Mobilising knowledge on newcomers: Engaging key stakeholders to establish a research hub for Alberta

Abstract

As immigration to Canada increases, so, too, do the complexities associated with serving various groups of newcomers, including immigrants, refugees, temporary foreign workers and international students. A range of stakeholder groups, such as grassroots community organisations, immigrant service provider organisations and academic researchers, have developed knowledge about how to best serve newcomers as they integrate into life in Canada. To date, there have been few opportunities for members of these and other stakeholder groups to work together to ensure that the needs of newcomers are being efficiently met. In this article, we describe a multi-step process of reciprocal knowledge engagement involving diverse stakeholders and led by the Newcomer Research Network at the University of Calgary. This engagement has the ultimate goal of developing a knowledge mobilisation hub focused on building capacity in community-engaged research with newcomers. In order to understand how we will reach this goal, this article outlines the efforts, priorities, challenges and important lessons learned that occurred as part of the multi-step process undertaken to establish a knowledge exchange with newcomer communities at its core.