Welcoming the Stranger in Alberta: Newcomers, Secularism and Religiously Affiliated Settlement Agencies
Abstract
Religious groups and churches have always played, and continue to play, vital roles in the settlement and integration of newcomers to Canada. In the 1980s, several not-for-profit agencies emerged with Catholic and Mennonite roots to respond to the arrival of thousands of refugees to the province from Southeast Asia and Central America. Today, these agencies are particularly interesting as they both challenge prevailing views on secularization and the provision of public services and play an exceptionally active role in providing services to newcomers. This paper explores the interplay between the prevalence of a liberal secular ideology in Canada and the shifting identities of faith-based organizations in Alberta. Based on archival research and interviews, this paper demonstrates that it is the shifting and, often conflicting, views of staff and volunteers that have contributed to the secularization of identities in most of these agencies.
Notes
Location
Edmonton, Alberta; Calgary, Alberta; Red Deer, Alberta; Brooks, Alberta
Key recommendations
NA
Key populations
Service providers at major SPOs in Alberta
Key findings
Since the 1970s, religiously affiliated settlement agencies have undergone significant transformations; agencies have emerged with a negotiated identity around what it means to be “secular”; there are conflicting notions of what it means to be secular both within and between agencies in Alberta
Gaps identified
NA
Community organizations
Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers; Catholic Social Services; Calgary Catholic Immigration Society; Calgary Centre for Newcomers
Integration timeline
At what point during the integration process the study was conducted?
NA
Open-access – No