STATE OF IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
Year One: Belonging: Stories of the Dignity and Resilience of Immigrants
Year TWO: Dignity IN EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION
This project was a joint effort between Marliss, Randy, Kate and Lucenia, as well as graphic designer Susan May. In 2020, Edmonton City Council directed Administration to commission a report on the state of immigration in Edmonton, designed to come out five years after a major influx of Syrian refugees, and other migrants, made their new homes in our city.
Spearheaded by the City of Edmonton and the Multicultural Family Resource Centre, as well as a diverse, 20-member community-based committee, this report required research and writing expertise, so we were brought on board. Kate and Lucenia used their research and analysis skills to analyze 43 policies related to migrants, immigration and settlement in Edmonton, and to research best practices and current models and theories of inclusion for newcomers. Their work resulted in two comprehensive and foundational reports, consisting of more than 125 pages of relevant scholarship and synthesis on the topic.
Along with several community-based interviewers and translators, Kate and Lucenia also gathered 22 stories of newcomers in Edmonton, many of which were told in the newcomers’ first languages. These stories, as well as Kate and Lucenia’s research reports, formed the basis of Marliss and Randy’s report to Council.
It was the vision of the community-based committee that the inaugural report should break new ground, and be unlike any typical government report. Therefore, they endorsed the creative approach that Marliss and Randy suggested. Rather than a policy and statistics-heavy report, the committee wanted to move hearts and challenge minds, while also providing information. So Marliss and Randy suggested using the creative tools of narrative fiction to drive empathy and create an understanding of the experience of being a newcomer in Edmonton.
Therefore, using the tools of both storytellers and professional communicators, we created five composite characters, based on the identities of the 22 newcomers. Inspired by their lived-experience stories, we wrote fictionalized short stories that reflected the thoughts, feelings and experiences of what it’s like to be a newcomer in Edmonton. We grounded the fictional narratives with sidebars related to policy analysis and data, and interspersed various frameworks and models of thought to challenge City Council to change the perception of newcomers as just consumers of supports and services, and instead to see them as valuable resources and co-creators in our city. We navigated the complexities of fraught and challenging language and subject matter to develop an enlightening, empowering, and beautiful document that is fully inclusive, and that moves the reader as much as it informs them.
The finished report was enthusiastically embraced by the committee. Committee members offered the following feedback:
“You can feel the emotions of the stories. It speaks true to what many of our community members are going through. It’s tough to read, but it’s good information to have in there and told in such a beautiful way. I appreciate the emotional reaction you get when you’re reading it.”
~Niga Jalal, Multicultural Health Brokers Co-op/Multicultural Family Resource Society
“The efforts of this team and the folks behind and in front of this report are superb. I can resonate with these stories from when I was a foreign worker…I can feel the sincerity and genuine nature of the report. That’s important. I’m excited about how the City Council will respond to the report. This report makes me feel like I belong.”
~Edwin Silang, Catholic Social Services
“Excellent job of blending story, research, and systemic issues, which is one of the hardest things to do. Especially to make it something people want to read. You see the human element in the stories, you’ve got the numbers to back it up, and you’ve got the systemic barriers. I really like the beginning and the land acknowledgement. I looked for where the [Indigenous] role was acknowledged, and I found it there.”
~Susan Morrissey, Edmonton Social Planning Council
“Looking at the report, I can see myself using it in a classroom with a lot of passion. It’s non-traditional. It shows respect for the people sharing this story. So much that jumps at you, even when you are a newcomer like me. This is something different. It represents my story to a great extent. I like it. It’s a resource I could use in a classroom.”
~Sensetsa Pilane, Boys and Girls Clubs and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton and Area
The report was presented to Edmonton City Council in August 2021.
We followed a similar process in 2022, and completed a follow-up document, Dignity in Employment and Education, detailing challenges newcomers face in navigating the education system and in getting meaningful employment. That report was just as well-received by the community as the first report, and led to a review and revision of the City of Edmonton’s Immigration and Settlement Policy.
We’re currently at work on the third annual State of Immigration and Settlement Report for 2023/24.