Artwork will be displayed in a juried art exhibition at Toronto City Hall. The show will run in conjunction with Refugee Rights Week and in commemoration of the April 4, 1985 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, recognizing that refugees have the right to fundamental justice.

Submissions will be juried by a panel made up of visual artists, refugees & refugee settlement workers. Priority will go to artists who are refugees, however other artist are welcome to submit work that speaks to the aforementioned theme. Artists working in the following media are invited to submit: Painting, Drawing, Photography, Print Making & Textiles. Successful entries will be exhibited in the Rotunda Room at Toronto City Hall from March 30th – April 3rd.

The Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada and Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association release their annual housing study, known as Where’s Home? 2008.  This year’s version tracks a number of critical housing trends over the last decade in Ontario, such as rental housing availability and affordability, demand for rental housing as well as development of additional stock. The study also profiles 22 municipal markets in the province.

The report, media releases, and more information are available on our website.

A Primer for Non-Profit Organizations on the Role of Legislation in Reducing Poverty in Ontario.  

This workshop is designed to strengthen non-profits' understanding of public policy and how you can work with government to influence change. It is part of an ongoing Metcalf Foundation series for those in organizations who want to understand the policy process and would benefit from a forum for candid exchange of ideas. This session will use as a case study the poverty reduction bill that was introduced into Ontario’s legislature on February 25, 2009, and be of particular interest to those working on this issue.

Adapting to new constellations of “family” and emerging “family issues”

Thursday March 26, 2009 
9:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Baycrest Hospital
3560 Bathurst Street, Wortsman Hall, Main Floor,
Toronto, Ontario

COST: Free

Panel discussion with:

PlanCamp will be an unconference focused on the planning, design, and governance of our cities. 

What is an Unconference?

From Wikipedia: "An unconference is a facilitated, participant-driven conference centered around a theme or purpose. The term "unconference" has been applied, or self-applied, to a wide range of gatherings that try to avoid one or more aspects of a conventional conference, such as high fees and sponsored presentations."

The world has seen recent decades of rapid economic growth. Yet the fruits of this growth have not been shared equally. In Canada, after-tax income inequality was higher in the post-2000 period than any other point since 1976, with the gap also widening between the middle class and top income earners, caustically challenging the mythology of Canada as a “kinder, gentler” nation in the global context. With the deepening global financial crisis, governments have reached a critical juncture with respect to the convergence of social and economic outcomes. Whether the burden of any recession is felt by some social groups and countries more than others depends largely on public policy.

Employment training programs are gaining increased funding in response to rising unemployment rates. Among the employment training programs that already exist, there are often challenges in creating successful, inclusive programs that result in real employment opportunities. The event will feature three examples of innovative employment training programs that address some of these challenges.

Monday, March 9th, 2009
10:00am – 12:30pm
The Raging Spoon 
761 Queen Street West

A free networking lunch will follow the event

Wednesday, March 24, 2009
11:00 – 12:00 noon
Where: From your desktop

To register:: [email protected]
For information: http://citiesofmigration.ca/integration-learning-exchange/calendar/

Panelists:

• Ayse Özbabacan, Department for Integration Policy, City of Stuttgart (Germany)
• Cormac O’Donnel, Strategic Policy Manager, Intercultural Unit Dublin City Council (Ireland)
• Kica Matos, Community Services Administrator City of New Haven, Connecticut (USA)

Monday, March 2, 2009 
7:00pm to 9:00pm

Intercontinental Hotel Yorkville
220 Bloor Street West
(wheelchair accessible)

Entrance: $5.00

Presentations by:

• Cheryl Teelucksingh, author of Environmental Justice & Racism in Canada and Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Ryerson University
• Jennifer Foulds, Communications Director and Pollution Watch web project lead at Environmental Defence

April 2 and 3, 2009
Central YMCA 
20 Grosvenor Street, Toronto

Registration deadline is March 2, 2009

The ODSP Action Coalition presents this interactive two-day forum, exploring the kinds of changes needed to significantly reduce the poverty of people with disabilities in Ontario. While the Ontario government has presented a poverty reduction strategy with a commitment to reduce child poverty by 25% in 5 years, it needs more action for people with disabilities.

For more information and to request a registration form, contact Nancy Vander Plaats, [email protected] or visit http://www.odspaction.ca/story/conference-reducing-poverty-people-disabilities