As a strategic planning body engaged in supporting the development of community-based settlement and integration strategies, the North Shore Immigrant Inclusion Partnership (NSIIP) strives to identify priorities that are aligned with changing local socio-economic contexts and responsive to the emergent needs of im/migrants. To this end, the goal of the NSIIP Strategic Review & Renewal Project was to confirm the relevance and alignment of the strategic priorities laid out in the original 2016-2019 strategic plan—the themes of which continued to shape the NSIIP’s directions and work up until 2022.

For im/migrant communities on the North Shore, in British Columbia, and across Canada, the impacts of the pandemic were significant and profound. When examining im/migrant community-level outcomes related to COVID-19, it is clear that the pandemic deepened existing inequities in our systems and institutions and exacerbated im/migrant exclusion; racism and stigmatization; health vulnerabilities; poverty and access to secure housing; and barriers to labour market integration. 

Other national trends surfaced new challenges in supporting the integration of im/migrants at a local level. These factors included, but were not limited to: changes in migration flows and the priorities identified in Canada’s expanding immigration system; a volatile economic landscape that included lay-offs, high unemployment rates, increased costs of living; and declining mental and physical health resulting from isolation and decreased social and community ties. 

This report is the culmination of a process of strategic review and renewal focused on examining the emerging needs of im/migrant communities across the North Shore in order to identify future NSIIP priorities.

• Priorities and Objectives 2023-2028