Small Centre Engagement

OVERVIEW OF SMALL CENTRE ENGAGEMENT

AAISA’s Small Centre Engagement focuses on and accentuates small centre agencies’ unique challenges and experiences, through convening service providers to build collective capacity. This work supports agencies to overcome barriers in service delivery and to develop strategies targeting improved outcomes at a systems level.

Strengthen understanding of the context of small centres across Alberta and the advantages and challenges faced by newcomers in each environment
Identify emerging needs, gaps, and challenges agencies face in service delivery
Highlight promising practices and support knowledge mobilization
Foster collaboration across agencies provincially, regionally, and nationally
Build opportunities for engagement on issue-based initiatives and strategies
Develop tools and resources to support small centre agencies to build capacity and service delivery outcomes
Amplify a collective voice among Alberta’s small centres

Resources

The Small Centre Strategy, as originally developed by the Alberta Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies (AAISA) in September 2018, is intended to provide a foundation of support for newcomer-serving agencies outside of the urban contexts of Calgary and Edmonton. After two years of implementation, AAISA has garnered significant experience surrounding challenges, best practices, and opportunities for growth pertaining to its work with small centre agencies in Alberta. While the core purpose, objectives, and vision of the Small Centre Strategy remain consistent, the updated Small Centre Strategy reflects some tailored approaches and activities to ensure maximum impact and utility.

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La stratégie des petits centres, élaborée à l'origine par l'Alberta Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies (AAISA) en septembre 2018, vise à fournir une base de soutien aux organismes de services aux nouveaux arrivants en dehors des contextes urbains de Calgary et d'Edmonton. Après deux ans de mise en œuvre, l'AAISA a accumulé une expérience significative en matière de défis, de meilleures pratiques et d'opportunités de croissance liés à son travail avec les petits centres de l'Alberta. Bien que le but, les objectifs et la vision de la stratégie des petits centres restent cohérents, la stratégie mise à jour des petits centres reflète certaines approches et activités adaptées pour assurer un impact et une utilité maximaux.

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The Alberta Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies (AAISA) has developed a toolkit to address the needs of agencies supporting newcomers in Alberta. The Toolkit is based on a framework that was initially informed by consultations with members of AAISA’s Small Centre Engagement Strategy through various means such as site visits, teleconferences, as well as a survey. Such activities indicated that there is a lack of resources, trainings, and supports available in small centres and a toolkit could address some of these gaps and help to better serve clients.

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AAISA undertook an assessment of the Toolkit in early 2020, which was funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). This assessment was intended to maintain continuity with the stakeholder-informed process of development and looked to evaluate the Small Centre Toolkit in order to ensure that it was aligned with the needs of Small Centre agencies. This report outlines the results of the assessment that was carried out in February 2020.

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AAISA a entrepris une évaluation de la trousse à outils au début de 2020, qui a été financée par Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada (IRCC). Cette évaluation visait à maintenir la continuité du processus de développement informé des parties prenantes et visait à évaluer la trousse à outils des petits centres afin de s'assurer qu'elle était alignée sur les besoins des agences des petits centres. Ce rapport présente les résultats de l'évaluation qui a été réalisée en février 2020.

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