Role of the Welcoming Communities Initiative in the Pathways to Prosperity Partnership
In September 2012, the Welcoming Communities Initiative (WCI) formally joined the Pathways to Prosperity Partnership, an alliance of five regional nodes with headquarters in the Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies, and British Columbia. In joining, the WCI has become the Ontario node of the new Partnership. Descriptions of the P2P, as it is colloquially known, were shared with subscribers to the WCI eBulletin in June 2012 and, again, in October. (Please see the June and October eBulletin archives)
Participating in the Pathways to Prosperity Partnership holds several important advantages for the WCI. Among them is the opportunity to collaborate with researchers across the country and to compare initiatives in Ontario with measures in other parts of the country. In addition, the scope of the research will expand to include larger centres, as well as an emphasis on attracting and retaining newcomers to Northern and remote cities and towns, and to Francophone minority communities.
As a result of the WCI joining the pan-Canadian P2P Partnership, both the WCI’s eBulletin and website will be undergoing a series of changes. The eBulletin will be expanded to have both national and regional content. The basic look and feel of the website will be retained, but the occasion of the changeover has provided an opportunity to improve the site’s overall functionality and organization. Current users of the welcomingcommunities.ca website should note that the site’s name is changing to Ontario.P2PCanada.ca (though the site will also be accessible at the old WelcomingCommunities.ca address).