Refugee Resettlement Policy Brief: Why Collaboration Matters

Abstract

When it comes to refugee settlement and integration, collaboration between stakeholders – academics, community organizations, settlement provider organizations, and people with lived experience (PWLEs) – ensures that diverse perspectives and expertise are brought to bear on decision-making, helping to make policies and programs more responsive to the needs of those they are intended to serve.

This policy brief summarizes the conversation from an episode of CYRRC’s podcast, The Refuge, between Dr. Howard Ramos - political sociologist and Chair of Sociology Department at Western University; David Cashaback - senior director for Settlement and Integration Policy at Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC); and Hanen Nanaa - Ontario regional advisor at the Liberal Research Bureau, in the Parliament of Canada, founder of Books, Art, Music Collective for Youth; and a former Syrian refugee. They chat about the importance of collaboration, what effective collaboration looks like, and offer recommendations on how to include PWLEs in policy and program development.