Canada

Techfugees is an impact driven global organisation nurturing a sustainable ecosystem of tech solutions supporting the inclusion of displaced people.

Techfugees exists to empower displaced persons whilst supporting tech innovations designed by, with and for them.

Canada’s Economic Mobility Pathways Project (EMPP) empowers regional partners and stakeholders, including local governments and the private sector, to help immigration address regional and local labour, economic and demographic challenges and create complementary pathways for the protection of refugees and durable solutions through labour mobility, family reunification, and education.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore the importance of making health services accessible to all and many Member States have decided to provide access to healthcare to all residents. Canada has updated pre-departure medical services for resettled refugees including testing and isolation and provided coverage for telemedical and virtual health services for beneficiaries of the Interim Federal Health Programme providing temporary health coverage for refugee claimants and other specific categories of migrants.

Montréal deepens its commitment to implement the Montréal Inclusive au Travail 2022-2024 (Montréal Inclusive at Work) initiative, first pledged to the Call to Local Action in 2022, by launching a podcast - “Biais d’Entrée” (Entry Bias). The podcast aims to support Montréal companies in developing effective welcoming strategies for migrants and refugees and making their companies more diverse and inclusive.

Canada's commitment to assisting individuals impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and their families in the country. Canada remains dedicated to ongoing initiatives aimed at offering a secure temporary haven for those compelled to leave their homes.

The City of Montreal is recognised as a metropolis of immigration. However, it is structurally lagging behind in the professional integration of newcomers. In this respect, in 2021 Montreal still had a higher unemployment rate gap between newcomers and native-born people than in other Canadian cities. In response to this challenge, in 2019 the City of Montreal launched "Montreal Inclusive at Work", an innovative initiative to promote the professional integration of immigrants in Montreal, encouraging their hiring, integration, retention and progression in employment.

This action was submitted through the GFMD Mayors Mechanism Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees.

One of the largest long-term care facilities in Nova Scotia, Glen Haven Manor, was the first to be a part of the Economic Mobility Pathways Project (EMPP), which was designed to help refugees find employment in Canada.

Recently, Glen Haven recruited 15 continuing care assistants from Kenya and Jordan through EMPP. The facility is also working with community partners to formalize a recruitment, training and retention program for newcomer continuing care assistants that can be used by other care organizations

Numerous programs encourage links between schools and communities to foster social inclusion of children and their families. For instance, in the Netherlands for second-generation Turks and Moroccans; in Pakistan for Hazara girls; in Canada among African and Caribbean-born immigrants; and in the US for Latin America and Vietnamese communities.

The city of Montreal in Canada has a pro-active strategy to make the most of diversity through the appointment of diversity managers who support initiatives to increase diversity in public services notably in the police forces and municipal boards.