Overview

The 2023 AAISA Settlement & Integration Conference (March 1-3) is designed for front line professionals and managers from settlement and integration agencies. The conference will provide settlement and integration professionals with an opportunity to build capacity, share new knowledge and expertise with peers while generating practice insights and strategies to better serve newcomers.

The 2021 Settlement and Integration Conference provided over 400 attendees with an opportunity to hear from four keynote sessions, and an opportunity to participate in over 20 breakout sessions. You can find the agenda and descriptions of topics presented in 2021 here.

Goals and Objectives

The goal of the 2023 AAISA Settlement and Integration Conference is to enhance the capacity and quality of newcomer services delivered by settlement and integration professionals in the province. It is our hope that the conference will leave attendees with a shared understanding and strengthened commitment to help all newcomers succeed.

Audience

This event will bring together about 300 front line professionals, managers, and leaders from the settlement and integration agencies. This is a VIRTUAL event.

Topics

Newcomers wish to succeed for themselves and their families. Much of this success is attributed to the quality and ease of access to services that assist them with language training, employment, and community connections. We invite you to submit a proposal for a presentation or workshop that would address one or more of several major areas of interest identified by AAISA members.

You could also submit an innovative proposal on other themes that would be of interest to the conference audience.

The major areas of interest are:

Language and Employment

o   Learning disabilities and developmental delays, addressing diverse learner needs
o   Newcomers in the workplace
o   Language course for newcomers with disabilities
o   Low literacy programming
o   Language Assessment Needs
o   Supporting newcomers in unemployment and underemployment
o   Newcomer integration into labour market
o   Settlement sector and employer collaboration: best practices
o   Best practices in virtual language instruction

Working with Vulnerable Newcomers

o   TFWs – Current needs, practices, advocacy
o   Supporting newcomers with disabilities
o   LGBTQ+ newcomer programming
o   Supporting older newcomer adults
o   Settlement practices of Francophone agencies
o   Advancing equity and inclusion and intersectionality
o   Newcomer children and youth
o   Innovative and creative solutions to the humanitarian crises
o   Supporting newcomers in rural communities
o   Ukraine / Afghan response in rural communities

Organizational Capacity Building

o   Sustainability and non-profit governance: succession planning and managing leadership transitions
o   Zonal approach, case management and NAARS

Community Connections and Outreach

o   Anti-discrimination and human rights through settlement lens
o   Anti-racism- existing research and data
o   Mental health through newcomer lens
o   Reconciliation for settlement sector: Bridging the gap between newcomers and Indigenous populations

Digital Programming

o   Supporting newcomers to tackle digital transformation
o   Transitioning between virtual, hybrid, and in-person service delivery
o   Strategies for digital outreach

All submissions must be provided in this electronic form. Submissions must be received no later than Friday, December 9, 2022.