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CCR Meetings
 
Fall Consultation 2010

24-26 November 2010, Calgary
on the theme of Fairness

You are invited to attend the CCR Consultation to:

- Meet service providers, immigrants, refugees, private sponsors, youth, academics, policymakers and activists from across Canada.

- Gain professional training and new ideas to strategize, plan and carry out actions on a wide range of issues affecting refugees and immigrants.

- Exchange ideas to improve opportunities for refugees and immigrants.

- Discuss community engagement to support the full participation of newcomers in Canadian society.

Pamphlet PDF (contains provisional program)

Registration form (on line)

There is also a downloadable version of the registration form (but we prefer you to fill it out on-line, if you can).

Workshop summaries PDF

Register before 5 November to take advantage of the reduced fees!

Note: This consultation is Wednesday to Friday (not the usual CCR days).

Information on Consultation accommodation and travel are on page 4 of the Pamphlet.

Photography, filming and audio recording

To protect the privacy of participants, we ask you to respect our policy restricting any forms of recording during CCR sessions. You may however take photos (or film or audio record) outside the CCR sessions (for example in the coffee area or lobbies, or before or after a workshop session), but ONLY after explaining the purpose and obtaining permission of each person photographed, filmed or recorded. The policy is available at http://ccrweb.ca/en/policy-recording

There will be CCR photographers taking pictures during some of the sessions, so that we can document the consultation. If you do not wish to be included in any of the photos, sit in the part of the room that is marked as photo-free. In certain circumstances, the CCR may grant exceptions to specific projects involving recording during a session. Applicants would need to make a request by Friday, November 5th. For more information, see http://ccrweb.ca/en/recording-request.

Travel subsidies

Limited funding to subsidize travel for participants from the settlement sector and youth is available. Information and application formss are available by following the links here:

Application for travel subsidy: Settlement sector - deadline 19 October 2010.

Application for travel subsidy: Youth (ages 18-25) - deadline 19 October 2010.

The Canadian Council for Refugees gratefully acknowledges financial support for this consultation from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Why attend a CCR Consultation?

Here's what some people liked best about past Consultations:

"I feel as though I learned huge amounts! I met a number of people that will be so helpful for my work."

"Excellent insight into current and past issues, as well as opportunities to connect with people from organizations and groups across the country."

"I am new to the sector: This was a good place to orient myself to urgent issues. This is an opportunity to consult, offer feedback, identify barriers, make recommendations."

"CCR continues to impress with its diversity of representation and increasingly the involvement of a younger group of advocates and refugees."

"For refugee participants, I got a sense of a positive empowerment. It feels good to know that our concerns are heard and that our daily challenges are considered in national forums and at political levels."

Your first time participating in a CCR consultation?

We hope to have orientation sessions in a number of cities for registered participants before the Consultation.  These sessions will be an opportunity to share information about the CCR and to meet others who will be attending the Consultation, so that you can get the most out of your participation.

Details on time and location of local orientation sessions will be sent out to registered participants once available.

There will also be orientation sessions for new participants held at the Consultation. A youth orientation session will take place on the evening of Tuesday, November 23rd. An orientation session for all Consultation participants will take place on Wednesday, November 24 at 8 am.

You can also read the Brief Guide to the CCR Consultation. Alternatively, consult the Youth Network Orientation Guide.

Spreading the word

Please help us to promote this Consultation by passing this invitation to people who might be interested in attending and by directing people to this webpage. We appreciate your help in making it a success!

Use this announcement to encourage Youth Participation in the CCR fall consultation.

General Information
Consultations

The Canadian Council for Refugees holds two Consultations each year, one in the spring (May or June) and one in the fall (November or December). The Consultations are held in different cities.

CCR Consultations address issues of refugee protection and immigrant and refugee settlement. They bring together 300 or more people from across Canada and beyond. Participants include refugees, immigrants, representatives of NGOs, government, UNHCR, academics and international guests.  A General meeting of members is always held at these Consultations, where the resolutions that drive CCR policy are moved and adopted.

The consultations offer a key opportunity for information-exchange, networking, strategy development and discussion.

People who work with newcomers and those with a personal interest in refugees and immigrants are warmly invited.

The consultation is an excellent opportunity to:

  • meet and learn from experts in the field
  • exchange information and prepare resolutions on a broad range of refugee and newcomer issues
  • contribute to the CCR working groups’ ongoing dialogue on policy and legislation.
Working group meetings

The CCR’s three Working Groups provide the forum for CCR members and other refugee and immigrant rights advocates to exchange information, network and develop policy positions in particular areas of concern.  Each Working Group is responsible for preparing resolutions, following up on action items, and planning workshops for the consultations, as well as for advising the CCR Executive on policy.  The Working Group meetings are closed to representatives of government and the media.

The CCR Working Groups meet four times a year.  Two of these meetings take place during the consultations (see above).  The other two series of working group meetings take place in February (in Toronto) and in September (in Montreal).

The working group meetings offer an excellent opportunity to:

  • Participate in efforts to promote refugee protection and resettlement, and the settlement of refugees and immigrants
  • Discuss in depth pressing issues affecting refugees and immigrants in Canada
  • Share information and strategies with others from across Canada

Further information about the three working groups.
 
Upcoming Meetings
  • Winter Working Group meetings 2011, 25-26 February 2011, Toronto
  • Spring Consultation 2011, 26-28 May 2011, Hamilton
  • Fall Working Group meetings 2011, 9-10 September, Montreal
 
Past Consultations