Sarah Roberts

Sarah has spent the majority of her life calling the east coast of Canada her beloved home. She is currently studying Management with a major in Entrepreneurship and Innovation and a Minor in Economics at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Throughout her degree, Sarah has cultivated a passion about the struggles of newcomers to Canada as well as new entrepreneurs. Whether she starts her own social enterprise or works within one, she is devoted to creating positive social change throughout her career.

Sarah worked with SCSC under the Common Threads program to document integration services for newly arrived migrants across Canada.

Community Engagement Initiative

Sarah created The Postcard Project, a cross Canada storytelling initiative that shared stories about forced migration to Canada and printed them on postcards alongside local artwork. 500 postcards were distributed to 10 public locations across the country, and her website reached over 1000 people from 16 countries. Read the report: The Postcard Project.

Report

The Unique Strengths and Weaknesses of Refugee Integration in Second Tier Cities

In Canada, the majority of refugees resettle in three main cities: Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Nonetheless, smaller, secondary cities play an integral role in the overall landscape of Canadian refugee resettlement. As there is such a high concentration of refugees resettling in these three cities, little research has been done on the integration of refugees into smaller, secondary cities. This research attempts to address this by providing insight on the unique strengths and weaknesses of refugee integration in second tier cities in Canada. The report synthesizes existing literature and first-hand accounts from two main cities, London, Ontario and Winnipeg, Manitoba to retrieve overarching findings for second tier cities across the country. In addition to identifying the unique characteristics of second tier cities, recommendations are made with the intention of informing positive change for refugee integration in second tier cities across Canada. 

Keywords

Refugee, integration, London, Winnipeg, settlement services, second tier, cities, resettlement, strengths, weaknesses, successful integration