***Update***
April, 2010

The Windsor Essex County Local Immigration Partnership

In November, 2008 the City of Windsor was given the lead for an initiative called the Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

What is the Local Immigration Partnership?

The LIP is an initiative to encourage communities to develop a comprehensive plan for the delivery of newcomer services. Plans needed to consider:

• How to improve access to, and coordination of, immigrant integration services;
• How to improve labour market outcomes for immigrants; and
• How to strengthen local awareness and capacity to integrate immigrants.

The LIP initiative is not an evaluation of specific agencies or programs.  It is a process to examine the whole system of services currently available and  consider how the system could be strengthened to promote the short and long-term settlement and integration for newcomers into Windsor and Essex County.

What are the steps?

Step #1:  Create a Partnership Council

The Windsor Essex Local Immigration Partnership Council was established in January, 2009. The Council has a wide range of stakeholders including settlement agencies, language training providers, education, health care,  children's services, business groups and newcomers - all of whom are interested in the enhancement and integration of newcomers into Windsor and Essex County.  The Partnership Council is ongonig.

Step #2: Develop a Local Settlement Strategy

In order to build the base upon which the strategy will be founded, the City of Windsor contracted with Dr. Uzo Anucha to conduct the data collection for the LIP initiative. The research was done in four parts:

1. Collect and analyze 'settlement' stories as submitted by over 100 newcomers to our community for common themes and issues; 
2. Conduct 20 focus groups among local newcomers and service providers to discuss the challenges and strengths of the existing service delivery system;  
3. Conduct 10 in-depth interviews with senior management of agencies and representatives from various primary sectors to discuss operational challenges and agency capacity; and
4. Conduct four half-day community consultations (held October 6, 7 and 8, 2009). These sessions were open to the public including service providers, employers, business, education, health care and especially all immigrants - newcomers, landed immigrants, government assisted refugees, refugee claimants - all invited to share their ideas on ways to shape newcomer services in Windsor and Essex County. 

Step #3: Creation of a Report

Using the information collected through the above steps, the Partnership Council reviewed the results of the data collection with respect to the current service delivery system to identify areas where the system could be enhanced to better meet the needs of immigrants in our community.

This review resulted in the report: A Community Plan to Promote the Settlement and Integration of Immigrants in Windsor and Essex County. The full report and the Executive Summary are attached in PDF format in English and French. This report was submitted and approved by Citizenship and Immigration Canada and approved by Windsor City Council on April 19, 2010.

• A Community Plan... - English / A Community Plan... - French
• Executive Summary - English / Executive Summary - French

However, the Windsor Essex Local Immigration Partnership Council has not finished its work! Citizenship and Immigration Canada has generously provided additional funding to allow the Partnership Council to continue to meet and refine its strategies through the summer and fall of 2010.

The Project Manager for the Windsor Essex Local Immigration Partnership is Mary Ellen Bernard. She is a Manager in the Department of Community Development and Health Services, City of Windsor and can be reached at (519) 255-5200 ext. 5270 or mbernard@city.windsor.on.ca.