Priority areas

Over the past five years, UNA-Canada together with community leaders and members have identified day-to-day barriers that limit minority groups from participating in Canadian society.

Through these consultations, participants made recommendations for real actions that can be taken at the local level to address breakdown these barriers. A Sense of Belonging has compiled these findings into Priority Areas for each community.

At a national level, nine key priority areas were identified as targets for anti-racism and anti-discrimination work. Each of the communities in A Sense of Belonging will focus on 3 of these issues that have local significance (specified on each region's page).

The priority areas include:

Prejudice, Intolerance & Indifference

• Increase public awareness, understanding and informed public dialogue about multiculturalism, racism and cultural diversity in Canada;
• Facilitate collective community initiatives and responses to ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural conflict and hate-motivated activities;

Religious, Cultural & Language Diversity

• Increase education and community awareness about diversity and different cultural, religious, and linguistic groups;
• Reinforce collective capacity to strengthen community social cohesion and enhance cross-cultural and interfaith awareness and understanding;
• Facilitate collective community initiatives and responses to ethnic, racial, religious, linguistic and cultural conflict and hate-motivated activities;

Formal & Public Education

• Develop and strengthen partnerships that support measures against racism and discrimination with respect to education and other forms of learning;
• Develop a public education framework and community outreach initiatives to promote inclusiveness and eliminate racist behaviours and attitude;
• Develop supporting resources for public education and for educators, youth and community engagement.
• Promote opportunities to dialogue, learn and work together towards mobilizing against racism and discrimination, and creating a climate for understanding and mutual respect for dignity and a sense of belonging;

Civic Participation

• Raise awareness, consciousness and the ideals of citizenship by educating mutual tolerance, respect for cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue, peaceful coexistence, humans rights and democratic values;
• Reinforce collective capacity to strengthen community social cohesion and enhance cross-cultural and interfaith awareness and understanding;
• Foster community participation and strengthen partnerships between communities and organizations to ensure the continued development and capacity of ethno-racial and ethno-cultural groups to address issues of multiculturalism and anti-racism;

Media Portrayal/Stereotyping

• Advocate to the media and local authorities to promote integration and a sense of belonging in communities;
• Focus on the success stories and raise awareness of the positive contributions of cultural diversity;
• Increase community and institutional awareness, understanding and informed public dialogue about multiculturalism, racism and cultural diversity in Canada.

Violence/Racial Profiling

• Develop local awareness campaigns to promote tolerance and respect;
• Support, in collaboration with community groups, a monitoring and rapid response system to identify and respond to acts of racism, hate crimes and incidents;
• Raise awareness about rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Aboriginal Issues

• Increase education and community awareness about diversity and different cultural and religious groups;
• Reinforce collective capacity to strengthen community social cohesion and enhance cross-cultural and interfaith awareness and understanding;
• Facilitate collective community initiatives and responses to ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural conflict and hate-motivated activities;

Sexual Orientation

• Frame homophobia as a human rights issue.
• Ensure that GLBTQ, especially from visible minority communities, are able to exercise the rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms;

Inter-generational Challenges

• Build long-term connections between youth and adults in a way that is safe and culturally meaningful;
• Support and encourage partnerships between school boards, administration and teachers, and community-based organizations and involve youth in action planning;