Cultural Diversity and Inclusiveness
For Calgary’s Community Associations
November 7, 2009
Calgary Community Sustainability Conference
Jason Luan, Social Planner, Family and Community Support Services, City of Calgary
Marichu Antonio, Executive Director, Ethno-Cultural Council of Calgary
Welcome and Introductions
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Participant Mapping Activity(Sociogram)
Workshop Themes and
Objectives
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Theme I: Trends and the Changing Context:
Increased understanding of the value of Cultural
Diversity and Inclusiveness
Theme II: Community Associations and Ethnocultural Communities:
Increased awareness of opportunities, mechanisms
and process for interaction between the two
Theme III: Action Points:
More ideas on ways to work together
Theme I:
Trends and the Changing
Context
Trends: The Changing
Demographics
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Calgary, the 4th largest centre receiving new
immigrants in Canada
Calgary, the 3rd municipality in Canada to achieve a
population of one million people
Calgary, one-in-four are visible minorities
Calgary, high in-land migration and high labor
shortage
Five Myths and Facts
about Immigrants
Myths and Realities of Life
for Immigrants
in Calgary (Research from United Way of
Calgary and Area)
Myth #1
Foreign trained professionals are not as
qualified as Canadian professionals
Fact:
 More than 21% of physicians were foreigntrained; 22% and plus are practicing in
Alberta (2008 CMA)
Myth #2
Immigrants are a burden on the Canadian
Economy
Facts
 60% of recent immigrants to Alberta have
college or university education (2004 CIC)
 10% increase in immigration results to 1%
increase in exports
Myth #3
Immigrants do not want to work.
Fact:
 70% of the overall growth rate in labour
force are made of new immigrants (1990s)
Myth #4
Immigrants take away jobs from Canadians.
Facts
 50% of immigrants with post-secondary credentials
are under valued in employment (CIC 2006)
 New immigrants are three times more likely than
Canadian-born workers to be found in low-skills jobs
(The Globe and Mail 2008)
Myth #5
Immigrants bring crime to Canada.
Fact:
 Immigrants in Canada have lower overall
crime rates than the Canadian-born
population (Statistics Canada 2006)
Reflections on Cultural
Diversity and Social Inclusion
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What does it mean to you?
Your perspectives and stories
Functional definition:
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Asking who is not involved and why
Talking directly to those not involved to find the
answers
Engaging different perspectives
What’s at Stake?

High cost of not integrating
 Racial tension
 Social segregation
 Perception of increased crime
 Social and health cost
 Business relocation/loss
Who Benefits from social
inclusion and diversity?

A win-win approach for all
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Welcoming community
Cohesive and integrated community
Theme II
Working Together Community Associations
and
Ethnocultural Communities
What the Changing Context means
to Community Associations?
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A shared responsibility for us all
A need to bridge the gap
An opportunity to vitalize our community
Ethnocultural Groups/Associations
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Grouped according to country of origin, race,
language, ethnicity, faith
Mostly city-wide, with relative concentration
in some geographic areas
Activities range from issue response,
welcoming newcomers, heritage, dialogues
with institutions and decision-makers
Examples
Ethno-Cultural Council of Calgary
(ECCC)
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Community-based organization with 27
member-organizations
Aims to facilitate collective voice of visible
minorities
Towards active civic engagement of visible
minorities in social, economic and political
affairs of society
ECCC Members
African
Sudanese
Caribbean
Eritrean
Somali
Francophone
Asian
Indian
Chinese
Vietnamese
Filipinos
Nepalese
Japanese
Pakistani
Tibetan
Latin
American
Salvadoran
Peruvian
Middle
Eastern
Kurdish
Palestinian
Teachers Literary
Professionals
Engineers
Businesses
Types of Projects & Activities
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Welcoming newcomers
Heritage and language instructions
Sports
Cooking together
Children’s education
Neighbourhood groups and concerns
Issues: ESL, Racial Profiling, Recognition of International
Credentials
Levels of Interaction
FCC
ECCC
Community
Associations
(Geographic-based)
Ethnocultural
groups/associations
(Culture-based)
Individuals
Discussion
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Opportunities and challenges of working
together
Finding a common ground
Developing mechanisms for mutually
beneficial relationships
Levels of interaction and engagement
Theme III
Action Points
Group Discussion Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
What were your experiences interacting with
ethno-cultural groups or individuals?
What have you learned from the past
experiences?
What new ideas do you have for bridge-building?
How can we move forward?
Summary of Ideas for Action
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Report back
Summary
Commitments
Our aspiration:
To create an inclusive community that
values immigrants as assets and
welcomes them to be fully integrated in
our community
Further Contact:
Jason Luan
Marichu Antonio
Phone: (403) 456-6856
(403) 263-9900
jluan@calgary.ca
marichu.antonio@ecccalgary.com