Creating a better future for communities through research

Local Immigration Partnership (LIP)

The purpose of this collaborative initiative is to enhance and establish a comprehensive Local Immigration Partnership in the Waterloo Region.Through the coordination and work of this partnership, a collaborative strategy that includes solutions for successful settlement and integration of immigrants and refugees in Waterloo Region will be developed.

Establishing a Local Immigration Partnership and developing a comprehensive and strategic approach to settlement and integration for our community will deliver significant benefits to Waterloo Region.Two important goals of this project are:

1.To develop a comprehensive Local Immigration Partnership.

This would include:

  • developing a structure for the LIP including terms of reference

  •  identifying future roles and responsibilities of the LIP

  • determining the membership of the LIP

It is envisioned that the Partnership will be a dynamic collaboration of community stakeholders from many sectors, including the immigrant service provider community, business sector, youth, employment, generic community based organizations, health, governments and educational institutions.

2. To develop a comprehensive and collaborative settlement and integration strategy.

This strategy is part of planning for future growth in Waterloo Region, but it is also about creating a welcoming and sustainable community. It is envisioned that this strategy will address three objectives:

  • Three main parties of the project include:

    • Region of Waterloo

    • Local Immigration Partnership Planning Committee (Expanded WRIEN Immigrant Support Work Group)

    Centre for Community Based Research (CCBR) is responsible for carrying out all the community facilitation and project coordination aspects of the project. 

    Specific roles and responsibilities include:

    • Project coordination of all aspects of the project

    • Community facilitation of community strategy sessions and task groups

    • Coordinate all meetings

    • Follow up with all delegated tasks

    • Take notes throughout the process

    • Write the comprehensive and collaborative settlement and integration strategy

    • Evaluate the one year development process and outcomes

    • Provide project updates and seek input into next steps

    • Assist with preparation of the Phase 2 proposal

    Community Involvement

    There will be many ways for organizations to get involved in the identification of the issues and solutions related to coordinated immigrant and refugee settlement and integration throughout the next year and they are through community strategy sessions (forums) and thematic task group meetings.

    Project Team

    Theron Kramer, Rich Janzen, Yasir Dildar and Peggy Hastings-Weston.