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York Regional Council appoints members for new term of Newcomer Inclusion Table

February 03, 2023

Newmarket – York Regional Council has approved the appointment of 30 members to the 2023 to 2026 term of the Newcomer Inclusion Table.

The Newcomer Inclusion Table, previously called the Community Partnership Council, is a multi-sectoral collaborative group that advises Regional Council and staff on the development and implementation of initiatives to support the successful integration of newcomers. Newcomers are residents who immigrated to Canada and have been here for less than five years.  

“Since 2010, this important advisory group has played an important role in supporting newcomers,” said York Region Chairman and CEO Wayne Emmerson. “According to 2021 Census data, 53,495 recent immigrants settled in York Region between 2016 and 2021, accounting for over 84 percent of our population growth. Arriving with valuable education, skills and work experience, helping newcomers succeed drives York Region’s success.”

Newcomer Inclusion Table members include representation from diverse sectors, including government, settlement, language, employment, police, education, health and social services. The Newcomer Inclusion Table will also include community representatives with recent newcomer lived experience. 

The table will help develop and implement a newcomer integration plan for York Region which will identify and address priorities to strengthen newcomer employability, support inclusive workplaces, promote multiculturalism and advance social inclusion. The plan will be submitted to Regional Council in 2023. 

2023 to 2026 members:

Regional Government

  • Wayne Emmerson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Regional Municipality of York
  • Frank Scarpitti, Mayor, City of Markham (Newcomer Inclusion Table Co-chair)
  • Virginia Hackson, Mayor, Town of East Gwillimbury

Settlement Services

  • Leonilda Bastone-Patey, Executive Director, Catholic Community Services of York Region (CCSYR)
  • Noor Din, CEO, Human Endeavour
  • Jean Grenier Godard, Directeur général, Association des francophones de la région de York (AFRY)
  • Janet Hallett, Director, Education Services, COSTI Immigrant Services
  • Alfred Lam, Executive Director, Centre for Immigrant and Community Services (CICS) (Newcomer Inclusion Table Co-Chair)
  • Darcy MacCallum, CEO, Social Enterprise for Canada
  • Janice Tsoi, Executive Director, Cross-Cultural Community Services Association (TCCSA)

Employment Services

  • Suzana Belan, Director, Services and Community Engagement, York Region, ACCES Employment
  • Bethany Obermeyer, Executive Director, Job Skills

Language Assessment 

  • Karen McNeil, Senior Vice President, Programs & Services, Achēv

Labour Market and Workforce Development

  • Brian Buchan, Vice President, Public Relations and Communications, Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA)
  • Debroy Chan, Director, Immigrant Inclusion Strategies, Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC)
  • Jennifer Coletta-Rashty, Interim President & CEO, Vaughan Chamber of Commerce
  • Al Wilson, Executive Director, Workforce Planning Board of York Region

Education and Training 

  • Monica Brennan, Manager, Internationally Educated Professionals, York University, Bridging Program for IEPs
  • Mikale-Andrée Joly, Directrice exécutive du Service des relations corporatives, Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir
  • Abidah Lalani, Director, Government Relations, Seneca College
  • Cecil Roach, Associate Director of Education, Equitable Outcomes and Schools, York Region District School Board

Health and Well-being

  • Helen Leung, Chief Executive Officer, Carefirst Seniors & Community Services Association
  • LoAn Ta-Young, Acting Executive Director, Vaughan Community Health Centre
  • Elisha Laker, Executive Director, Family Services of York Region

Policing Services

  • Superintendent Ryan Hogan, York Regional Police

Housing Services

  • S. Gopi Krishna, Executive Director, The Housing Help Centre

Legal Services

  • Jeff Schlemmer, Executive Director, Community Legal Clinic of York Region

Social and Cultural

  • Sergei Petrov, Executive Director, York Region Arts Council

“I look forward to continuing the excellent work this group is involved in ensuring our communities are welcoming and a destination people choose to call home,” said Frank Scarpitti, City of Markham Mayor and Co-chair of the Newcomer Inclusion Table. “The success of our efforts relies on the strength of collaboration and partnership, and we look forward to adding two more community representatives, with recent newcomer lived experience, early next year.” 

The Newcomer Inclusion Table helps steer the York Region Local Immigration Partnership, a federally funded program of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada administered by York Region.

Members appointed to the Newcomer Inclusion Table will serve for a term of up to four years to coincide with the term of Regional Council. The committee’s first meeting will take place in early 2023 and the Co-chairs will be confirmed during the meeting.

More information on the Newcomer Inclusion Table is available at york.ca/NewcomerServices

The Regional Municipality of York consists of nine local cities and towns and provides a variety of programs and services to 1.2 million residents and 54,000 businesses with 650,000 employees. More information about the Region’s key service areas is available at york.ca/regionalservices

 

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Media Contact: 

Eman Ali, Corporate Communications, The Regional Municipality of York
Cell: 289-231-1318 @email