Despite a tumultuous year, the CRRF moves forward with a renewed focus.

Dear friends,

Both at home and abroad, it has been a challenging time this year as seemingly daily racist and hateful incidents grab headlines and fuel online division.  At the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, we have redoubled our efforts to facilitate the development, sharing and application of knowledge and expertise in order to contribute to the elimination of racism and all forms of racial discrimination in Canadian society.

We have greatly expanded our online presence with dedicated social media channels. Our newsletter has been restored to a monthly publication schedule. In it, you can discover all the activities that the CRRF undertakes or sponsors. Our academic journal, Directions, has also been reborn in the digital space to better reach Canadians from coast-to-coast.

Our website was streamlined and updated, with enhanced efforts on accessibility, and is ready to accommodate many exciting projects in the coming year such as The Science of Racism and several short films tackling issues of race and discrimination in Canada.

But our impact is not limited to the world wide web. The CRRF is very much active on-the-ground, having hosted a Roundtable discussion in Quebec and continued our National Conversations with sessions in Ontario and Alberta. What’s more, we have focused especially hard on our National Youth Network with sessions in Regina, Moncton, Hamilton, York Region, Calgary & Montreal. Over 1,000 students participated in these thought-provoking discussions.

Additionally, the CRRF has been very present in both Canadian media and international press. While we are frequently sourced as subject-matter experts, events of this past year have led to interview request from HR Reporter, Time Magazine, Toronto Star, BBC, the CBC and Radio-Canada, CityTV and more.  Our new Public Service Announcement, “I’m just a kid” is also in heavy rotation on many television channels.

2019 was bookended with the launch of our innovative new survey – Race Relations in Canada 2019, produced in partnership with the Environics Institute for Survey Research.  This survey of national scope looked at the present-day reality of race relations throughout the country – it was based on actual, lived experience and perceptions of those surveyed. The samples gathered were stratified to ensure representation by province, age and gender, according to the most current population statistics (2016 Census). In addition, over-samples were collected with individuals who self-identify as Chinese, Black, South Asian or Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) (the four largest racialized populations in Canada), in order to provide for sufficient representation of each group for analysis. The survey was conducted in English and French (as per respondent’s preference).

The launch event was attended by hundreds of guests and on-line viewers, received nationwide media coverage and generated a lot of discussion across Canada.

We thank the innumerable online audience and participants at our focus/consultation groups, conferences, and webinars as well as our many partner organizations and individuals, hard-working volunteers, and youth ambassadors. As we head into the holiday period, the CRRF is grateful for your support of our work, and we thank the partners, funders (from the Department of Heritage) and donors who have faith in our organization 

The CRRF Board this year welcomes a new member, Chiamaka Mọgọ, from Vancouver.  We also welcome the new Research, Resource and Records Librarian, Sharon Pun and our new Manager of Programs and Information, Suvaka Priyatharsan.  

We are also thankful for the continual support of all Board members and staff, veteran consultants and also newly-hired communication consultant Jean-François Pagé. We are also very grateful for the hard work of everyone involved in creating our new strategic plan, which will be unveiled in 2020. With this plan we are well equipped to meet the challenges of the coming years with a renewed focus.

Best wishes for the holiday season and a very happy New Year!  

With the warmest regards,

Teresa Woo-Paw                                                    Lilian Ma
Chairperson                                                            Executive Director