*In April 2022, the university announced our new name of Toronto Metropolitan University, which will be implemented in a phased approach. Learn more about our next chapter.*
RCIS Digital Series, Session 2 – Refugee Resettlement and Integration in Canada: Lived Experience, Lessons Learned, and Promising Practices
- Date
- November 17, 2020
- Time
- 6:00 PM EST - 8:00 PM EST
- Open To
- Students, Faculty, Public
- Contact
- rcis@torontomu.ca
Refugee Resettlement & Integration Series – Session 2
Between October 2020 and February 2021, the Ryerson Centre for Immigration and Settlement (RCIS) hosted a six-part digital series focused on Canada’s approach to refugee resettlement and integration. The series aimed to engage stakeholders to consider Canada’s approach to refugee resettlement and identify changes to policy and practice that will make Canada more inclusive and responsive to refugees’ needs. Over the course of the six sessions, refugees, settlement workers and service providers, policymakers, researchers, and students were brought together to share insights and lessons learned from lived experience, settlement practice, and research.
The second session of the series took place on November 17th, 2020 and featured three speakers. Bayan Khatib spoke about some of the challenges faced by Syrian refugees, the Canadian private sponsorship model, and the community’s role in easing refugees’ integration. Hanen Nanaa shared her experience resettling in Canada after spending several years living in Turkey between leaving Syria with her family as a teenager. Dr. Bassam Abazed spoke about his experience resettling in Canada and the complex licensing process for internationally trained doctors. The session was moderated by Zainab Abu Alrob, a PhD student in Policy Studies at Ryerson University.
- 0:02 (external link) – Welcome by Dr. Usha George, Director of the Ryerson Centre for Immigration and Settlement (RCIS) and Professor in the School of Social Work at Ryerson University
- 9:48 (external link) – Presentation by Bayan Khatib, Executive Director of the Syrian Canadian Foundation
- 26:54 (external link) – Introduction to Hanen Nanaa, student at Ryerson University and Founder of BAM (Books Art Music) Collective
- 31:40 (external link) – Introduction to Dr. Bassam Abazed, medical doctor from Syria specialized in orthopaedic surgery
- 37:26 (external link) – Hanen Nanaa on early settlement experience, accessing services, and barriers faced
- 44:55 (external link) – Dr. Bassam Abazed on early settlement experience, accessing services, and barriers faced
- 53:59 (external link) – Hanen Nanaa on what can be done to address barriers to settlement
- 56:34 (external link) – Bayan Khatib on what can be done to address barriers to settlement
- 58:35 (external link) – Dr. Bassam Abazed on what can be done to address barriers to settlement
- 1:00:31 (external link) – Hanen Nanaa on importance of giving refugees opportunities
- 1:04:18 (external link) – Bayan Khatib on importance of giving refugees opportunities
- 1:05:45 (external link) – Hanen Nanaa on role of faith communities in settlement
- 1:08:24 (external link) – Dr. Bassam Abazed on role of faith communities in settlement
- 1:10:00 (external link) – Hanen Nanaa on overall settlement experience
- 1:14:08 (external link) – Dr. Bassam Abazed on overall settlement experience
- 1:17:58 (external link) – Discussion
This series was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
Series coordinators: Saad El Hakmi and Sohail Shahidnia
Series director: Dr. Usha George
Series producer: Tearney McDermott
TMCIS occupies space in the traditional and unceded territory of nations including the Anishnaabeg, the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, and territory which is also now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. This territory is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, as well as the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas.