Refugees Welcome Here - Toolkit

Campaign overview

Refugees Welcome Here!: An initiative of Amnesty International, the Canadian Council for Refugees and Amnistie Internationale. In January 2016, the three partners embarked on a public awareness campaign to encourage Canada to welcome more refugees, to achieve more fairness in systems affecting refugees, to foster more welcoming communities across Canada, to rebut myths about refugees and to emphasize the contributions of refugees. CCR and AI members, allies, youth and others across Canada are invited to participate, mobilize their communities, and to build on the leadership shown by many across Canada. 

The campaign’s core messages:

  • more refugees
  • more fairness for refugees
  • more welcoming communities

Refugees Welcome Here Toolkit is intended for groups, organizations, schools, allies, members and partners wishing to conduct or enhance outreach, strengthen partnerships, raise awareness and promote welcoming attitudes in their communities, organizations and sectors.

The Toolkit’s purpose is also to bridge the gap between “how do I start?” to taking action, building a structured approach for sustained refugee rights promotion and advocacy. It includes the following resources:

  • Social media and promotion initiatives
  • Community building, mobilizing audiences and organizing in the digital space
  • Outreach, audience diversification and partnership opportunities
  • Meeting, following up and lobbying your local MP
  • Raising awareness, promoting and amplifying Refugee Rights Day
  • CCR-produced resources on key issues such as family reunification, combating discrimination, refugee claim process, and more.
  • Useful non-CCR resources.

As mobilization and awareness about refugee-related issues increase across Canada, we hope this toolkit will evolve. Suggestions can be send to info@ccrweb.ca 

A list of resources developed during the first phase of the Refugees Welcome Here Campaign can be found here.  Click here to browse the Toolkit resources, which contains a list of useful non-CCR resources.