Background on the Presenters:

Myer Siemiatycki is a Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University and served as Department Chair from 1991 to 1996. He received his B.A. from McGill University, his M.A. from University of Sussex (UK), and his Ph.D. from York University (Canada). Myer served as Director of Ryerson’ s M.A. Program in Immigration and Settlement Studies from its inception until 30 June 2008.  Most of Myer’s teaching has been in courses on Local Government (POL 122/222), and Labour Policy (POG319 formerly PPA533), however, beginning in Fall 2008, he is teaching a new Liberal Studies Elective: Canadian Immigration (POL129). His research interests currently focus on the civic participation of immigrants in Toronto. Myer currently serves as Community Research Domain Leader at the Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration & Settlement (Toronto). He is a frequent media commentator on political matters.

Myer’ s achievements include: Distinguished Educator Award, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (1992); Ryerson Popular Professor Citation, Maclean’s Guide to Canadian Universities (2003 thru 2006 inclusive). Active in the Ryerson community, Myer has contributed to organizing such campus events as the Ryerson Union Fair, and Ryerson Holocaust Education Programming.  His publications include:  “The View From Ontario: Immigration, Diversity & Multi-Level Government Response.” Diversite Canadienne 8:1 (Hiver/Winter 2010):  37-41.; Electing a Diverse Canada : The Representation of Immigrants, Minorities, and Women, ed. (with Caroline Andrew, John Biles, and Erin Tolley).  Vancouver: UBC Press, 2008.; “Reputation and Representation: Reaching for Political Inclusion in Toronto.”  In Electing a Diverse Canada : The Representation of Immigrants, Minorities, and Women, ed. Caroline Andrew, John Biles, Myer Siemiatycki and Erin Tolley, 23-45.  Vancouver: UBC Press, 2008.; “Invisible City: Immigrants Without Voting Rights in Urban Ontario,” Our Diverse Cities 4 (Fall 2007): 166-168.; “State and Media Construction of Transnational Communities: A Case Study of Recent Migration from Hong Kong to Canada” (with Valerie Preston). In Organizing the Transnational: Labour Politics, and Social Change, eds. Luin Goldring and Sailaja Krishnamurti, 25 – 39. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2007.; “Contesting Sacred Urban Space: The Case of Eruv.” Journal of International Migration and Integration 6:2(Spring 2005): 255-270.; and “Suburban Success: Immigrant and Minority Electoral Gains in Suburban Toronto” (with Andrew Matheson). Canadian Issues / Thèmes canadiens: Newcomers, Minorities and Political Participation in Canada (Summer 2005): 69-72.  For more information about Myer see http://www.ryerson.ca/politics/facultyandstaff/bio_MyerSiemiat.htm

Dr. Sandeep Agrawal is the director of the graduate program in Urban Development and has been a faculty member in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University for almost 10 years. Sandeep has a variety of planning experiences in federal, county, and municipal governments in the US. He has also practiced urban planning in Canada and India. Sandeep is a well-published and premier scholar, with over thirty publications. Several of his publications are in the most prestigious journals in the planning, geography and ethnicity areas, including Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, the Canadian Journal of Urban Research and the Canadian Ethnic Studies Journal. The special issue of Plan Canada on “Welcoming Communities:  Planning for the Diversity in Canadian Cities,” guest-edited by Sandeep was released  in February 2009.

Sandeep’s research focuses on Toronto’s ethnic communities and the effects of immigration and multiculturalism on urban structures and public policies. One of his recently completed articles (co-authored with Dr. Qadeer) is about faith-based ethnic communities in the GTA, which explores whether these communities are sites of spatial and social segregation or inclusion. Sandeep is also studying how immigrants fare in the Canadian labour market. Sandeep currently serves on the Toronto’s Committee of Adjustment and is also the Domain Leader of the “Welcoming Communities” domain at CERIS – The Ontario Metropolis Centre in Toronto. He regularly appears in both print and broadcast media. For more information about Sandeep, see http://www.ryerson.ca/surp/faculty_staff/bios/agrawal.html

Shuguang Wang is Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography at Ryerson University. His research interests include settlement patterns of immigrants in Canada, ethnic economy, and location of settlement services. He is familiar with both the Canadian census and the immigrant landing data system. He has run data workshops for CERIS researchers and the Ontario MIC staff. He has recently completed a demographic analysis for Build Toronto. Among his publications are: (1) What Does It Take to Achieve Full Integration? Economic (Under)Performance of Chinese Immigrants in Canada. In Vijay Agnew (ed.) Interrogating Race and Racism. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, pp172-205; (2) Evaluation of Settlement Services Programs for Newcomers in Ontario : A Geographical Perspective. Journal of International Migration and Integration. 4 (4): 577-606; (3) Economic Impacts of Immigrants in the Toronto CMA: A Tax-Benefit Analysis. Journal of International Migration and Integration, Vol. 1(3): 273-304; (4) Chinese Commercial Activity in the Toronto CMA: New Development Patterns and Impacts. The Canadian Geographer, Vol. 43 (1): 19-35.   For more information about Shuguang see: http://www.geography.ryerson.ca/swang/index.html

Developing Strategies for Building Audiences from Aboriginal and Culturally Diverse Communities will involve CCI and its members from Markham, Toronto, Ontario Contact, Brampton, Mississauga, Oakville, Kingston and Ottawa in a series of educational workshops aimed at producing concrete strategies for implementation by these members and CPPAMO’s Roundtable.

This first workshop will focus on Examining the characteristics of ethno-racial communities and relationship to audience segmentation. This full day session will involve presentations by Professors Myer Siemiatycki, Sandeep Agrawal and Shuguang Wang related to data on immigrant settlement and the capacities and interests of immigrants.   This will be followed by facilitated discussions on the importance and extent of community-based organizations in diverse communities and how to work with them in attracting ethno-racial communities.

In this session, participants will receive information related to the changing numbers and compositions of communities across Ontario related to:

1)      what has happened and will continue to happen in terms of the numerical growth and areas of settlement of these communities;

2)      the implications/significance of these changes in terms of social, economic, political and cultural perspectives;

3)      the key characteristics of these growing communities, particularly in terms of cultural interests/retention and how this might lead to programming, employment and marketing opportunities;

4)      the human capital of these communities and some geographic mapping of them as well.

An all day session (9:30 – 4:30), the presentations will take place in the morning.  In the afternoon, there will be facilitated workshops to carry through this discussion further and to learn from each other what presenters and performers are doing to connect with these growing communities, what’s working and where there is need for assistance.

When:
Tuesday, June 29th, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Location:

Debates Room, Hart House
University of Toronto
7 Hart House Circle
Toronto, ON
M52 3H3

To register for this workshop:

Please visit http://audiencebuilding1.eventbrite.com. Registration begins on Thursday, June 3rd and ends on Friday, June 25th. The cost is $25 general admission and includes refreshments and lunch.