Funding

Immigration Partnership Fund for Immigrant and Refugee Initiatives

We are putting applications on hold at the moment. Please check back for more information.

Funded Initiaves:

Canadian Arab Women's Association, $10,000
Provide services and resources that facilitate the welcoming, settling, and integration of Arabs fleeing war in Waterloo Region.

Church of the Transfiguration, $20,000
Launch the Ukrainian Family Support Club with regular programming for children and adults to support Ukrainian newcomers as navigate a life in Canada.

Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre, $20,000
Provide comprehensive health care to refugees in Waterloo Region by ensuring access to otherwise uncovered costs and services (specialty care, medications, testing, and more). 

Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre Inc., $15,000
Provide welcome kits and knapsacks for up to 250 refugee claimants with grocery cards, toiletries, transit passes, hygiene products, warm winter items and more. 

KW Working Centre for the Unemployed, $19,040
Support housing access for refugee claimants through time-limited rent supplements, as well as stabilization supports to meet urgent needs.

Muslim Social Services Waterloo Region, $20,000
Launch an 8-week Healing through Arts Program in both Arabic and English for newcomer children to provide with a safe space to participate in different activities providing various outlets for creative and therapeutic expression. 

Nigerians in the Region of Waterloo, $10,000
Provide settlement supports and regular workshops to assist refugees from Africa with finance, capacity building, mental health, housing, immigration, tax, business; resume building, interview preparation, workplace culture and more.

Reception House - Waterloo Region Inc., $15,000
Expand access of government assisted refugees to health care treatment and other health care related items (mobility, hearing aids, dental, mental health) required during their first year in Waterloo Region.

Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Waterloo Region chapter, $5,000
Provide access to technology for Ukrainian newcomers so they can access information and advance their careers, with a focus on single mothers, families with multiple children and others.

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of St. Sophia, $5,000
Host a recorded Ukrainian-language lecture series to introduce Ukrainian newcomers to the history of Ukrainians in Canada and help foster a sense of community belonging. The lectures will be recorded and made available online for interested individuals and other communities. 

Woolwich Community Health Centre, $25,000
Provide language learning and transportation supports to Ukrainian newcomers staying in temporary accommodation to attend house viewings, job interviews and other appointments. 

Fund for Immigrant Economic Wellbeing

The applications to this fund is now closed. 

Funded Initiaves:

Adventure4Change, $72,245
Support the organizational development of Adventure4Change to sustainably serve and support the overall and economic wellbeing of the immigrant population in Waterloo’s Sunnydale, Albert, and High Street communities, while providing ongoing programming for Black and racialized immigrant children, youth and women.

Bring on the Sunshine, $66,937
Launch a social enterprise venture led by and for the Black and African community in Waterloo Region to build economic independence, financial sustainability and employment opportunities in support of empowerment initiatives for Black and African youth, artists and businesses in Waterloo Region.

Business and Education Partnership of Waterloo Region, $40,000
Help immigrant youth understand the labour market and make informed decisions about their career goals and how to achieve them, through the production and launch of a multilingual filmed career talk series.

Canadian Arab Women's Association, $50,000
Provide Arabic-language employment services to immigrants with a focus on skills upgrading, workplace language, networking, connecting to other relevant services, job fairs and more.

Canadian Aweil Youth Association, $23,340
Expand staff and volunteer capacity to provide newly-arrived African families with support settling in Waterloo Region and connecting to training opportunities, job search supports and suitable workplaces. 

Centre for Family Medicine Family Health Team, $71,975
Support the overall wellbeing and ability of refugees to be economically active in Waterloo Region by supporting their communication with health providers through interpretation and attachment to primary care.

Kinbridge Community Association, $69,959
Launch the Newcomer Family Outreach Program to provide holistic family supports focused on employment readiness and attachment for immigrants living in Cambridge, and to engage employers in building their capacity to retain immigrant employees. 

Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre Inc., $64,000
Provide employment services for international students, work permit holders, new citizens, refugee claimants and others to help with Canadian job searching, resume building, skills assessment and more.

KW Working Centre for the Unemployed, $71,975
Provide first-language employment service, bridging to employers, health and safety, and workplace culture training for Ukrainian and other refugees in Waterloo Region. 

Muslim Social Services Kitchener Waterloo, $65,000
Provide culturally and spiritually sensitive leadership and skills development programming for Muslim and Arabic-speaking immigrant women to empower them to enter the workforce in positive and meaningful ways through the Women Wellbeing Program.

Nigerians in the Region of Waterloo, $71,975
Improve economic wellbeing of Nigerian and other African immigrants in Waterloo Region through regular workshops and clinics on resume building, interview preparation and workplace culture, hosting job fairs and more, while building overall organizational governance and capacity for longer-term growth and development.

Ontario Learning Development Foundation Inc., $28,935
Improve economic wellbeing by increasing food security and access to ethnic food items for Black/African immigrants in Waterloo Region through to augment offerings from Food Banks and other sources.

Project UP (Unleash Potential), $17,500
Launch an internship program to provide hands-on community building, skills development and mentorship opportunities for Black Muslim youth, particularly women and girls.

Reception House - Waterloo Region Inc., $71,975
Expand capacity of the Refugee Employment Program to provide pre-employment support, initial workplace support, workplace language training, and ongoing vocational support for over 400 government assisted refugees.

The AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo and Area, $55,000
Provide refugees and immigrants living with HIV and other related health concerns with emergency financial assistance, food security programming and practical support navigation to address their basic needs and support long-term wellbeing and ability to be economically active.

Waterloo Region Grassroots Response to the Ukrainian Crisis, $32,000
Create housing stability for Ukrainians fleeing war in Waterloo Region through sliding scale housing subsidies for up to four-months, adjusted to housing host need of the individual and the number of people housed. 

Workforce Planning Board of Waterloo Wellington Dufferin, $71,975
Seed funding for a pilot to develop an Immigrant Talent Hub for Waterloo Region as a centralized place where immigrants and employers receive customized support and address service gaps that some immigrants and employers face. 

YWCA of Kitchener-Waterloo, $55,209
Expand entrepreneurship and employment training programming for visible minority and gender diverse newcomer women, including creation of a market corner, food handling and WHMIS certification, commercial kitchen access, pop up and start up supports and wrap around supports.