The Welcoming Communities Forum identified strong community support and interest in building a more inclusive and welcoming approach to a wide range of newcomers. This was demonstrated through active engagement and attendance by the 70 participants at the Forum. The discussion and panel clearly identified community needs and a list of recommended actions to improve our communities ability to attract and retain newcomers.
One key recommendation was to increase coordination between existing agencies and services. Existing services need to be more coordinated and learn about the information needs of newcomers. Existing services can be more proactive identifying barriers to participation (ethnic, language, religious, cultural, sexual orientation, disability) and in the development of collective strategies to address these. There was a suggestion to include Newcomer Strategies with the Poverty Task Force.
See the full report for recommendations and next steps: Summary Community Forum May 9 2013 (final)