Benefits to Canadians

A cohesive, diverse and inclusive society

University of Alberta

Centre fosters collaborations

The Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration brings together a multidisciplinary team of over 100 researchers from six prairie universities (universities of Alberta, Calgary, Manitoba, Regina, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg) to study the different ways immigrants integrate into Canadian society. The centre's program covers citizenship as well as political, economic, educational, health, and social and cultural integration. The centre's research addresses policy concerns and provides recommendations regarding immigrant integration and the intensifying diversity in Canadian cities. The centre fosters collaboration in the public and private sectors as well as with civil society organizations.

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Brock University

Understanding Transculturation

Associate Professor David Butz, of the Department of Geography was a principal investigator on a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) funded project that focused on portering (the carrying of loads for pay) in the community of Shimshal from colonial to contemporary times.  According to Butz, this practice "creates and recreates important sites for face-to-face contact and continues to shape representations of self, other, and place among locals and visitors."  The theoretical goal of the SSHRC project was "to understand this process of transculturation and see how people come to understand others and themselves through these labour relations."   

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The University of Calgary

Managing Multiculturalism in the Workplace

As the ethnic blend of Canada's citizens continues to mix and grow, Vasyl Taras, a PhD student in the Haskayne School of Business is studying how people from different cultural backgrounds acculturate while at work.

Taras believes that gaining a better understanding of acculturation rates among Western Canadian immigrants can aid managers in a number of ways, from conflict resolution and communication styles to pay structures and perception of justice.
He's working with three non-profit organizations and six businesses within the city to identify and survey up to 1, 000 immigrants in the workforce.

Disability Research on the Move

Examining the movement patterns of people with disabilities is helping researchers understand more about the minds of those with Down's Syndrome, autism and other conditions.

Using 3D sports imaging technology, Faculty of Kinesiology professor Dr. Timothy Welsh is comparing differences in motion between "average" people and those with disabilities to get a better idea of how the brain controls body movement in different populations.

His findings are being used to tailor physical therapy programs and improve home and work environments for individuals with special needs.

Bringing the Bard to Troubled Teens

For the last 19 years, U of C playwright and English professor Clem Martini has spent the summer helping troubled Calgary youth produce their own drama production.
This year, teens in the Phoenix Program – a national program for teen sex offenders run by the Woods Home agency in Alberta – worked with Martini to produce their own version of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Martini supervised kids as they wrote a script based on their own lives and observations in what is considered an indirect form of treatment that explores emotional candor, risk-taking and earning trust.

Their quirky adaptation of Macbeth examined the use and misuse power and offered interesting commentary on anger management, substance abuse and other contemporary issues.

Improving Care for Canada's Seniors

Dr. Colleen Maxwell, an epidemiologist from the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, is heading a $1 million research study that is examining the care of Canadian seniors living in continuing care or assisted living facilities. Funded by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, Maxwell's study is the first and largest of its kind in Canada. It is a timely response to the nationwide changes in senior care services and to the ever-aging population of our country. By evaluating the costs and impacts of current reforms in senior care services, Maxwell and a team of physicians, nurses, epidemiologists and healthcare policy makers hope to improve the quality of care and life of today's older Canadians, while building a better and more sustainable healthcare system for future generations of elderly Canadians.

Elder-friendly communities

In 2001, researchers at the University of Calgary brought together representatives from the city, the local health authority and social services to assist seniors in local communities. This university-led initiative resulted in the creation of the Elder Friendly Communities Program. This program empowers elderly people in Calgary to address their concerns themselves, with support from program staff and collaborating organizations. It has assisted more than 2,000 aging Calgarians last year alone with issues such as safety, community engagement, financial planning and physical fitness. The program has recently been introduced in South Australia and its replication for other communities across Canada and abroad is now being assessed.

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The University of Manitoba

Better Care for Canada's Most Vulnerable

Work by a team of University of Manitoba researchers will change the way palliative care is delivered to society's most vulnerable populations. Harvey Chochinov, Canada Research Chair in palliative care and director of the Manitoba Palliative Care Research Unit at CancerCare Manitoba, and Deborah Stienstra, director of disability studies at the university, are joint leaders of the End of Life Care and Vulnerable Persons New Emerging Team (VP NET). Over the next five years, the team, funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), will examine vulnerable populations, looking at the various physical, psychological and intellectual impairments that affect access to end of life care. The research will provide concrete models and guidelines that will inform both public policy and clinical practice, ensuring greater access to palliative care.

Improving the Health and Well-Being of Aboriginal Youth

University of Manitoba researcher Janice Forsyth is exploring ways in which the positive potential in sport and recreation can be organized to allow Aboriginal youth the opportunity to participate in meaningful physical activity programs that improve their overall health and well-being while expanding their leadership skills in ways that respect and enhance their cultural identities. Forsyth is the university's first Aboriginal scholar in Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation, a position created in partnership with the Government of Manitoba to enhance research in the field and to develop community-based research collaborations. The project, supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), will develop a community-based, youth-driven sport and recreation agenda to address barriers and enhance access for Aboriginal youth.

Exploring Technology's Role in the Lives of Disabled Canadians

The University of Manitoba was the first Canadian institution to offer an interdisciplinary program in disability studies, and researchers in virtually all faculties are involved in this rapidly emerging field of study. Debra Stiensta, director of disability studies, leads a project investigating ways in which technology can improve the quality of life of Canadians with disabilities and increase their access to services. Supported by a $1 million grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the research is focused on four areas: employment, e-learning, services, and e-government. The project will create a forum for people with disabilities to meet with industry representatives to exchange ideas and to develop a prototype for a personal digital assistant to facilitate activities such as personal banking and applying for jobs.

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Mount Saint Vincent University

CAREing for the elderly

Researchers at the Maritime Data Centre for Aging Research and Policy Analysis at Mount Saint Vincent University are contributing to the development of more effective policies and programs for caring for the elderly at home – a growing concern in Canada, given changing demographics. Among their initiatives is the CARE Tool (for Caregivers' Aspirations, Realities and Expectations), an instrument that helps home care agencies assess the necessary supports for family and friend caregivers. They are also projecting the future supply of these caregivers and analyzing policies aimed at supporting family and friends who assume caregiver roles.

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University of New Brunswick

Improving education

At the University of New Brunswick's Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy, researchers are providing policy-makers with guidance for improving the education and health outcomes of Canadian children and youth, while reducing disparities associated with family background. The institute hosts one of Statistic Canada's Research Data Centres, enabling researchers in Atlantic Canada to use national surveys such as the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. The researchers have been successful in integrating high-quality research with wide-scale national and international training programs that support capacity building in low-income countries. The institute has also developed Web-based evaluation tools, such as the Early Years Evaluation, that are being used across Canada and worldwide.

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Ryerson University

Robots help hospitalized children continue learning

Researchers at Ryerson University have developed a specialized technology to help hospitalized children stay connected to school. Called PEBBLES (for Providing Education By Bringing Learning Environments to Students), the system consists of two child-sized robots – one located in the hospital with the sick child, the other in the classroom – that transmit real-time video, audio and documents between classroom and child. PEBBLES reduces a sick child's sense of isolation, encourages learning and may in turn reduce trauma levels and health care costs. The technology was developed in collaboration with researchers at the University of Toronto and has been commercialized and sold internationally by the Toronto-based company, Telebotics.

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Queen's University

Effects of multiculturalism

Researchers at Queen's University have been studying the effects of Canada's multiculturalism policies both on immigrant ethnic groups and on the larger society. While critics have argued that multiculturalism impedes the integration of immigrant groups, and reduces levels of solidarity and cohesion in society, this new research suggests a very different picture. Using statistical data and indicators, researchers have shown that, compared to countries that have rejected multiculturalism, Canada has done very well both in terms of immigrant integration (for example, naturalization, political participation, official language competence or intermarriage rates), and in terms of sustaining national solidarity (e.g., social spending and support for the economically disadvantaged). These published findings have been cited by policy-makers in Canada and internationally, including the United Nations.

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Simon Fraser University

Imaginative Program Enhances Aboriginal Learning

Education researcher Mark Fettes received nearly $1 million from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to lead a groundbreaking research project that promises to help aboriginal youth attain greater academic, social and economic success.  A member of SFU's Imaginative Education Research Group, Fettes will work with a team of SFU researchers, graduate students, First Nations communities and regional school districts to apply innovative, imagination-based teaching strategies in classrooms with large numbers of aboriginal students. Fettes, an expert on linguistic ecology, studies how language and culture influence the way people imagine, and how imagination is implicated in learning, relationship-building and community identification.  He attributes the lackluster results of conventional learning strategies in an aboriginal setting to their tacit assumption of students' identity within the politically and economically dominant culture.

Acclaimed Film Mirrors Lives of Marginalized Women

"Building Bridge: a housing project for women," produced by Jackie Levitin, a professor of women's studies and contemporary arts at SFU, debuted at the 2003 Vancouver International Film Festival.  The internationally recognized documentary flowed from SFU anthropologist Dara Culhane's research into the health of women living in a new housing project – Bridge Housing – in Vancouver's downtown eastside.  Bridge Housing offers a safe haven and temporary accommodation for women trying to escape the streets of Vancouver's poorest neighbourhood.  SFU waived its copyright to the film and a forthcoming book so that royalties can be invested in future housing projects.

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University of Victoria

Helping visually-impaired children

The Assistive Technology Team at the University of Victoria is developing technologies to help people with special needs engage in everyday activities. In 2002, the team developed a prototype tricycle for visually-impaired children, enabling them to ride under adult supervision. A speaker emitting different sounds depending on the distance from the objects lets children know whether they are safe to proceed. Nine such tricycles have now been delivered to children across Canada. The UVATT team of faculty, staff, students and community volunteers have also adapted tricycles for children with dwarfism and developed a lateral rocking horse to help develop physically-challenged children's sense of balance. The team has developed almost 70 devices to improve the quality of life of people with special needs.

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The University of Western Ontario

Hearing specialists help children

Being unable to hear much of the world around them negatively affects the communication skills and social development of children with hearing impairments. Research at the Child Amplification Laboratory of the University of Western Ontario is helping to ensure that children with hearing impairments in Canada and around the world are getting effective, well-fitting hearing aids. The lab's proprietary Desired Sensation Level software is licensed to dozens of companies and is used around the world to help specialists select the best hearing aid for each child.

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Wilfrid Laurier University

Remembering the Past Improves the Future

Child witnesses are often key to securing convictions against pedophiles. But relying on the memory of anyone—including a child—is tricky business. At Wilfrid Laurier University, Kim Roberts and Anne Wilson are unravelling the way children and adults remember significant events.

Wilson compares subjects' initial vivid memories of personal experiences, to later recollections of the events.  "We're learning how young, middle-aged, and older adults remember positive and negative experiences, and how this affects identity, well-being, and decision-making," Wilson says.

Roberts is studying the ways children remember and differentiate experiences. She's developing strategies and training interviewers who work with children at the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa. Roberts' strategies will help police and Crown Attorneys in cases against child abusers.  

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Simon Fraser University
University of British Columbia
University of Victoria

Impact of Immigration

Researchers at Simon Fraser University, in collaboration with the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria, are providing federal and provincial policy-makers with key information on the impact of immigration on the economy, families, educational systems and the physical infrastructure of cities. The research includes identifying the role of schools in the integration of immigrant children into the Canadian economy, and Vancouver's social and health policy as it relates to refugees from war-torn countries, including Afghanistan. The project, part of the Vancouver Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis (or RIIM) also co-sponsors the annual Canada-China Roundtable on Immigration and Human Resources, an important forum for the discussion of bilateral issues on these topics.

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