- provision of settlement services;
- broader social justice context related to newcomers in Canada, for example: systemic racism, racialization of poverty, employment and income security, housing and homelessness, health, mental health, family reunification, and equitable access to services and basic entitlements.
The Working Group priorities for 2025 are:
- Access to services (health, education, settlement, language, employment, housing)
- Precarious and exploited migrant workers
- Support for the rights and needs of populations at risk of deportation (Regularization)
The Working Group has identified access to services as a long-term priority.
I&S Co-Chairs
Edwin Silang
Edwin is a certified Settlement Practitioner in Alberta, committed to serving his community as a member of the Community Support Services Program also known as the TFW program of Catholic Social Services. Edwin holds a degree in Information Technology from the Philippines but has directed his passion for social services and newcomer advocacy in the Settlement Sector where he has been working for ten (10) years. Edwin draws his strength and passion from his work as well as his own life experiences, having come to Canada as a Temporary Foreign worker himself.
Edwin also volunteers with the Rights and Welfare Action Committee, a service assistance committee of Alberta Workers Association for Research and Education and Migrante Alberta that provides support and assistance for vulnerable community members including non-status migrants.
Shelley Gilbert
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Shelley Gilbert has worked as a social worker at Legal Assistance of Windsor since 1993 and is currently the Executive Director responsible for: Legal and social work services and community development initiatives, Facilitating and leading the delivery of interdisciplinary services, Developing and supporting staff initiatives to fill identified needs, enhance community capacities and promote social justice. |
Shelley has been working with migrant worker communities and advocates for over 20 years. She is a founding member and supervises the Windsor Essex Counter Exploitation Network (WECEN) providing support and advocacy to survivors human trafficking and exploitation. She has conducted training and workshops for NGOs and law enforcement across the country. She has presented models of collaboration, policy gaps and best practice approaches at national and provincial conferences. She was awarded the Inspirational Leader Award by the Ontario Association of Social Workers in 2014, the Attorney General Victim Services Award of Distinction in 2016 as well as the Department of Justice Excellence in Victim Services Award in 2022.
I&S Key Issues
- Regularization of all status
- Housing
- Mental Health
- Migrant workers
- Violence against women
- International Students
- Youth Engagement