AAISA Engagement Meetings: Strengthening Collaboration Across Alberta’s Settlement Sector
Initiative Description
AAISA convenes a range provincial, regional and program-specific engagement meetings that supports Alberta’s settlement and integration sector. These meetings are structured and inclusive spaces designed to bring together the various different stakeholders that support Alberta’s newcomer sector and help newcomers arrive and settle into our communities.
Service provider organizations (SPOs), government partners, funders, and sector leaders have the opportunity to share updates, discuss and learn more about emerging issues. Together, these engagements help elevate local perspectives, encourage coordinated responses, and strengthen connections between organizations supporting newcomers across Alberta.
AAISA recognizes that this work takes place on the traditional territories of many Indigenous Nations across what is now known as Alberta. We acknowledge the histories, cultures, and ongoing contributions of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples, and we are committed to fostering respectful relationships, learning, and collaboration within the settlement and integration sector.
Objectives of Our Engagements
- Strengthen communication and collaboration across newcomer-serving organizations
- Share timely provincial, regional, and program-level updates
- Identify emerging trends, challenges, and service gaps
- Support alignment between service provider organizations, government partners, and funders
- Build sector capacity through shared learning and engagement
Who Are the Engagements For?
AAISA engagement meetings are intended for organizations and partners involved in supporting newcomers across Alberta.
Participants can include federally funded Service Provider Organizations (SPOs) delivering settlement and integration services.
This includes program managers and frontline staff, organizational leadership, government representatives, funders, and other sector partners working to strengthen newcomer supports.
Can We Join all Engagements?
We encourage and welcome participants to join as many meetings as possible. However, participants will vary depending on the purpose of each meeting and certain committees or working groups might involve an application or invitation process for membership.
Reach out to see which engagements work best for you or you may be eligible for.
Language & Accessibility
Meetings are primarily conducted in English.
French interpretation may be available for select meetings, subject to funding availability.
To support accessibility and knowledge sharing, we also provides meeting minutes, presentation materials, and resources shared during the sessions whenever possible.
Get Involved
If your organization is interested in participating in AAISA engagement meetings or would like support identifying which meetings align with your work, please contact: events@aaisa.ca
AAISA welcomes participation from organizations committed to strengthening settlement and integration services across Alberta.
AAISA Engagement Meetings
To download the AAISA Engagement Meetings Overview (PDF), Click Here!
Provincial Engagement Initiative (PEI)
This meeting connects newcomer-serving agencies across Alberta through three regional committees: Calgary, Edmonton, and Small Centres. These committees offer a structured forum to elevate local experiences, strengthen provincial awareness, and identify shared challenges across the settlement sector
Eligibility: Participation is application-based.
Frequency: Quarterly meetings
Learn more: Provincial Engagement Initiative (PEI)
IRCC Small Centre Quarterly Call
This meeting is designed to keep Small Centre agencies connected, this call supports the exchange of local updates, emerging challenges, and best practices unique to smaller and rural communities.
Eligibility: Open to all Small Centre IRCC-funded Service Provider Organizations
Frequency: Quarterly meetings
Learn more: IRCC Small Centre Engagement (Small Centre Engagement Initiative)
Rural Settlement Network Meeting
This meeting brings together organizations supporting newcomers in Alberta’s rural communities (populations under 10,000). These meetings create a collaborative space to share local challenges and successes, discuss rural specific needs, explore emerging trends, and strengthen relationships across underserved regions.
Eligibility: Open to service providers supporting newcomers in rural or remote communities.
Frequency: Quarterly meetings
IRCC Alberta Settlement Sector Teleconference Call
This meeting strengthens collaboration and communication between Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the Government of Alberta, Réseau en immigration francophone de l’Alberta (RIFA), and the broader settlement and integration sector.
Eligibility: Open to all IRCC-funded Service Provider Organizations in Alberta
Frequency: Quarterly meetings
Learn more: Alberta Settlement Sector Quarterly Teleconference
IRCC Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) Call
This meeting facilitates coordination on refugee resettlement activities between IRCC, the Government of Alberta, and Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) Providers. The meetings often include high-level updates and presentations of the RAP Dashboard.
Eligibility: Open to all designated RAP Providers in Alberta
Frequency: Quarterly meetings
Learn more: IRCC Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) Calls
Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) Providers Monthly Call
This meeting provides an ongoing, collaborative space for RAP Providers to coordinate responses, share emerging trends, and stay aligned between quarterly IRCC Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) calls.
Eligibility: Open to all designated RAP Providers in Alberta — coordinators, managers, and senior staff
Frequency: Monthly (except in months when IRCC RAP calls occur)
Provincial Language Sector Call (PLSC)
The meeting serves as a collaborative forum that brings together language providers from across Alberta and the Northwest Territories, along with IRCC and the Government of Alberta, to share updates, exchange best practices, discuss emerging issues, and collaboratively strengthen language service delivery across the province.
Eligibility: Open to all IRCC-funded LINC/CLIC providers and language assessment centres in Alberta.
Frequency: Quarterly meetings
Calgary LINC Coordinators Meeting
This meeting is to coordinate language services within Calgary by sharing updates, reviewing policies, and discussing intake trends and operational needs.
Eligibility: Open to all IRCC-funded LINC/CLIC providers and language assessment services specifically in Calgary
Frequency: Quarterly meetings
Portfolio-Based Language Assessment (PBLA) Team Lead Meeting
This meeting provides a space for Portfolio-Based Language Assessment (PBLA) Team Leads to share best practices, discuss challenges, and support one another in delivering consistent and high-quality PBLA implementation across Alberta.
Eligibility: Open to all IRCC-funded PBLA Team Leads within LINC/CLIC programs
Frequency: Semi- Annually Meetings
Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Team Lead Meeting
This meeting supports enhanced communication and collaboration among TFW (Temporary Foreign Worker) service providers across the Prairies and Northern Territories (PNT). The group examines TFW distribution, identifies emerging policy needs, and helps shape targeted interventions.
Eligibility: Open to ESDC/CCIS-funded TFW Hub service providers in the PNT region and SPOs supporting Temporary Foreign Workers.
Frequency: Quarterly meetings
Refugee Claimant Support Network Meeting
This meeting brings together service providers across Alberta who support refugee claimants, providing a space to share challenges, celebrate successes, discuss operational needs, and identify emerging trends, while keeping organizations informed about policy developments and program updates affecting refugee claimants.
Eligibility: Service providers assisting refugee claimants.
Frequency: Quarterly meetings
Knowledge Mobilization (KMB) Session
These sessions build sector capacity by sharing timely, practical knowledge that strengthens collaboration, learning, and connection across the newcomer-serving sector. They focus on real-time challenges, usable tools, available programs, and the inclusion of both professional and community perspectives.
Participants: Open to frontline workers, organizational leaders, funders, policymakers, community members, and newcomer-serving staff who wish to learn and engage. The sessions also welcome individuals/ organizations interested in presenting to the sector and sharing practical knowledge, tools, programs, research, and emerging insights.
Frequency: Quarterly sessions (with additional sessions as needed)
