Project Background

The Civic Awareness Project (CAP) is a three year project funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Agincourt Community Services Association (ACSA) developed this project in response to an identified gap in the knowledge and involvement of Scarborough's immigrant communities in civic activities. The overall goal of ACSA's Civic Awareness Project (CAP) is to increase newcomer participation and foster integration of residents in the Dorset Park, Chester Le and Steeles L'Amoreaux neighbourhoods into a broader civic society. We will achieve this goal by:

• providing resources, tools and knowledge transfer on civic involvement, politics and social justice issues;
• engaging newcomers and immigrants in Canada's political and social civic process; and
• building the capacity with the residents and community organizations in these neighbourhoods to create and sustain local civic initiatives.

We believe that ‘civic engagement' can take on a variety of different forms – from advocating for better lit walkways in one's community to promoting changes in policy at the federal level. By the end of the project, participants will view political participation and community involvement not only as citizens within a democratic state but also as active members of their communities who contribute to shaping our nation's future.

Approach

A series of workshops has been developed and will constitute the nucleus of the project. The workshops will be offered in three communities to educate and involve newcomers in civic processes. ACSA has adopted a community engagement approach in the development of CAP's workshop curriculum.

Three Community Animators, each from different ethno‐cultural communities, have carried out a civic awareness audit in three underserved neighbourhoods, identifying the civic activities currently carried out in each community and their respective social‐political interests.

The core of the curriculum is designed to reflect the results of environmental scans that have been conducted in each community. Our curriculum builds upon and compliments the work that is already being done in these communities and aims to expand the knowledge of community members.

Curriculum

The curriculum developed for this project guides a series of civic literacy workshops and projects. In these workshops, we will be delving into political processes in Canada, including the roles and responsibilities of the municipal, provincial and federal levels of government and electoral processes at each level. Participants will have the opportunity to go to City Hall and Queen's Park where they will meet City Councillors and Members of Provincial Parliament. Participants will also learn about the publically funded organizations and institutions that exist to enhance their wellbeing such as schools, social assistance, hospitals, community housing etc. As well, these workshops will educate participants on social justice advocacy currently carried out by not for profit organizations and the strategies or tools that they employ to necessitate change.

Instructors and guest speakers from various levels of government, civic agencies and not‐for‐profit organizations, will assist in facilitating these workshops. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in discussions during these sessions. By engaging directly with individuals who work for particular organizations or levels of government, participants will gain greater insight into complicated and nuanced issues.

The workshops will be adapted to adult peer learning, and will be complemented by creative and interactive activities that will further engage the target communities. Along with educational workshops, we will be holding skill‐based or experiential workshops on letter writing, working with political campaigns, organizing around a particular issue, advocacy and serving on local committees.

Civic Awareness Toolkit and Roadmap

The toolkit will provide resources and opportunities that will enable participants to get involved in the systems that affect their lives:

• Resources – workshops and programs will be tailored to meet the civic needs and objectives of the participants and their communities; they will receive learning material that will serve as a roadmap to the various forms of civic activity for their pursuit
• Opportunities – the curriculum will have a built‐in networking component that can improve social capital; develop links across ethno‐language confines; expand the scope and impact of their civic involvement; contribute to the common good of their neighbourhoods

Civic Champions

CAP's Community Leaders Capacity Building component starting in year two will provide an intensive leadership and facilitation skill building program to selected civic champions from each target community. The mentorship portion will match the civic champions with their local politicians, civic leaders, and organizations to further leverage their leadership skills.

Project Contacts