilitate the research funding and dissemination resulting from the 1998 and 1999 RFPs, as well as the 2000 RFP’s and the on-going MRI projects.

we will publish two issues of the CERIS newsletter, which goes out to more than 1,000 subscribers across Canada and internationally. The first in May 2000 will focus on the results of the 2000 RFP. The second issue, later in the fiscal year, will deal with the theme of Metropolis renewal.

the CERIS monthly electronic bulletin will continue to inform approximately 300 subscribers of events, activities and resources of interest to CERIS affiliates and Metropolis colleagues and partners

monthly research seminars will continue at the downtowm (University of Toronto) and York offices

WebSite development will focus on posting our research reports, working papers and other relevant material to the Virtual Library.

with volunteer support, our Resource Centre will be accessible during regular office hours, and the ever-expanding list of holdings will continue to be accessible through regular website updates.

the CERIS Working Papers series will contine to expand, with the content derived from recently-completed CERIS research projects.

Participation in activities within the Metropolis network is key to building our partnerships and developing policy-relevant, domain-focused immigration research. Among the scheduled activities:

participation in the Fifth International Metropolis Conference in Vancouver in November, 2000 and the Fifth National Metropolis Conference in Ottawa in 2001

financial and editorial support to the new Metropolis Journal of International Migration and Integration published by the Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration

The main responsibility of the CERIS Management Board, in consultation with the Partnership Advisory Council, continues to be the supervision of our research program. Discussions at the Board level during the current year, including a summer retreat, will focus on Metropolis renewal. Rotation of academic members of the Board, selection of a new Chair, and election of the Director will take place at the May meeting. The CERIS Directors will participate in various meetings with their counterparts from across Canada to coordinate ongoing research and dissemination and to plan Metropolis renewal based on evaluation of the accomplishments to date.

The CERIS Executive will continue to meet on a bi-weekly basis to provide coordination to ongoing activities and respond to new initiatives between meetings of the Management Board. The annual activities report to SSHRC will be submitted at the end of May and the financial report in September.

The CERIS Directors will contribute to coordination of Metropolis activities through meetings with their counterparts from the other three Metropolis centres, starting in June 2000 in Edmonton and continuing at the Fifth International and Fifth Canadian Metropolis conferences.

Administrative responsibilities and challenges will include reconciliation of accounts from the Fourth National Metropolis Conference, updating and improving the office mailing list database, and managing a continually growing portfolio of research accounts.

under leadership of Management Board and with support from the Partnership Advisory Council, we will review the process of allocating research funds over the past five years in light of the combined research portfolio, then make recommendations concerning allocations, adjudication, research themes and priorities of a new funding cycle

work will proceed and accelerate with respect to developing curriculum for immigration studies in a variety of ways and with support from various funding partners. The transformation of the "Strangers Becoming Us" radio series into teaching materials for elementary and high school students will continue. Plans are proceeding for the development of a program of graduate studies in immigration , and work is developing towards an Internet-based online undergraduate immigration curriculum.

the Data Committee, in collaboration with Statistics Canada, will organize orientation and skills development for researchers using the Metropolis License data sets (especially the new Core Tables produced for Metropolis from 1996 Census data) and then with at least one partner will develop training on combining quantitative and qualitative data

MetaDatabase development will focus on cataloguing and indexing qualitative immigration research findings, as well as updating and expanding the holding of quantitative information. We will also work jointly with various partner organizations to develop improved access to non-digital resource holdings of CERIS and various partner organizations through improved online indexing of immigrant and refugee issues research holdings.

the New Canadian Children and Youth Study (NCCYS) will continue as a collaborative pan-Canadian research project and will go to the stage of pilot testing of survey instruments

the NYNO youth research project will continue working on an integrated report on all the Ontario CIC funded youth research projects from the past year

CERIS will engage in active collaboration with various partners to contribute in the important area of improved indices of immigrant integration and models of evaluation of settlement programs

the research materials developed for the Integrating Diversity project will be published in book form

as a follow-up to our work in hosting the Fourth National Metropolis Conference in Toronto in March, 2000, CERIS will work in collaboration with the Metropolis Project Team to publish the conference proceedings

the Academic Coordinator will communicate with all our affiliates to renew affiliations and consolidate communications. In this process we will make a particular effort to solicit materials for our Virtual Library, particularly student theses

major improvements to the CERIS website will include a completely re-designed interface and better functionality of the search capacities in the Virtual Library

given the success of the awards presentations at the Fourth National Conference, the Management Board has decided to continue this activity as an annual event. This year’s awards presentation will take the form of a banquet and, along with recognizing individuals and institutions that have contributed to the success of immigration in Toronto, will also provide an opportunity to consolidate links with various government departments and foundations interested in supporting CERIS projects.