The Rural Development Institute is collaborating on multiple research projects with organizations across the Westman region aimed at supporting immigrants, refugees and newcomers. The Newcomer Integration through Community Engagement project was designed with the Brandon Local Immigration Partnership (BLIP).

The overall goal of this project is to engage the immigrants and newcomers in Brandon through BLIP to determine if the organizations and programs available in the Westman region are fully supporting the transition and integration into community.

Please see the Project Announcement and the additional links below for more project information!

Meet the Research Team: 

• Project Lead: Shirlyn Kunaratnam
• BLIP Coordinator and Project Partner: Katrina Casulla
• RDI Research Assistant: Felix Ntenhene
• Director of RDI: Dr. Wayne Kelly

Project Partner Highlight:

• The Brandon Local Immigration Partnership (BLIP) is a program of the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation (BNRC) – a non-profit organization. BLIP collaborates with Citizenship Immigration Canada (CIC) to enhance the capacity of community-based partners in addressing the needs of residence and newcomers. By promoting coordination, cooperation, and involvement from the community, BLIP creates avenues for effective long-term settlement, and integration of immigrants and newcomers to Brandon, Manitoba.