Conference Report: Pathways to Prosperity 2021 National Conference

More than 1100 participants gathered virtually at the Pathways to Prosperity 2021 National Conference

Recordings from plenary sessions and workshops are available on the virtual conference platform, which remains open to all registered attendees

Recordings from plenary sessions and workshops are also available on the P2P website under the Events section

 

Click here to access the Virtual Conference Platform

On November 8-10, 2021, the Pathways to Prosperity Partnership held its Ninth Annual National Conference – Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose: Post-COVID Strategies to Address Enduring Challenges in the Settlement and Integration of Newcomers in Canada. More than 1100 service providers, LIPs and RIFs, government representatives, researchers, and other stakeholders from across the country were in attendance.

Feedback Received
The feedback received on the conference indicates that by all counts it was a great success. For example, the keynote speaker, plenaries, and documentary screening received ratings of 6 and higher on the 7-point scale, with the other aspects of the conference hovering in the 5.7 to 6 range. When asked if they would attend future Pathways to Prosperity Conferences, the response from attendees was a resounding YES, with a mean likelihood rating of 6 on the 7-point scale. Comments included:

  • Thank you P2P Team for another fabulous conference. I look forward to these conferences every year and am never disappointed.
  • This was the most informative and inspiring conference I have ever been to. Great job to everyone – organizers, presenters. Really well done.
  • Excellent content, well organized, easy to use virtual platform.
  • As always, the topics are timely, and the diversity of perspectives interesting. I love the mix of academia, sector and policy representation at this conference, which is a main feature that keeps me coming back year after year.

Overview of the Conference: Sessions
The first day of the conference began with opening remarks, a land acknowledgement, and a presentation, including drumming, by Nadine McKenzie, Naawakwe Singers. The opening also included a video message by The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

The second day of the conference kicked off with an engaging special keynote address by Silmy Abdullah, author, lawyer and social justice advocate who reminded us of the power of story-telling and the need to incorporate the stories of racialized immigrant women to ensure immigration policies do not perpetuate gender inequality and racism.

The conference also included the following plenary sessions: Acknowledging and Defeating Racism and Islamophobia in Canada: The Path Ahead; Supporting Immigrant-Indigenous Relations in Canada: Addressing Long-standing Issues and Moving Toward a Shared Future; Envisioning Immigration and Settlement in Canada in a Post-Pandemic Era; Representing Our Communities: Ensuring Diversity and Inclusion Within LIPs and RIF; and LIPs and RIF as Knowledge Mobilizers.

Additionally, there were 26 workshops and discussion forums that covered topics such as addressing settlement challenges, anti-racism and anti-oppression initiatives, employer engagement, francophone minorities, gender-based violence, housing challenges, language training, temporary foreign workers, and updates from IRCC, to name a few.

The second day ended with screening of the documentary, The Mosque: A Community’s Struggle, followed by a Q&A with the Producer, Director, and Documentary Interviewees.

This year, the conference also included gamification and the top 5 participants received Amazon gift certificates.

Click here for the P2P 2021 Conference Agenda

Poster Presentations
The conference also included 11 poster presentations. At the end of the third day, the poster award winners were announced:

  • Mental Health and Wellbeing of Newcomer Young Men in Canada
    Mia Tulli & Carla Hilario
  • Newcomer Children with Complex Care Needs in New Brunswick
    Tatum Burdo, Shelley Doucet & Alison Luke

Congratulations to the presenters of these excellent posters!

Go to the conference website for a listing of poster presentations. We encourage you to visit the posters and connect with poster presenters on the virtual platform.

Sponsors and Virtual Exhibitor Booths
The conference also included 22 virtual exhibitor booths. The exhibitor booths were sold out weeks in advance of the conference.

Go to the conference website for a listing of exhibitors. We encourage you to visit the exhibitor booths and connect with representatives from these organizations on the virtual platform at your leisure.

We thank all of the exhibitors, and we thank the sponsors for their support:

We would like to thank all presenters, chairs, and facilitators who worked so hard to ensure that the conference was a success. We also thank the conference planning committees for putting together an amazing 3-day schedule.

Of course, this conference would not have been possible without the generous support of our main funder – Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada.

Session Recordings and Files
Video recordings and PowerPoint presentations from plenary sessions and workshops are available on the virtual conference platform, which remains open to all registered attendees. Meeting notes from discussion forums and Day 3 workshops are also available on the pages of the specific sessions, when you scroll down to the ‘Files’ section.

Presentations and Recordings are also available on the P2P website.

P2P 2022 Virtual Workshop Series
We continue this virtual gathering and knowledge sharing with the P2P 2022 Virtual Workshop Series, which will take place from January to April 2022 on Tuesdays at 1:00 PM EST. For more information on the Virtual Workshop Series schedule, click here.

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