OCASI

10/06/2026

What would you like to hear from federal immigration leadership?

Peter Fragiskatos, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, will deliver the closing keynote at the OCASI Leaders’ Forum 2026.

At a time of significant change in immigration policy, this is an opportunity to hear directly from federal leadership, and to bring the sector’s questions and perspectives into the conversation.

Join us in person or virtually on October 29.

Register: leadersforum.ocasi.org

10/05/2026

Votre participation compte.

La 48ᵉ Assemblée générale annuelle d’OCASI aura lieu le 28 octobre, en personne à Toronto et en ligne.

L’AGA est un moment important pour les membres d’OCASI : elle leur permet de se retrouver, de participer à la gouvernance de notre organisation et de contribuer à l’atteinte du quorum nécessaire à la tenue des travaux de l’Assemblée.

Cette année, nous nous réunirons également pour une discussion particulièrement pertinente sur les défis auxquels fait face le secteur des services aux personnes immigrantes et réfugiées. Notre table ronde principale, « Comment survivre à cette période ? », réunira des leaders du secteur pour réfléchir au contexte actuel et à ce qu’il signifie pour notre travail collectif.

Nous procéderons également à l’élection de membres du conseil d’administration d’OCASI et rendrons hommage à Howard « Howy » Sinclair-Jones, premier directeur général d’OCASI, dont la contribution a marqué à la fois OCASI et le secteur tel que nous le connaissons aujourd’hui.

L’AGA est aussi l’occasion de nous retrouver avec les leaders de nos organismes membres qui contribuent à orienter le travail d’OCASI partout en Ontario. Nous remercions les membres de notre conseil d’administration et leurs organismes pour leur leadership et leur engagement.

Tout le monde est bienvenu, en personne ou en ligne.

📅 28 octobre 2026
🕞 15 h 30 à 17 h 30 HAE
📍 Crowne Plaza Toronto – North York + en ligne

Inscription : oca.si/AGM2026

10/05/2026

Your participation matters.

OCASI’s 48th Annual General Meeting takes place on October 28, in person in Toronto and online.

The AGM is an important opportunity for OCASI members to come together, take part in the governance of our organization and help ensure we have the quorum needed to conduct AGM business.

This year, we’ll also come together for a timely conversation about the challenges facing the immigrant and refugee-serving sector. Our keynote panel, “How do we survive this time?”, will bring together sector leaders to reflect on the current moment and what it means for our collective work.

We will also elect OCASI Board Directors and remember Howard “Howy” Sinclair-Jones, OCASI’s first Executive Director, whose contributions helped shape both OCASI and the sector we know today.

Our AGM is also an opportunity to come together with the member leaders who help guide OCASI’s work across Ontario. We’re grateful to our Board members and their organizations for their leadership and participation.

Everyone is welcome to attend, in person or online.

📅 October 28, 2026
🕞 3:30–5:30 p.m. EDT
📍 Crowne Plaza Toronto – North York + online

Register: oca.si/AGM2026

09/30/2026

Truth depends on remembering. And remembering depends on protecting the record.

On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, OCASI joined gatherings at Nathan Phillips Square and later at a packed Evergreen Brick Works for The Right to Truth: Protecting Indian Residential School Records, organized by Yellowhead Institute in collaboration with the Indian Residential School Records Project.

Moderated by Hayden King, the conversation brought together Marie Wilson, Stephen Kakfwi, Connie Walker and Kimberly Murray to ask a difficult and urgent question: What happens to truth when the records that preserve it disappear?

More than 38,000 Survivors participated in the Independent Assessment Process, sharing deeply personal testimony about physical and sexual abuse and other harms they experienced at Indian Residential Schools. Under a 2017 Supreme Court of Canada ruling, those records are scheduled to be destroyed after September 19, 2027, unless individual Survivors choose to have their records preserved.

Today’s discussion made clear why records matter across generations.

Stephen Kakfwi spoke about parents who rarely talked about what happened to them at residential school, and about wishing there were more records that could help him understand their experiences.

Connie Walker described how records helped her uncover what had happened to her own father and document the scale of abuse at St. Michael’s Indian Residential School.

And Kimberly Murray reminded us that at the heart of this is the right to truth — the right of Survivors, families, Indigenous communities and future generations to know what happened.

Protecting that truth also matters at a time when residential school denialism is becoming increasingly visible. Evidence matters. Records matter. And so does ensuring that Survivors know what is happening to their testimony and have a meaningful opportunity to decide whether they want it preserved.

One question from today stayed with us: What are we going to do with the truth we know?

Learn it. Protect it. Challenge denialism and false narratives when we encounter them. Listen to Survivors. And pass the truth on to the next generation.

To learn more, read Kimberly Murray’s Protecting the Record: Indian Residential School Litigation and the Right to Truth, and listen to today’s CBC Front Burner episode with Connie Walker, "Why are residential school testimonies being destroyed?"

09/30/2026

On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants honours residential school Survivors, the children who never returned home, their families and communities.

We reaffirm our commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice, and to the ongoing work of learning, listening and standing in solidarity with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

Reconciliation is an ongoing responsibility, reflected not only in our words, but in how we learn, listen and act.

09/25/2026

En cette Journée des Franco-Ontariennes et des Franco-Ontariens, OCASI salue le travail des membres d’OCASI qui accompagnent au quotidien les immigrés et réfugiés francophones dans leur installation en Ontario, pour les aider à y construire leur vie et à prendre toute leur place dans la société ontarienne.

Bonne Journée des Franco-Ontariennes et des Franco-Ontariens! 💚🤍

09/22/2026

It was great to be in Ajax today for OCASI’s Central East Regional Meeting — and especially to meet in person with members from across the region after seven years of regional meetings held virtually.

A big thank you to Community Development Council Durham, whose premises were buzzing with activity, for such a warm welcome.

We talked about many of the critical issues facing Ontario’s immigrant and refugee-serving sector, including funding uncertainty, changes to how services are delivered, and the connections between health, housing and successful settlement.

One discussion showed how closely connected these issues are. Members spoke about refugees who need supplemental health supports such as prosthetics but may struggle to afford the new co-payment. Without the medical support someone needs, it can be harder to work — and without work, the risk of housing insecurity can grow.

Housing was another important part of the conversation. Members stressed that stable, affordable housing isn't separate from successful settlement and integration — it is fundamental to enabling people to work, build their lives and contribute to their communities.

These conversations are an important reminder of why investment in immigrant and refugee services matters: giving people the support they need to build their lives in Ontario also enables them to contribute their skills, experience and talents to their communities, Ontario and Canada.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and shared their experience and expertise.

09/21/2026

À l’approche du Jour des Franco-Ontariens et des Franco-Ontariennes, ce vendredi, rappelons qu’attirer davantage d’immigrants francophones en Ontario ne suffit pas. Il faut aussi leur permettre de s’établir, de travailler dans leur domaine et d’accéder aux services dont ils ont besoin en français.

En 2025, 11,4 % des nouveaux résidents permanents en Ontario étaient francophones. Or, nos membres francophones nous disent que les services en français ne suivent pas cette croissance. À financement stagnant, leur capacité ne suit pas l’augmentation des besoins.

Nos membres nous disent aussi que, faute de services essentiels en français, certains immigrants francophones finissent par quitter l’Ontario. C’est une perte pour les communautés francophones et pour l’économie de la province.

La ministre des Affaires francophones, Natalia Kusendova-Bashta , l’a elle-même souligné la semaine dernière : attirer les immigrants francophones ne suffit pas s’ils ne peuvent pas travailler dans leur domaine et mettre leurs compétences au service de l’Ontario.
On ne peut pas fixer des objectifs ambitieux en matière d’immigration francophone tout en laissant s’éroder la capacité des organismes et des services qui permettent à ces personnes de s’établir et de rester en Ontario. Sans les investissements nécessaires, ces objectifs seront plus difficiles à atteindre — et l’Ontario continuera de perdre des talents dont il a besoin.

Les politiques d’immigration et les décisions de financement doivent être cohérentes. Investir dans les services en français, c’est investir dans l’ancrage des immigrants francophones, dans la vitalité des communautés et dans l’économie ontarienne.



Ontario At Work Lena Metlege Diab FordNation Mark Carney Canadian Immigration and Citizenship Centre Francophone du Grand Toronto Sofifran Debbie Douglas Centre de santé communautaire Hamilton Niagara Centre des services communautaires Vanier / Vanier Community Service Centre

09/18/2026

OCASI stands with Migrant Rights Network and communities across Canada taking action for migrant justice this weekend, September 19–20.

Learn more and find an action near you below. 👇

THIS WEEKEND: TAKE ACTION FOR MIGRANT JUSTICE ✊

Housing is unaffordable. Good jobs are hard to find. The cost of living keeps rising.

Migrants did not create these crises. Migrants are struggling through them too.

But instead of taking on the rich and powerful, politicians are blaming migrants, cutting immigration and changing the rules on people who were invited to build their lives here.

On September 19 & 20, people across the country are taking action to demand:

✊ Renew work permits
✊ End exploitation
✊ Stop deportations
✊ Permanent resident status for all

Migrants care for our families, grow our food, build our communities and keep Canada running. Migrants make Canada work. Canada must work for migrants too.

Find an action near you: MigrantRights.ca/Sep20

Bring your friends, coworkers, neighbours and family.

09/17/2026

Investment in immigrant and refugee settlement and integration is an investment in Ontario. 🤝

Today’s OCASI South Regional Meeting in Hamilton showed what that looks like in practice.

Our host, Wesley, has served communities for 71 years, with programs spanning immigrant and refugee services, employment, housing and homelessness, childcare, children and youth, and food services.

And across the South Region, that work is strengthened by collaboration.

Around the table today, members spoke about the strong relationships among organizations in Hamilton, Niagara, Waterloo Region and surrounding communities — including the positive experience of the Community of Practice in Hamilton and Brantford.

Members emphasized that funding and service models should strengthen this collaboration, not create barriers to it. They also highlighted the essential role of the Province of Ontario in settlement and integration and the importance of ensuring that investment in French-language services keeps pace with Ontario’s commitment to Francophone immigration.

Thank you to Wesley for hosting us, and to all our South Region members for sharing their experience, ideas and commitment to the communities they serve.