@amssa
AMSSA is a British Columbia-wide association that strengthens its member agencies and partners, who serve immigrants and build culturally inclusive communities, with the knowledge, resources and support they need to fulfill their mandates.
🔊 We are pleased to invite you to our upcoming webinar: Supporting Newcomer Fathers in BC
🗓️ Date: March 6, 2026
⏰ Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. PT
👉 Register here: https://amssa.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3d7f7953444961c8c09fb3d7a&id=f50adea45a&e=ad3435d7bf
We are happy to share the release of Webinar Recording: IRPA Section 91. Understanding Immigration Information versus Immigration Advice.
👉 Access here: https://www.amssa.org/resource/irpa-section-91-understanding-immigration-information-versus-immigration-advice/
We’re happy to share that the You Belong Here series of infographics, created by Refugee 613 and Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre, is now available in 20 languages.
🔗 Visit the series webpage to download and share the infographics with the people you love: https://r613.info/belong
AMSSA is deeply saddened by the tragedy in Tumbler Ridge. When one community grieves, all of BC feels it. We stand with those impacted. Support is available. Read our full statement: https://www.amssa.org/about/media/solidarity-with-tumbler-ridge/
We’d like to share events hosted by Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants:
✨ Building Successful Partnerships https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/building-successful-partnerships-tickets-1981584613923
✨ Orientation Session https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/orientation-session-tickets-1978901598953
Join us to explore real-world approaches to revenue generation and financing that settlement organizations can use as traditional funding becomes less predictable: https://www.amssa.org/amssa-events/futureproof-settlement-sector-social-enterprise-strategy-and-social-finance-investment-forum/
✨ We’re in Abbotsford!
Our team is now setting up as we get ready to welcome partners from small centres across Canada for the 2026 National Small Centre Coordination Meeting. Keep an eye on our social channels for updates throughout the meeting!
#NationalSmallCentre2026
#SWISForum2026 (Settlement Workers in Schools) SWIS Forum is happening tomorrow!
This year’s forum theme is: Enhancing Supports for Newcomer Youth to Thrive in Schools and Beyond
HAPPENING TOMORROW! JAN 22 | 2:00 - 4:00 PM
🌿 AMSSATalk (Virtual) | Indigenous Law, Relational Practice & Settlement Work 🌿 Register here: https://lnkd.in/gFG3m832
We’re excited to share that @decoda.ca’s Family Literacy Week is happening very soon: https://decoda.ca/resource/make-mealtime-family-learning-time-backgrounder/
Enter the 2026 Family Literacy Week Contest for a chance to win prizes: https://decoda.ca/wp-content/uploads/FLW26-ContestRules.pdf
This AMSSATalk invites practitioners to reflect on learning not as compliance or “correctness,” but as a continuous relational practice grounded in meaningful relationship-building.
Jan 22, 2026 | 2:00 – 4:00 pm PT: https://amssa-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_91CyJ98OQFGSgv9xgda34w#/registration
AMSSA was honoured to be part of Thrive4Blacks’ 5th Anniversary Gala & Fundraiser, an evening that powerfully celebrated Black youth, community impact, giving back, and collective vision for the future.
✨ Resource Sheet & Poster ✨ Balancing Act - Empowering Wellness for International Post-Secondary Students Working and Studying: https://www.amssa.org/resource/balancing-act-empowering-wellness-for-international-post-secondary-students-working-and-studying/
Our CEO Daljit met with Elders from Indigenous Advisory Council to discuss a shared vision for the decolonization journey. AMSSA staff later joined the Elders in circles to explore key themes from "The Great Divide: A Framework for Relational Accountability & Decolonizing in Relationship" booklet.
Canada needs a unified, long-term vision for immigration that connects economic growth with inclusion, equity, and belonging, ensuring that every newcomer and every community has the opportunity to thrive. Read AMSSA's response to the Budget & Immigration Levels Plan: https://bit.ly/4hWhCtb
Are you working in the settlement and integration sector? Is your day-to-day work shaped by research data and its impacts? CMS-Sector Research Collaborations Day 2025 is packed with key takeaways for you: https://migration.ubc.ca/events/event/cms-sector-research-collaborations-day-2025/
We’re excited to announce that our member, Sisters In Canada Wellness Society, will be hosting the 2-day Safe Haven 2025 Conference!
🗓️ Nov. 28th, 2025: 4PM – 7PM
🗓️ Nov. 29th, 2025: 10AM – 4PM
📍 14455 104 Ave, Surrey, BC V3R 1M1
More info: https://sistersincanada.org/safe-haven-2025/
It’s time to get your 2026 calendar! We’re excited to announce that the 2026 Multifaith Calendar – Growth and Change, from the Multifaith Action Society (MAS), is now available: https://multifaith-action-society.square.site/product/2026-multifaith-calendar/8?cs=true&cst=popular
✨ November 12, 2025 ✨ Centre for Migration Studies–Sector Research Collaborations Day is a space to build actionable knowledge and stronger partnerships for equity in migrant, refugee, and newcomer communities in BC: https://migration.ubc.ca/events/event/cms-sector-research-collaborations-day-2025/
This very moment calls us to build genuine trust and relationships with Indigenous peoples and to take real action toward decolonizing not just history, but the systems we live and work within.
With guidance from cultural facilitator Sussan Yáñez, we began a reflexive journey of rethinking our practices and relationships.
We approached the Indigenous welcome differently this time!
Instead of treating it as a formality, we took this meaningful opportunity to pause, to reflect on how our sector engages with Indigenous peoples, and especially with Elders.
🌟 Leadership Forum 2025: Presentation on Guesthood on Unceded Territories: Rethinking Organizational Practices
#LeadershipForum2025
The session concluded with a guided meditation led by Elder Norm, encouraging participants to find, see, and feel their connections to the land and water, and most importantly, to one another.
Learn more about AMSSA's Truth and Decolonization resources: www.amssa.org/category_res...
As a Black African woman, Winnie shared that learning about the realities Indigenous peoples face here in Canada also stirs something familiar within us, the echoes of our own histories and the harms of colonization that many of us still carry.
Elder Norm Leech emphasized that we are all Indigenous to the Earth, and when we come to a new place, the best approach is to ask those who have lived there the longest. In the place we now call Canada, that means Indigenous peoples.
The workshop was held in a circle, inviting participants to share their thoughts and experiences related to the Truth and Reconciliation process, and to explore ways to engage newcomers in conversations about decolonization, Indigenous history, and reconciliation.
As part of the 2025 Diversity Symposium, Elder Norm Leech, a member of AMSSA’s Indigenous Advisory Council, and Winnie Chironga, AMSSA’s Director of Equity, together with cultural facilitator Sussan Yáñez, co-led a workshop titled Engaging Newcomers in Truth and Reconciliation.
✨ We’re excited to share our 2024–25 Video Annual Report with you!
Nearly 200 organizations united through The Canada We Believe In coalition call for a renewed vision for Canadian immigration as Canada prepares its 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan: https://nationalnewswatch.com/2025/09/23/its-time-for-a-renewed-immigration-vision