Deepening representaion in health services

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 20: The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Advanced Education should work with healthcare professionals of African descent and professional bodies to reform credential recognition and licensure systems to better accommodate seasoned healthcare professionals of African descent immigrating to Canada.

Improving PAD access to health services

Deepen equity in service delivery by and to PADs

Recommendation 22: The Ministry of Health should collaborate with People of African Descent organizations to ensure adequate healthcare coverage bridging is available to newcomers awaiting MSP and to non-landed immigrants such as refugees and international students. It is particularly recommended that the province consider eliminating MSP premiums for international students in BC.

Deepening PAD representaion in legal and justice services

Support collaboration between PAD professionals

Recommendation 30: The Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the Ministry of Advanced Education should make funding available for law practitioners of African descent to provide mentoring and coaching services to youth and newcomers of African descent as it will ensure a greater holistic orientation on societal expectations.

Deepening representation in schools

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 46: To meet the Black-educator deficit in BC schools, the Province must design a credential recognition system that recognizes and allows qualified Black educators who have immigrated to BC to more easily practice their teaching in BC. A supplementary approach is to encourage and support opportunities for part-time teaching, talks and sessions for Black professionals including interested retirees. The education Ministries can maintain a list of willing participants.

Improving promotion and support of PAD art, craft and media

Support PAD-led models and community collaboration

Recommendation 89: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport must support and the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General should fund the establishment of major People of African Descent community cultural centres at suitable locations across the province. This strategic support should enhance ongoing community efforts toward establishment of vital cultural spaces through grants, material support, donation of available physical facilities. These physical gathering spaces are critical to serve as hubs for cultural education, migrant settlement services, targeted training, mentorship and mental health support, intra-community dialogue, cathartic social gathering as well as multi-cultural socialization. The Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, opened in September 1983 could serve as a model. The African Descent Society in BC is seeking funds towards an African heritage centre in BC.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in migration and inclusion

Implement policy and legislative safeguards for PADs

Recommendation 90: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs in collaboration with the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General should consider creating a BC Ministry of Immigration to improve its accountability and ability to respond to changes in immigration paradigms. This is particularly critical to provide a more intersectional response in designing and improving settlement services for students, refugees, and other types of People of African Descent immigrants.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in migration and inclusion

Enable data collection to measure and report progress in equity and diversity

Recommendation 91: The Minister of Municipal Affairs should ensure that the “Race-based” data legislation provides resettlement service providers with sufficient room to collect and use contextual data to understand the number of People of African Descent that come to settle in the province, versus the number that eventually leave because they are not able to find the community or support systems they require to thrive. It is also recommended that the Province commission a study to understand the settlement patterns of People of African Descent in BC to establish clear baselines for assessment of its performance during the last 3 years of the Decade.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in migration and inclusion

Support PAD-led models and community collaboration

Recommendation 92: The Province should create an advisory council that includes People of African Descent led settlement services organizations to provide continuous learning and growth in addressing the needs of newcomers of African descent.

Deepening PAD presence in BC

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 93: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs should unequivocally establish programs to attract more Peoples of African Descent to British Columbia as part of the Provincial Nominee Program. Here, attention needs to also be paid to the French-speaking Black countries and, more generally, countries that are not adequately represented in BC.

Deepening PAD presence in BC

Deepend equity in service delivery by and to PADs

Recommendation 94: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs in collaboration with the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General should support and fund translations of the BC Newcomer’s Guide into the most predominantly spoken languages amongst People of African Descent – Swahili, Amharic, Somali, Igbo, Twi, Zulu, Arabic, and Spanish. This will deepen the needed sense of connection and community for a broad segment of newcomers of African descent and constitute an effective model to expedite their integration into the mainstream. and easing transfer for beneficial information to those experiencing language barriers. It is further recommended that this work be delegated to People of African Descent community organizations to ensure adequate volumes of production and broader reach for each sub-group.