JIAS CANADA STRATEGIC REVIEW

JIAS Canada is currently undertaking an organizational review and developing its future direction.  Following the strategic review conducted in the fall of 2004 by the Planning and Priorities Task Force, the JIAS Canada Board acted immediately on the report’s recommendations.  A Planning Group was struck and is chaired by Board member Ivan Zendel. He recruited twelve individuals, eight of whom are Board members, and their work started in January.

The purpose of the Planning Group is to assist the Board in restructuring the organization and repositioning JIAS Canada within the Jewish community.  The Planning Group will be proposing:

·         The Board’s role and composition and what needs to be changed;

·         A clear statement of JIAS Canada's mission/mandate and service priorities for the next three to five years;

·         An estimate of resources needed to carry out the service priorities; and

·         A financial resource development plan.

The Planning Group comprises three subcommittees, each of which has undertaken their own activities to address the issues at hand: Service Priorities and Resources, Financial Resource Development and Governance. 

JIAS Canada’s Working Group, which comprises the senior staff members of the service provider organizations, has been an integral part of this process.  The Group has addressed matters such as their expectations of the national office, clarified terms used in the immigration process, discussed the need for consistent data collection, identified the need for national standards and other issues affecting Canada’s Jewish immigrants.  One of the key issues identified is that data presented to the funding body, the UIAFC, regarding new and current cases being handled, does not reflect a comprehensive picture of the work of the agencies as it only reflects the number of immigrants who receive relief.  Relief funding is only provided for two years, while immigrants may need and use integration services for five to ten years or more, depending on the situation.

Both the Planning and Working Groups have iterated the critical nature of communicating the importance of immigration to the community.  There is concern that the Canadian Jewish population would have declined between the census years 1991 to 2001, had it not been for immigration.  JIAS Canada recognizes it has a key role to play in educating the Jewish community about immigration and about how JIAS can help support local communities in their settlement and integration activities for immigrants.

The Planning Group has met by telephone every second week since January.  It met in Toronto on April 9^th and 10^th at which time the work of the subcommittees was brought together along with discussion of how to best present the importance of Jewish immigration in Canada.  Subsequently a strategic plan will be written for JIAS Canada.  It is expected to be finalized in May and a plan for implementation developed subsequent to that, the outcome of which will be communicated to JIAS’ stakeholders.