Conference: best practices for immigration and refugees

It is the biggest gathering of its type in Canada, and perhaps in the world.

Some 800 delegates from across Canada, and from several other countries like Germany, Singapore, the United States, Australia and others are expected as they discuss issues around migration, immigration, and refugees.

Jack Jedwab- President Association for Canadian studies, (AES-AEC) and co-chair of the 18th National Metropolis Conference. 

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This year’s event will be held from March 3^rd=-5^th, in Toronto, Canada’s biggest and most ethnically diverse city.

According to their website the National Metropolis Conference is an annual forum for researchers, policy makers, representatives from community and settlement organizations to get together to share and exchange knowledge and experience in the field of immigration and settlement. It further says it will focus on future immigration trends and policies and the challenges and opportunities that they create for Canadian society.

Canada’s acceptance of 25,000 Syrian refugees and how they are being integrated and cared for  will make this one of the most important of these Metropolis conferences.\

With the backdrop of mass migration from the Middle-East and elsewhere into Europe, foreign observers will be interested in how Canada has handled it’s rapid plan to bring in the thousands of Syrians.

The conference will also discuss many other aspects of immigration and refugee integration including the changing roles of the various levels of government, and such issues as retaining immigrants in smaller cities and towns where they are needed and getting them to resist the pull of the major cities.

Co-chair Jack Jedwab says these conferences do not result in immediate changes to government policies, but are very important for exchange of ideas, lessons learned, and best practices which do filter through the various NGO’s and do help form government policies.

Metropolis Conference programme (pdf)