Victoria Esses is clear about how a country should welcome immigrants.  

“In a perfect world, it would be great if immigrants could come to Canada, settle into a community, feel like they belong, feel like their children belong and feel like they have a future in this country.”

But that isn’t always the case. Victoria points out immigrants often encounter difficult challenges when first arriving.  

“There's culture shock, coming here in the middle of the winter and having no winter coats for your kids and being surprised there's snow on the ground. Going to a job interview and being modest and realizing modesty won't get you a job and you have to sell yourself to Canadian employers. Trying to get housing and being told you have to have a credit history in Canada. I think many immigrants want to be self-reliant and find it difficult when they can’t be.”

That’s why she teamed up with others in the immigration field to start a network focused on developing practices that create a welcoming environment for immigrants.  

Founded in 2013, Pathways to Prosperity (P2P) brings together researchers from 50 universities across Canada, as well as policy makers and immigrant-serving agencies.  

“We work together to provide evidence for supporting immigrants and the work government and immigrant-serving agencies do,” says Victoria, P2P’s principal investigator and a psychology professor at Western University.  

A major component of P2P’s impact is in its Welcoming Communities program.

“It’s a collective effort to make sure a community gets what they need to support newcomers in integrating into the community.”

The program has developed toolkits communities can use to create a welcoming environment. These include 19 characteristics of a welcoming community, such as employment opportunities and suitable health care. Communities can use the toolkits to assess how well they support and accommodate immigrants.  

P2P’s impact is being felt across Canada and around the world. Victoria and her colleagues have shared their findings and practices with agencies and policymakers in a variety of countries, such as Australia and Germany.

“Collaboration is extremely important because making a difference in our communities won't happen without the efforts of a lot of different groups. Researchers can't do this work themselves, and it's essential that immigrant-serving agencies tell us what they know and what they need.”

And she feels their work is motivating Canadians to create communities that truly do welcome immigrants.  

“What gives me hope is that as a people we have started to think about who we are and that immigration is part of Canadian identity. We need to make sure newcomers feel like they belong as well as feeling that their community is supporting them.”