OCASI - Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants in partnership with RSTP - Refugee Sponsorship Training Program is pleased to offer webinar on Demystifying Misconceptions about Refugees and Syrian Refugees.

For Frontline Staff

This webinar is designed for frontline staff at settlement organizations. It will provide information on Syrian refugees, the demographic of resettled Syrian refugees, the differences between refugees and other immigrants, and the differences between sponsored Syrian refugees and in-land refugee claimants. The webinar will clarify some of the misconceptions about resettled Syrian refugees so that settlement organizations are able to better assist Syrian refugees.

Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

To register please click here

For more information, please email Sanaa at sali-mohammed@ocasi.org

OCASI - Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants in partnership with Refugee Sponsorship Training Program is pleased to offer a webinar on The Roles and Responsibilities of Sponsors.

For Frontline Staff

This webinar is designed for the frontline staff at settlement organizations. It aims to clarify the role of sponsors under the PSR and BVOR programs. This is so that front line workers have a better understanding of how to support refugees during initial settlement in Ontario.

Date: Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

To register please click here

For more information, please email Sanaa at sali-mohammed@ocasi.org

Ryerson University, Project Welcome, invites newcomer Syrians to a free financial literacy workshop (Conducted in Arabic).

The event is targeted towards newcomer Syrians in Arabic on basic financial literacy.

Topics include:

• Banks vs. Credit Unions
• Chequing vs. Savings Account
• Criteria to Consider when Selecting an Account
• Tap Banking
• Bank Interest and Other Incentives
• Other Bank Services
• Saving for the Future
• Mobile Banking Applications
• Opening a Bank Account
• Fees and Service Charges
• Newcomer Banking Packages
• Line of Credit 
• Protecting your Bank Account

Date: Tuesday Februrary 21, 2017
Time: 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Location: Student Learning Centre, 341 Yonge Street, Toronto.

To register please click here

The Kingston Wing - The KEYS Job Centre is giving Syrian refugees new to Kingston a shopping experience.

KEYS Kingston is one of 31 centres across Canada that are taking part in the Canadian government’s Refugee Assistance Program and it has so far welcomed 24 Syrian families and one family from Burundi with more to come.

Nationally over the past year, approximately 35,000 Syrian refugees have arrived with the government program, with private programs bringing the total to more than 50,000 new refugees to Canada.

For the past few months, about a dozen KEYS volunteers, led by Emma Jackson, have solicited donations of other necessary household items such as pots, pans, plates, cutlery, coffee cups, glasses, linens and small appliances including toasters, coffee makers and blenders.

By appointment, the families can go there and “shop” for their needed items. They can choose the items they need but do not have to go through the final phase of shopping: paying for the items. They’re free, Jackson said.

“We’re calling it shopping because we’re trying to keep some dignity about the process and [families] being able to approve of they want instead of us just guessing and showing up with some items that might not be appropriate.”

“This whole place is run on volunteer power,” Jackson said.