Dispatches provide timely bimonthly information on results, upcoming events, and updates on various experiments conducted by the international Metropolis partners. It is your communications device; please make use of it. To have information placed in Dispatches, please contact Erin Tolley at erin.tolley@cic.gc.ca.

Partner Update

Citizenship and Immigration Canada

The Summer 2005 issue of The Monitor, is now available at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/monitor/current.html. The Monitor is an on-line newsletter posted quarterly by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. It features timely statistics on citizenship and immigration trends. Once a quarter, an in-depth analysis of one of the key movements (permanent residents, foreign workers, foreign students and new citizens) appears in The Monitor. This quarter, the analysis focuses on foreign workers and is based on annual data through 2004.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)

HRSDC recently released Looking-Ahead: A 10-Year Outlook for the Canadian Labour Market (2004-2013). The report looks at expected job creation in the coming 10 years, the industries and occupations in which job creation is expected, the impact of retirements on job openings, the kind of education that will be required to fill these positions, whether or not supply will meet demand, and the occupations in which there will be significant labour market pressures. The report can be accessed at http://www11.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/cs/sp/hrsdc/arb/publications/research/2004-002795/outlook.shtml.

Infrastructure Canada

On October 13-14, 2005, Infrastructure Canada partnered with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and several other government departments to host a conference on Sustainable Cities: Linking Competitiveness with Social Cohesion. It featured experts from 23 countries and examined the challenges faced by large cities attempting to improve their global economic competitiveness while at the same time providing the social conditions necessary to attract investors and skilled workers. For information, visit: . http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/oecd-conference/index_e.shtml.

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

The IOM will host its International Dialogue on Migration on November 29 – December 2, 2005; it will look at Policy Coherence on Migration. There will be panel discussions, including a panel on policy coherence, one with a "year in review" focus, and a final panel on migration and development. Visit: www.iom.int.

Policy Research Initiative

The Policy Research Initiative has released two publications as part of its 2-year policy research project on social capital. The first publication, Social Capital Briefing Note, provides a concise summary of findings and recommendations, while the second, Social Capital as a Public Policy Tool: Project Report, contains a detailed synthesis of the activities, findings, and recommendations from a 2½ year policy research project on social capital. See www.policyresearch.gc.ca.

Migration Policy Institute

The Migration Information Source, an initiative of the Migration Policy Institute, has put together a special issue on unauthorized migrants, which explores policy options and data relevant to the debate. Some of the most intense discussions are taking place in the United States, and a number of articles are devoted to the US situation. Among these are a comparison of legislative proposals, data on immigration enforcement, and a statistical portrait of the unauthorized population. The issue also includes a detailed look at Spain’s recent regularization program, as well as a Migration Fundamental on regularization. Please visit www.migrationinformation.org. You can also visit MPI’s home page for links to new data and resources on migration: www.migrationpolicy.org.

UNESCO

Volume 7, Number 1 of UNESCO's International Journal on Multicultural Societies (IJMS) looks at The Links Between Academic Research and Public Policies in the Field of Migration and Ethnic Relations: Selected National Case-Studies and is now available at http://www.unesco.org/shs/ijms/vol7/issue1. It examines the link between research and policy in the field of migration and ethnic relations. The issue contains an editorial by Matthias Koenig, as well as the following articles: The Links between Academic Research and Public Policies in the Field of Migration and Ethnic Relations: Selected National Case Studies - Thematic Introduction, by Eric Florence and Marco Martiniello; Does Migration Research Matter in China? A Review of its Relationship to Policy since the 1980s, by Biao Xang and Shen Tan; Bridges between Research and Policy? The Case of Post-War Immigration and Integration Policies in the Netherlands, by Rinus Penninx; Social Science Research and Public Policies: the Case of Immigration in Belgium, by Eric Florence and Marco Martiniello; and Les migrations, un fait de société majeur, mais un champ de recherche encore marginal au Maroc, by Mohamed Charef.