Reduced Inequalities Archives

The Women of Ontario Social Enterprise Network (WOSEN) is focused on catalyzing social innovation ‒ reorganizing (or reimagining) the way the current entrepreneurial system works to enable underrepresented and underserved women founders to participate and prosper in business and society. WOSEN is an innovative equity-centred collective impact initiative, incorporating a developmental evaluation approach, to create the critical resources, relational networks and stakeholder capacity that underpin a healthy, functioning and thriving ecosystem to foster more inclusive economies. The Interim Report captures key lessons and impact from the WOSEN experience that will shape the future of the program and may prove critical to the reorganization of the current entrepreneurial system, to foster the growth of women-owned and women-led ventures with a positive social and environmental impact.

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Urban Indigenous Youth for Change is a collaborative project focused on urban Indigenous youth aged 13 – 35 to embrace their role as change makers in their communities.

UIYFC supports youth in co-creating a path of opportunity for themselves and others by becoming aware, engaged and informed of the social economy sector. The project creates opportunities for Indigenous youth to learn and teach one another – bringing together Indigenous culture, land based knowledge and entrepreneurship skills. UIYFC works to engage urban Indigenous youth by connecting young change makers with peers, elders and knowledge keepers and community organizations. The youth-led UIYFC steering committee collaborates by focusing on strengths to create a better future for youth.

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Jordan Tabobondung, Kristia Bissiallon, Lauren Doxtater, Rebecca Commanda, Samantha Kyle, Taylor Jolin

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Soup Ste. Marie is a public dinner designed to use community-driven financial support to democratically fund projects led by individuals, businesses and groups of community members. It is a recurring micro-grant model based on the international Sunday Soup program which uses crowd sourcing to finance creative projects through community meals. This years’ theme was “Engaging Indigenous Youth.” UIYFC were the lead organizers for the event supported by NORDIK Institute, Social Entrepreneurship Evolution and YouLaunch. Marek McLeod won over $400 to deliver youth paint nights where he would teach arts-based skills to create painting based on elder’s teachings.

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2013 – Ongoing

Project Team:

Elizabeth MacMillan, Rebecca Commanda, Katie Blundt, Jamie McIntyre

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https://www.facebook.com/events/539005459500908/

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Social Enterprise for Northern Ontario (SENO) CoStarter for Change supports the development of early-stage, high growth social enterprises in Northern Ontario by offering social entrepreneurs access to capital, educational and support programs, workspace, and other services to help launch and grow their non-profit and for-profit ventures. In 2013, Ontario launched the Social Enterprise Strategy (https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontarios-social-enterprise-strategy-2016-2021). The Social Enterprise Demonstration Fund (SEDF) (program closed) is one of the key commitments to the strategy, supporting 11 social finance projects throughout the province. A $4 million contribution has leveraged $6 million in private investment. Social Enterprise Northern Ontario (SENO) a collaboration led by PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise is one of the successful social finance projects, receiving $250,000 for two years.

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Social Entrepreneurship Evolution (SEE) is an emergent pan-northern collaborative whose focus is to support the infrastructure for Youth Social Entrepreneurship (YSE) with an emphasis on collaboration, shared measurement and collective impact. Lead by NORDIK Institute and its various regional partners, this project focuses on building a sustainable network by providing supports, setting up connections, sharing resources, building capacities, engaging youth, using community based research methods, and promoting social entrepreneurship and the benefits it can bring to Northern Ontario. SEE has initiated a number of programs including Urban Indigenous Youth for Change, SENO CoStarter for Change, as well as leading a nine-week free workshop series, open to all, to learn about Social Enterprise, Entrepreneurship, and business basics, and how to begin a business that can help solve community problems.

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Katie Elliott, Shannon Moan, Melanie Watson, Dr. Gayle Broad, Erika Luoma, Katie Blunt, Elizabeth MacMillan, Jamie McIntyre, Jordan Wettlaufer

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Social Entrepreneurship Evolution (SEE)

Sign up for our updates and get involved with the movement of social innovation and entrepreneurship by heading over to our website seethechange.ca

For more frequent updates, follow our Facebook page and Twitter handle for news and alerts from the movement on a regular basis.

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The Metis Nation of Ontario’s Education and Training department delivers numerous services to the Metis population residing in Ontario. This department is also responsible to deliver services and programs that aid Metis citizens in the area of employment, education and training opportunities including financial resources, skill development and programming.

NORDIK Institute delivered and developed an Asset Map report that displayed the education and skill levels of the Métis citizen workforce in Ontario for the Métis Nation of Ontario’s Education and Training department, which is responsible for delivering employment, education and training opportunities for Métis citizens. While Metis people attempting to access the labour market are faced with numerous barriers and challenges, they possess significant assets. The report highlighted assets such as a strong sense of culture and identity of Metis people themselves, who bring together a unique set of skills, connection to the land, traditional knowledge and a vital culture that Métis people bring with them as they enter the workplace, whether as wage-earners, or as self-employed entrepreneurs. These assets can be enhanced and/or extended to build a stronger foundation for an even stronger and more diverse robust labour force participation for among Metis Métis people.

Project Team:

Dr. Gayle Broad, Lauren Doxtater, Connie Manitowabi

Dates:

2016

Publications:

Asset Mapping Report – Labour Market Skills, Education and Employment Experience

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In partnership with an Indigenous Youth Council, NORDIK has developed the innovative Indigenous Youth Lead Youth Anti-Racism Program. This important initiative is intended to empower youth leaders to deliver culturally safe, Indigenous-focused anti-racism workshops in school and community settings. The objective of this program is to promote understanding and a shared responsibility in creating respectful community relationships with all youth in Ontario.

The Indigenous Youth Lead Youth Anti-Racism Program will help promote understanding and shared responsibility to create respectful community relationships with all youth in Ontario. It is designed to engage non-Indigenous youth through interactive, age-appropriate workshops in elementary schools, high schools, post-secondary schools and other community settings.

Discussions on race and ethnicity are personal. Many choose not to share experiences due to traumatic events and can find it challenging to explain the interconnected nature of racism. For Indigenous Peoples, the legacies of Residential schools, implications of the Treaty-making process and negative stereotypes all play a role in their experiences today.

In these workshops, participants discuss the negative impacts of racism and biases on First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in a culturally safe, supported environment. Youth participants learn about the importance of building respectful intercultural relationships and dialogue.

The program was designed with input from First Nations, Métis and Inuit youth and elders. Funding for the development of the program was provided by the Ontario Ministry of Indigenous Affairs.

This flexible program includes six 90-minute workshop modules that can be tailored to suit the grade level of the intended audience. A training materials are also available. Facilitators can choose to run some or all of the modules:

The beautiful, unique artwork that accompanies the Program materials was created by Patrick Hunter: https://www.patrickhunter.ca

NORDIK would like to thank the following people for their important contributions to this program:

The Indigenous youth and Elders who comprised the Youth Advisory Circle, the students and staff of Pelican Falls High School, Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School, and Keewaytinook Okimakanak Secondary School for hosting the Youth Advisory Circle and providing feedback on the program, and the Métis Nation of Ontario for reviewing content.

The Indigenous Youth Leading Youth Training Guide and Workshop Package have been developed by the NORDIK Institute and were funded by the Ontario Ministry of Indigenous Affairs. The views expressed in the Training Guide do not necessarily represent the views of the Government of Ontario.

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Northern Ontarians have spent most of the 21st century concerned about our region’s declining population, which due to a combination of outmigration and declining birth rates has either declined or been relatively stagnant since the late 1990s. While these declines are somewhat offset by the population growth in Indigenous communities throughout the region, if this demographic trend does not reverse itself, Northern Ontario will lack the human resources to fill local labour market needs and the regional tax base will continue to shrink, resulting in a region that is less productive, economically less active, and risks further decline.

The RNIP has two primary objectives: retaining existing immigrants and attracting new immigrants to the region. The program is an adaptation of Canada’s point-based immigration system, where an applicant will require 70 points to be eligible to apply for permanent residency.

Project Team:

Dr. Nusrate Aziz & Sean Meades

Date:

2020

Publication:

Review of the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Download