Many newcomers don’t have the information necessary or face barriers when it comes to participating in Canadian society, says Noor Bajaj, the social and civic engagement manager for MOSAIC’s Civic Opportunities for Newcomers: Networking and Engaging Communities Together (CONNECT) program. Established in 2024, the program provides a variety of services including an online course, workshop trainings and monthly newsletters – all of which support newcomers in civic engagement.

“The purpose of the project is really to support communities while fostering understanding and equitable opportunities for full participation in Canadian society,” adds Bajaj.

CONNECT will be hosting a free Visionary Leadership Conference (March 7) at the Executive Plaza Hotel in Coquitlam.

Encouraging civic engagement

Funded by Canadian Heritage, the program serves a diverse demographic in terms of age, culture, and language – welcoming young professionals just beginning their careers to retirees seeking meaningful community involvement. To increase accessibility for those unable to attend in-person workshops, the program designed an asynchronous online course with four modules: introduction to civic engagement, advocacy, volunteering, and engaging with Canadian elections.

“Through this course, our main goal is to equip clients with necessary information and tools and an action plan on how to be engaged and fully participate within their communities,” she adds.

The program manager shares that the course’s development involved engagement sessions and testing phases where client feedback was elicited. Alongside this course, CONNECT also offers monthly newsletters sharing projects and other civic engagement opportunities. Another way for participants to connect is through their Slack group, allowing for further collaborations.

Designed to foster meaningful discussions on a regional level, the program’s Visionary Leadership Conference will feature panel discussions, breakout rooms and community partners from Kelowna and Alberta. The program also routinely hosts Community Connect webinars, roughly two hours a session featuring keynote speakers, followed by breakout rooms touching on topics like collaboration, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

“We have iCan networking and mentoring opportunities,” the program manager adds. “The iCan networking event is a peer-led platform where we let other folks have those mentoring opportunities, both as mentors and mentees.”

Like their other initiatives, iCan Network aims to create community and mutual understanding between newcomers and immigrants from diverse backgrounds. Additional initiatives have included sessions on volunteering for Elections Canada and speed networking events.

“What we really want is to provide a networking opportunity where we share best practices and approaches to enhance civic engagement, as well as best practices around inclusive leadership,” Bajaj says.

Fostering community

Another remarkable aspect of the program is how it fosters friendships and connections among participants. Many newcomers arrive in Canada seeking community and engagement, and the program provides a welcoming space where they can find support and opportunities to integrate.

“[When] moving to a new country, it can oftentimes be a time of isolation,” Bajaj explains. “A lot of our clients end up being friends with each other. They meet outside of programs. They look forward to attending events together.”

Bajaj notes that their participants come prepared to engage with each other and their programs’ many initiatives. For her, CONNECT is simply a platform for participants to act on their pre-existing enthusiasm for civic engagement. This enthusiasm extends to volunteer involvement in the Canadian election system, despite not yet having the right to vote.

“A lot of them have participated in elections back in their home country, so they really want to understand the process,” she explains. “While they’re not able to vote, they can still get volunteer experience and learn more about the process.”

She shares how five to six previous CONNECT participants were eventually hired by Elections Canada after becoming citizens. For the program manager, the participants’ different backgrounds bring richness to their discussions.

“It’s been phenomenal to see just the level of how much folks want to be engaged,” Bajaj says. “They’re really looking for those opportunities and the accessibility of being engaged.”

For more information, see www.mosaicbc.org/our-programs/connect-civic-engagement