Report to/Rapport au :
Community
and Protective Services Committee
Comité des services communautaires et de protection
11 June 2008 / le 11 juin 2008
Submitted by/Soumis par :
Steve
Kanellakos, Deputy City Manager/Directeur municipal adjoint,
Community and Protective Services/Services communautaires et de
protection
Contact
Person/Personne ressource:
Danielle Massé Director/Directrice
Employment
and Financial Assistance/ Services d’emploi et d’aide financière
(613)
580-2424 x 43080, Danielle.Masse@ottawa.ca
SUBJECT:
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IMMIGRATION OTTAWA
INITIATIVE
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OBJET :
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REPORT
RECOMMENDATION
That the
Community and Protective Services Committee receive this report for
information.
RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité des services
communautaires et de protection prenne connaissance de ce rapport à fin
d’information.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this report is to provide an update as to the status of the Immigration Ottawa Initiative (IOI). On March 26, 2007, a report (Reference # ACS2007-CPS-EFA-0001) was submitted requesting that the Community and Protective Services (CPS) Committee recommend that Council recognize the importance of immigration to the City's economic prosperity by endorsing the establishment of the IOI to facilitate the development of a community-led, citywide labour market integration strategy for immigrants, and that staff report back with a proposed governance structure and detailed Terms of Reference within six months.
An overview of the emerging global, national and local issue of the labour market integration of immigrants was provided. This issue encompasses critical challenges to economic prosperity, meeting looming labour shortages, maintaining and growing the tax base and, helping immigrants receive the support they require (e.g. supports to employment) to successfully integrate into the workforce.
Research indicates that by 2011, newcomers will account for 100% of the net labour force growth in Ontario. This underutilization of newcomers accounts for a loss of between $2 and $3 billion dollars per year for the Canadian economy according to the Conference Board of Canada.
Phase One of the IOI, focused on raising awareness within the community around the issues facing newcomers. This included exploring the impact that failing to attract and retain newcomers would have on the local economy and the development of the Ottawa.ca/Immigration web portal. Phase Two of the IOI, focuses on enhancing the settlement and integration of immigrants within the City of Ottawa. The focus on four priorities: civic participation, social inclusion, economic integration and building a welcoming community will form the basis for the development of an immigrant social inclusion and economic integration strategy.
Currently, a number of community stakeholders (Appendix 1) are actively involved in enhancing the social inclusion and economic integration of immigrants. City staff is working in collaboration with these community stakeholders and other levels of government to achieve the IOI objectives and will not develop a municipal governance structure with its own Terms of reference. The City is continuing to pursue through a proposed community structure (Appendix 2) its goal of making Ottawa a city of choice for immigrants. This will place the City of Ottawa in a better position to compete in the global market to attract immigrants to meet the looming labor and skills shortages.
The Catholic Immigration Centre (CIC) has applied on behalf of the City, Local Agencies Serving Immigrants (LASI) and other community agencies serving immigrants for funding in the amount of $206,416 for the development of an Immigrants Social Inclusion and Economic Integration Strategy. The federal government is expected to respond to the request early this summer. Furthermore another funding application developed in collaboration with United Way/Centraide in the amount of $90,000 for the next three years has been sent to the Maytree/McConnell Foundations. This funding will provide the required support for local employers to develop workplace readiness activities such as networking, coaching, internship, bridging and mentorship. It is also expected that a response will be available early summer.
RÉSUMÉ
Le
présent rapport vise à faire le point sur l’Initiative d’Ottawa en matière
d’immigration (IOI). Le 26 mars 2007, un rapport (no de
référence ACS2007-CPS-EFA-0001) a été présenté, dans lequel on demandait que le
Comité des services communautaires et
de protection (CSCP) émette une recommandation pour que le Conseil
municipal reconnaisse l’importance de l’immigration pour la prospérité
économique de la ville en appuyant la mise en œuvre de l’IOI, et ce, afin de
faciliter l’élaboration d’une stratégie communautaire d’intégration des
immigrants au marché du travail qui serait appliquée à l’échelle de la ville.
On demandait aussi que le personnel propose au Comité une structure de
gouvernance et un mandat détaillé dans les six mois suivants.
On a donné un aperçu des enjeux naissants liés
à l’intégration des immigrants au marché du travail sur les plans
international, national et local. Ces enjeux comprennent des défis cruciaux en
matière de prospérité économique, la nécessité de trouver des solutions à la
pénurie imminente de main‑d’œuvre, le maintien et l’accroissement de
l’assiette de l’impôt et, enfin, l’aide aux immigrants pour qu’ils obtiennent
l’appui dont ils ont besoin (p. ex., de l’aide à l’emploi) afin d’intégrer le
marché du travail.
Les études indiquent que, d’ici 2011, les
nouveaux arrivants représenteront 100 % de la croissance nette de la
population active en Ontario. Selon le Conference Board du Canada, cette sous‑utilisation
des nouveaux arrivants entraîne une perte annuelle de 2 à 3 milliards
de dollars pour l’économie canadienne.
La première phase de l’IOI visait à
sensibiliser la collectivité aux difficultés auxquelles sont confrontés les
nouveaux arrivants. Au cours de cette phase, on a aussi examiné les
conséquences que subirait l’économie locale si l’on ne réussissait pas à
attirer et à retenir des nouveaux arrivants ainsi que l’élaboration du portail
Web Ottawa.ca/Immigration. La deuxième phase de l’IOI vise à améliorer
l’établissement et l’intégration des immigrants dans la ville d’Ottawa. Quatre
priorités ont été déterminées : la participation communautaire,
l’inclusion sociale, l’intégration économique et la construction d’une
collectivité accueillante. Ces priorités constitueront la base de l’élaboration
d’une stratégie pour l’inclusion sociale et l’intégration économique des
immigrants.
Actuellement, un certain nombre d’intervenants
communautaires (Annexe 1) travaillent activement à l’amélioration de
l’inclusion sociale et de l’intégration économique des immigrants. Le personnel
de la Ville travaille en collaboration avec ces intervenants communautaires et
d’autres ordres de gouvernement afin d’atteindre les objectifs de l’IOI et ne
mettra pas en place de structure de gouvernance municipale dotée de son propre
mandat. Grâce à la structure proposée pour la collectivité (Annexe 2), la Ville poursuit son objectif
de faire d’Ottawa une ville de choix pour les immigrants. Ainsi, la Ville
d’Ottawa sera en meilleure position sur le marché international et pourra
attirer plus d’immigrants afin de parer au manque imminent de main‑d’œuvre
et de travailleurs qualifiés.
Le Centre catholique pour immigrants (CCI), au
nom de la Ville, des agences locales au service des immigrants (LASI) et
d’autres agences au service des immigrants, a présenté une demande de
financement de 206 416 $ pour l’élaboration d’une stratégie en
matière d’inclusion sociale et d’intégration économique des immigrants. On
s’attend à ce que le gouvernement fédéral réponde à cette demande au début de
l’été. De plus, une autre demande de financement, celle‑ci de
90 000 $ pour les trois prochaines années, a été préparée en
collaboration avec United Way/Centraide et présentée aux fondations Maytree et McConnell. Ce financement
fournira l’appui nécessaire aux employeurs locaux afin qu’ils mettent en place
des mesures de préparation à l’emploi telles que du réseautage, de
l’encadrement, des stages, des activités de transition et du mentorat. On
s’attend aussi à ce qu’une réponse à cette demande soit donnée au début de
l’été.
BACKGROUND
The objectives of the IOI were presented in a previous report to CPS Committee. They are:
1. Increase coordination and alignment of services provided to immigrants by the community and the municipality;
2. Work in collaboration with the community to identify gaps, raise awareness and develop priorities and concrete actions to address the economic integration of immigrants;
3. Improve the ability of Ottawa employers, including the Corporation of the City of Ottawa, to meet their workforce needs; and
4. Incorporate labour market integration strategies emanating from the Immigration Ottawa Initiative in the refresh of the City’s Economic Development Strategy.
IOI Phase one – Raising
Awareness within the Community
The goal of phase one of the IOI was to raise awareness regarding the various barriers facing immigrants within the City of Ottawa and to identify potential solutions to address the issues. Raising awareness included such activities as assessing the labour market situation of immigrants in Ottawa, developing an Immigration Ottawa web portal, participating in community activities to increase the hiring of skilled immigrants and learning about stakeholders at the local, provincial and federal levels as well as exploring potential funding opportunities. These activities took place from April 2007 to now. The highlights of Phase One include:
1. Faces of Ottawa Report and Summary of Highlights Document
The Faces of Ottawa Report: A Snapshot of Immigrant Labour Market Integration and Summary of Highlights documents were prepared with the primary purpose of summarizing existing reports, surveys and census data in order to develop a benchmark for which the IOI would be formed and evaluated. Data in these reports were obtained from Statistics Canada 2001 Census. Once the 2006 Census data is available in its entirety, the information enclosed in these two reports will be updated to provide a comparative analysis between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census.
2. Immigration Ottawa Web
Portal
The City obtained $200,000 from the Province's Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration to develop an Immigration Ottawa web portal within Ottawa.ca. The site provides information on the following topic areas:
· Ottawa Facts – why skilled immigrants should choose Ottawa
· First Days – step-by-step guide on first things an immigrant would need to do
· Employment- information about the Ottawa job market, accreditation process and equivalencies requirements
· Living in Ottawa – housing, transportation, education system, health care
· Ottawa Essentials – “how things work’ from basic by-laws, the legal system, the tax system to how to find a family physician or who to call in an emergency; and
· My Ottawa – stories celebrating diversity and opportunity
On August 22, 2007, the portal was officially launched and has received positive reviews. In the summer of 2008, the Immigration Ottawa web portal will be promoted throughout the many ethnic festivals.
3. City’s Economic
Development Strategy
Economic Development staff participated in the development of the Faces of Ottawa report. In addition, staff from both Community and Protective Services and the Economic Development Division will work collaboratively to ensure that the integration of immigrants into Ottawa’s workforce will be examined as part of the refresh of the City’s Economic Development Strategy.
4. City’s Equity and Diversity
The Employment
Equity Initiatives Plan developed by the Human Rights and Employment Equity
Division continued to guide the City of Ottawa in ensuring equitable programs
policies and programs to attract a talented pool of immigrants to its
workforce. In 2007, emphasis was placed
in participating at job fairs in an effort to increase job applicants from
skilled immigrants. A testimonial from
the City Manager stating that the City is committed to the principles of
employment equity and a diverse workforce representative of the population we
serve was posted on Ottawa.ca
In addition, as
part of the City of Ottawa’s self-identification process to capture information
on new hires, a new question was developed and added to the form to capture
information on new immigrants hired.
This will enable the City to track and monitor the number of immigrants
hired annually.
The current
Employment Equity Initiatives Plan is a key tool in the success of the City’s
ability to support the integration of skilled immigrants into the City of
Ottawa’s workforce. Where necessary, it will be strengthened to demonstrate our
commitment to hiring a more diversified workforce.
5. Collaboration with Local,
Provincial and Federal Stakeholders
City staff is
collaborating with the Internationally Trained Workers Partnership (ITWP) and
the Local Agencies Serving Immigrants (LASI) to improve the hiring of
immigrants in skills appropriate job and to discuss the social inclusion needs
and gaps within the community in Ottawa.
Staff is also participating in the United Way Impact Council focused on
enhancing the civic participation and community readiness to welcome immigrants
to the City. The purpose of this
Council is to make recommendations on the granting of funding raised through
the United Way to various community groups to meet these goals. Staff have supported and worked with the
Catholic Immigration Centre in collaboration with community agencies serving immigrants
to submit a one-year proposal in the amount of $206, 416 to Citizenship and
Immigration Canada (CIC) for the Immigrant Social Inclusion and Economic
Integration Strategy in Ottawa and create the Ottawa Local Immigration
Partnership Council (OLIPC). The OLIPC
will regroup all of the stakeholders providing services to immigrants to focus
on the development of the Strategy.
At the provincial and
federal level, city staff is actively involved with the Association of
Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Municipal Immigration Reference Group. This Group provides a forum for cities to
raise municipal immigration issues and influence the provincial and federal
government in the implementation of the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement
(COIA) signed in 2005. City staff is
participating in two COIA workgroups 1) Language Training and 2)
Settlement. The outcomes of this work
will impact the type of funding programs available throughout the
province.
IOI PHASE TWO – ENHANCING SOCIAL INCLUSION AND ECONOMIC INTEGRATION OF IMMIGRANTS
It is clear that the level of success of immigrants in the labour market is contingent on their level of social inclusion and civic participation in the community as well as, the readiness of the community to welcome them. As part of the second phase of the IOI, activities will focus on enhancing the social inclusion and economic integration of immigrants within the City of Ottawa.
Instead of recreating a new governance structure with its own terms of reference, the City will work through existing community agencies and networks within Ottawa to achieve its goal and objectives. This linking with community stakeholders will ensure that their expertise and experience are recognized and utilized.
The City was instrumental in bringing together a number of existing immigrant agencies to endorse the need for the creation of the OLIPC. The OLIPC will provide a forum for all interested stakeholders in immigrant issues to develop an Immigrant Social Inclusion and Economic Integration Strategy identifying the priority areas for funding in Ottawa, to share information amongst themselves, to partner on some initiatives. This level of coordination will avoid duplication and maximize communication.
The City believes in the importance of a community-led initiative to identify the current gaps to accelerate the integration of immigrants in the city. The City is committed to actively participate in the OLIPC and OPLIP Steering Committee as well as provide required support when necessary. This Strategy will directly meet the IOI objectives for the Phase Two:
1. Increase coordination and alignment of services provided to immigrants by the community and the municipality;
2. Work in collaboration with the community to identify gaps, raise awareness and develop priorities and concrete actions to address the economic integration of immigrants; and
3. Improve the ability of Ottawa employers, including the Corporation of the City of Ottawa, to meet their workforce needs.
Proposed Actions
1.
Development of an Immigrant Social Inclusion and Economic
Integration Strategy for the City of Ottawa
The City along with other relevant community agencies (Appendix 1) will participate on the Steering Committee responsible for the development of an Immigrant Social Inclusion and Economic Integration Strategy for the City of Ottawa. Catholic Immigration Centre (CIC) has taken the lead and has requested up to $206, 416 to Citizenship and Immigration Canada through the Local Immigration Partnerships (LIP) call for proposal. This call for proposal was established from requests of the AMO Municipal Immigration Committee. The Strategy will identify recommendations for the following four priorities:
·
Civic
Participation (for example -
immigrants’ involvement in voting at municipal election, representation of immigrants
in all areas of municipal activity and community agency boards, leadership
position of immigrants within mainstream organisations, participation in the
volunteer sector, etc.)
· Social Inclusion (for example - promote municipal laws and by-laws such as the benefits of smoke alarms, increase low-income housing for large families, help immigrants find information on accommodation, develop targeted information/promotion package to ensure immigrants access library services, public health, provide targeted employment support services to immigrant youth to access paid employment, etc.)
· Welcoming Communities (for example - tools to deal with racism in neighborhoods and workplaces, cross-cultural awareness training for community, accessibility of municipal services for immigrants, availability of interpreters, translation of some critical municipal information/pamphlets, video on what the City has to offer immigrants, social marketing campaign to promote benefits of immigrants, develop a welcome to Ottawa package including coupons and rebate for cultural attractions, etc)
· Economic Integration (for example – ensure equitable hiring practices, implement mentorship/internship/job shadowing/coop placement programs for immigrants, identify champion employers willing to share their experience with other employers, conduct trade shows to attract immigrants with specific skill where shortages exist in the city, etc.)
A consultant will be hired to analyze the first three priorities. The consultant will work in collaboration with the community to identify the needs, gaps and priorities and make recommendations for a three-year action plan to be developed.
As for the fourth priority – Economic Integration, the Internationally Trained Worker Partnership (ITWP) Steering Committee will be responsible for the gap analysis. The overall goal of ITWP is to identify, unify and coordinate activities and projects designed to improve the labour market integration outcomes for newcomers in Ottawa. The ITWP is comprised of a number of partner organizations bringing together employers, business organizations, labour, governments, education institutions and immigrant serving organizations as well as representatives of the City. In keeping with the guiding principle of working through existing community agencies, City staff worked with ITWP to amend its Terms of reference to better reflect the objectives of IOI. ITWP agreed. The revised Terms of reference can be found in Appendix3. The main amendments of including new members and expanding the mandate to include all immigrants instead of only skilled immigrants were required to reflect the work to be completed in the future. The City will continue to work with the ITWP Steering and Advisory Committees to ensure a labour market integration strategy is developed for the Economic Integration priority and to support the IOI goal.
The ITWP has applied for funding in the amount of $270,000 over a three-year period from the McConnell/Maytree Foundation to undertake this activity as part of a community driven solution to address the unemployment and underemployment of immigrants.
The development and implementation of the Immigrant Social Inclusion and Economic Integration Strategy will ensure that Ottawa attracts and retains immigrants in this city. With the looming labour and skill shortages, many Canadian and international cities will be competing in the near future to receive immigrants to ensure their ongoing economic prosperity.
2. Ongoing participation on governmental and local committees
In addition to the committees
identified above, City staff will continue to participate on the appropriate
committees at the local, provincial and federal levels. This involvement has been helpful to develop
contacts, gather information and influence policy and program direction.
3. Economic Development Division
Talent and labour force issues will be examined during the review of the City’s Economic Strategy. The attraction and integration of immigrants into Ottawa’s workforce will make up a part of this review.
4. Human Rights and Equity Division
The City of
Ottawa is committed to ensure its workforce is representative of the population it serves. While
the City of Ottawa has taken major steps to advance the employment
opportunities of immigrants, we recognize that there is still much work to be
done. We will enhance our employment
equity initiatives where appropriate to ensure our Equity and Diversity goals
are met.
IOI ANTICIPATED RESULTS
Through the establishment of
a community led social inclusion and economic integration strategy, the
following outcomes are expected:
- Provide a coordinated system of settlement services with strong
linkages and clear pathways to service newcomers needs
- Improve access to services, including generic social and community
services as well as settlement and language services for newcomers in
Ottawa. Through better
coordination of funding and service delivery and improved communication
and dissemination of key information to newcomers.
- Establish and promote best practices for diversity strategies
among employers and community organizations in the public, private and
non-profit sectors in Ottawa. To ensure inclusion of newcomers and visible
minorities as well as all other dimensions of diversity in all aspects of
community life.
- Improve upon the civic engagement of newcomers with more staff and
board members from the community becoming active participants of the
community led structure
- Improve the economic contribution of immigrants in the public,
private and not-for-profit sectors and to increase business opportunities
at home and abroad.
Through the IOI Phase two, the role of the City will be to participate
and collaborate with existing community agencies and appropriate government
committees to further the enhancements of the social inclusion and economic
integration of immigrants in Ottawa. It
is anticipated that once the OLIPC approves the Social Inclusion and Economic
Integration Strategy a three-year work plan, the City will be responsible to
undertake specific actions to advance the integration of immigrants in the City
of Ottawa.
CONSULTATION
Staff consulted with Local
Agencies Serving Immigrants (LASI), the Internationally Trained Workers
Partnership (ITWP) and a number of immigrant serving agencies to develop this
plan of action. A presentation was made
to the Equity and Diversity Advisory Committee (EDAC) and the Health and Social
Services Advisory Committee (HSSAC).
EDAC moved the following
recommendation that was carried. That
the equity and Advisory Committee share in the overall initiative to make the
City of Ottawa a “City of Choice”, especially in review of the development and
implementation of the overall strategy (Immigration Ottawa Initiative), and
that the appropriate allocation of resources, best practices and overall
leadership be provided to the Initiative, by the City.
FINANCIAL
IMPLICATIONS
There are no financial
implications associated with this report.
SUPPORTING
DOCUMENTATION
Document 1 – Partial list of
community agencies serving immigrants in Ottawa
Document 2 – Ottawa Local
Immigration Partnership Council Organisational Structure
Document 3 - Terms of
Reference Internationally Trained Workers Partnership
DISPOSITION
Community and Protective Services Department will action any direction received as part of consideration of this report.
DOCUMENT 1
LIST OF IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS
WHO PARTIICPATED IN THE FUNDING REQUEST
§
Algonquin
College
§
Catholic
Immigration Centre
§
Conseil
énonomique et social d’Ottawa-Carleton
§
Jewish Family Services
§ Immigrant Women Services Ottawa
§
La Cite
collegiale
§ LASI World Skills
§ Lebanese and Arab Social Services
§ Ottawa Chinese Community Services
§
Ottawa Community
Immigrant Services
§ United Way/Centraide Ottawa
§ Somali Centre for Family Services
§ Vanier Community and Social Services Centre
§ YM-YWCA
DOCUMENT 2
OTTAWA LOCAL IMMIGRATION PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL
(OLIPC)
GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE
DOCUMENT 3
Terms of Reference
Internationally Trained Workers
Partnership
Steering Committee
October 24, 2007
The Internationally Trained Workers Partnership (ITWP) Ottawa is a partnership that works to create employment opportunities for all immigrants.
Purpose
The purpose of the Steering Committee is to provide strategic advice and guidance to support the development and communication of a comprehensive overall city-wide strategy for the integration of all immigrants into the local labour market, to address barriers and gaps related to integration, and to set areas of priority for the Internationally Trained Workers Partnership; to provide strategic planning for the execution of project activities.
Scope
The Internationally Trained Worker Partnership (ITWP) will support employers and newcomers with successful labour market integration. The Committee will limit their activities to labour market integration programs and services. The Committee can facilitate communication to and among other community stakeholders in regards to settlement and language needs.
Objectives and Responsibilities
- To work with stakeholders to develop a city wide framework for the integration of all immigrants into the labour market
- To provide support for funding requests that align with priority areas
- To act as a coordinating body for projects that come out of the partnership
- To present an annual ‘report card’ on the status of its objectives and strategic focus areas
- To guide the Employer Council of Champions to ensure that their role is clear and evolves according to priorities
- To define the role of, recruit members for, and elicit support from, the Advisory Committee.
- To communicate the goals and objectives of the ITWP within member’s networks and associations
- To provide advice on communication strategies for the ITWP
- To be informed of all related projects and ensure alignment when appropriate
- To be responsible for deliverables of the Secretariat to the Steering Committee
Guiding Principles
- Partner organizations will work together and negotiate with trust, good will, integrity and mutual respect.
- Partner organizations will support each other and will strive not to duplicate efforts
- Decisions will be made by consensus, with the understanding that lead organizations on specific initiatives will have the decision making responsibilities for those specific initiatives
- A partner organization may opt out of participating in the consensus decision-making process if it determines that it is not in the interest of their organization. This decision would be recorded in the minutes.
Membership
Membership shall include, but not be limited to, representation from the Partner organizations listed below.
The ITWP Advisory Committee will be invited to have one of its representative sit on the Steering Committee.
The Steering Committee may also include at least two Members at Large. The Steering Committee will invite (by letter) stakeholder groups to select an immigrant as representatives for the Committee. Members at Large will hold a position on the Committee for two years (one-time possibility of renewal).
Member at Large selection criteria will be based on
· Willingness and ability to commit the necessary time
· Demonstrated knowledge/experience of the issues related to the integration of skilled immigrants into the labour market
· Demonstrated interest in the development of strategies to address barriers to integration
· Understanding of the local labour market and business environment
From time to time, other stakeholder representatives may be invited to attend Committee meetings, particularly when matters specifically pertinent to their interests are being addressed
The partner agencies are:
City of Ottawa
Colleges
ECC Representatives
LASI/World Skills
Le Regroupement des gens d’affaires de la Capitale
nationale
OCRI
Ottawa Chamber of Commerce
United Way/Centraide Ottawa (UW/CO)
YM-YWCA
Committee Chair
The Chair will provide leadership in building a shared vision and community commitment for moving forward and developing an action plan. The Chair will have the following additional responsibilities:
- Acting as primary spokesperson for the Committee at public and official functions
- Presiding over Committee meetings, setting the agenda and ensuring draft minutes are recorded and reviewed
- Appointing project group chairs
- Ensuring that the nomination and appointment of members occurs through an effective process and in a timely manner
- Facilitating progress on Committee initiatives in collaboration with project group chairs
- Achieving expected outcomes
Decision Making Process and Dispute Resolution
Decisions will be made by consensus wherever possible. Where consensus cannot be reached, a vote will be called and 50% plus one of those present at the meeting will be required.
Should a member miss more than two consecutive meetings; the Chair will contact the organization they represent to achieve a resolution.
All members participating on the Committee will be required to declare a conflict of interest in discussions if their organization stands to benefit from a decision. After declaring the conflict, the organization in conflict will have the right to continue with the discussion but not be able to vote.
Liabilities
Steering Committee members are not liable or responsible for activities of the Partnership, except when they are acting as a signatory for a specific project.
Communications
The Steering Committee will determine amongst its members whom will act as its spokespersons. Media requests should be directed to the Director, Communications and Marketing, for Hire Immigrants Ottawa.