ANNUAL REPORT 2015 - 2016

5. Integration
Integration is focused on facilitating the process immigrants and refugees experience
beyond settlement to become part of their new Canadian communities. It includes
seeing themselves and being seen as contributors and feeling welcome to be themselves
in many contexts.
Integration Forum
MCoS partnered with the Saskatchewan Association of Immigrant Settlement and Integration Agencies (SAISIA)
and SaskCulture to hold a forum on integration in October 2015. It served as an extension of the 2014 Settlement
and Integration Summit hosted by SAISIA that focused on settlement, which is the acclimatization and the early
stages of adaptation. Once again, government and community settlement, multicultural, and ethnocultural
organizations gathered for learning and dialogue, this time at Wanuskewin Heritage Park in Saskatoon, to
articulate a common understanding of integration.
The keynote address was delivered by Carl Nicolson, Executive Director of Catholic Immigrant Services in Ottawa.
An integration showcase panel presented examples of integration programs and services offered in the province.
Facilitated discussion centred on questions such as: What do we know about integration of immigrants in
Saskatchewan? Are there gaps? If so, how do we fill them?
Emerging Concepts of Integration
1. Inclusiveness, sense of belonging, feeling of acceptance, making roots and connections, a sense of
giving and taking.
2. Ability to contribute to community, free of barriers, where everybody feels safe, where trust is
present, and mistakes are learning opportunities.
3. The community recognizes contributions.
4. Cultural identity remains strong and is seen as an asset.
5. The experience and definition of integration is personal.
6. Individuals no longer need specialized programs and services that are different from mainstream.
7. Education for newcomers and established community members on being a welcoming community: it
involves attitudes, values, mindsets and correcting wrong or inaccurate perceptions.
8. Having a voice that is taken seriously in a community in which one identifies as belonging and is
recognized by all as a true community member.
History and Experience of Saskatchewan Roughrider
players and personnel who "Played and Stayed"
In celebration of its 10 th anniversary in September 2015, the Saskatchewan African Canadian Heritage Museum Inc.
(SACHM) hosted a symposium with over 70 people and a banquet in the evening, attended by 127 people. There
was a lot of publicity and recognition given to the legacy of Dr. Shadd and the recent production of the children’s
book Li’l Shadd: A Story of Ujima.
The symposium involved players and personnel of African ancestry from the various eras of Saskatchewan
Roughrider football, who came to play football and either stayed or returned to the province. They shared their
experiences as players and community members that illustrate an evolution from prejudice to acceptance. The
event was taped by Access Communications and will be made into a series that will educate and benefit the
general public and educators. Previous MCoS funding enabled SACHM to add “Riders who played and stayed” to
the virtual museum.
“The Saskatchewan Roughriders volunteered their time to share their stories of what it was like to come here and
what it was about Saskatchewan that made them choose stay and make this province their home,” recounts Carol
34 Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan