2a: Information

Immigration & Multiculturalism
Immigration

Online Resources

BC Archives
This is a good resource for teachers. It includes textual and visual records and moving images and sound recordings from the archives of the Government of British Columbia.

Canadian Immigrant Magazine
This is a great free resource for both teachers and learners. It offers information on settlement in BC, culture, education, money and business, etc. It also has a very good collection of immigrant stories, in which Canadian immigrants discuss a wide variety of topics about life in Canada. Lesson plans can be created by teachers on the many different articles.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada
This is the Federal Government’s official website providing comprehensive information about immigration law, process of immigration, settlement programs, etc.

Embrace BC
Funded by the Government of Canada and the province of BC, this website offers resources and links with a focus on promoting inclusive communities within BC.

Print Resources

Hana’s Suitcase. Levine, K. Toronto: Second Story Press. (2002).
The original book is illustrated for young readers but can be adapted for use with adults. There are excellent web-based teacher resources, archival material, and audio and video resources readily available online for extending the reading into research at www.hanassuitcase.ca. Learners could display their own immigration realia to explore their personal immigration stories, or they might consider the immigration histories of communities in Canada that sought refuge from persecution.

The Arrival. Tan, S. NY: Scholastic. (2006).
This graphic novel has no words or text. It chronicles the journey of an immigrant or refugee from his unspecified homeland to the USA. Using this text is a good way to explore visual literacy, enabling limited English readers to read a full-length novel. The pedagogical task is to build vocabulary and creative writing assignments based on the novel, so learners are able to narrate what they understand. It invites the use of objects to archive learners’ personal migration stories. See the author’s personal website for more information.
Multiculturalism

Online Resources

British Columbia Newcomers’ Guide to Resources and Services
This government manual offers information and services to newcomers settling in British Columbia. It includes information on topics such as housing, banking, health care, education, employment, business, the legal system, government, and citizenship. It is available in a web version and print copies are available free of charge from the website.

Statistics Canada
The Learning Resources web page has a lot of useful information. It includes a comprehensive list of lesson plans from elementary to post-secondary levels, and teachers can create their own graphs and charts based on the data of their choice.

The Globe and Mail
The site includes articles, video and features, top-rated comments, and poll results. To ensure that the content is relevant, use the search engine in the website.

Welcome to Canada: What you should know
This government website has a number of links to useful information for newcomers to Canada. There are also PDF versions available.

Canadian Museum of Civilization
This site contains an interesting online exhibition called Face to Face – The Canadian Personalities Hall. This exhibition has a wide variety of stories about Canadians throughout history who have contributed to the building and shaping of Canada and Canadian culture.

Print Resources

You’re Hired…Now What? An Immigrant’s Guide to Success in the Canadian Workplace. Goldman, Lynda. Oxford University Press (2009):
You’re Hired…Now What? is part of the Canadian Newcomer Series that offers soft- skills advice to immigrants facing potential cultural conflicts in the workplace. The book (and accompanying workbook) offers people from different countries and backgrounds an understanding of Canadian workplace culture and norms.

First Nations 101. Gray, Lynda Vancouver, BC: Adaawx Publishing. (2011).
An essential primer on First Nations issues. The author, a member of the Tsimshian Nation from British Columbia, writes with humour and particular insight. Topics range from issues of identity, community, health and wellness, to justice and the arts.  Well indexed and trim, the book is packed with more than 70 subjects including veterans, youth, urbanization, child welfare, appropriate questions to ask a First Nations person, feminism, the medicine wheel, Two-spiritedness (LGBTQ), residential schools, the land bridge theory, and language preservation. There is also a companion website at www.firstnations101.com