SIXTH INTERNATIONAL METROPOLIS CONFERENCE

WORKSHOP 60: Parenting Issues of New Immigrants in Three Cities

Thursday, November 29, 2001
16:00 - 17:30


ORGANIZER

Kenise Murphy Kilbride
Ph.D., Associate Director
Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement - Toronto (CERIS)
350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA M5B 2K3
Phone: (416) 979-5339
Fax: (416) 979-5239
E-mail: kilbride@ryerson.ca

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

This panel will present the findings of a project (completed March 31, 2001) on the experiences and concerns of immigrant parents from 10 countries currently residing in Ottawa, Kitchener, or Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Data were gathered from key informants, focus groups with mothers and with fathers of children, and individual interviews of parents of children in 3 different age groups. A comparative analysis will be offered, as experiences of settlement and integration differ somewhat from city to city and from one national or ethnic group to another, the perspectives of mothers and fathers differ, and the three age groups of their children shape their concerns and needs. Local experiences of the services offered are presented as findings from the study, as feedback from participants in one city who returned to a highly interactive reporting session at the end of the projects, and from the viewpoint of the settlement service funder. Recommendations for future policies and practices are identified from the testimony of immigrants, and workshop attendees will be asked to comment on these and add their own.

DURATION: one 90-minute workshop

PARTICIPANTS

Academics: Etta Baichmann Anisef, researcher, Dept. of Sociology, Ryerson University, Toronto
Kenise Murphy Kilbride*, CERIS, Ryerson University, Toronto
Anna Aluffi, University of Rome, Italy (Commentator)
NGOs: Joanna Ochocka*, Centre for Research and Education on Human Services, Kitchener, Ontario, (Panel Chair)
Policymaker: CIC-OASIS representative Elizabeth Gryte

*While these participants currently reside in Ontario, they were born and raised to adulthood in Finland, Pakistan, the U.S. and Poland, and are themselves parents.