CMAS

Multilingual mental health resources for newcomers

As part of the Promising Practices in Accessing Virtual Mental Health: Supporting Refugees during COVID-19 project, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Ontario Ministry of Health, service providers working with newcomers and refugees share these multilingual mental health resources.

Conversations About Culture: Video and Lesson Plan

This video and lesson plan introduces the concept of cultural humility as a guiding principle for effective cross-cultural communication and collaboration. It includes a variety of helpful information, self-assessment tools, and reflective exercises for educators, students, and faculty engaged in cross-cultural research and partnerships.  It was produced in association with the UB Centre for Social Research.

Making Caring Common

Making Caring Common has a variety of resources for families, parents, and caregivers. They offer activities, tips, resource lists, and discussion guides to help you and your team foster kindness and caring with the children in your program.

Newcomer Tips for a Fire-Safe Winter

Mississauga Fire is proud to serve a vibrant and growing community that is home to many new Canadians. To ensure that family homes are safe this winter, they've put together a helpful list of winter fire safety tips and translated them into multiple languages. It's full of great information and resource links that you can share with the families you work with as they establish roots in your community!

Children’s Book: Building a Home – Available Online in 7 Languages!

The New Canadians Centre in Peterborough has published this new children’s picture book that shares the experiences of immigrant children when they arrive in Canada. Building a Home is available online in 7 languages. Written and illustrated by Peterborough artist Casandra Lee (herself a recent immigrant), Building A Home was inspired by the stories of six local newcomer children.

Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity in Teaching ‘People Safety’ Skills

Kidpower has developed a list of lessons learned about creating cultural awareness to address potential obstacles in teaching people how to advocate for and protect the emotional and physical well-being of themselves and others - especially children. The purpose is always to build a mutually trusting and respectful relationship, listen, and adapt to meet people where they are.

Creating Opportunities for Active Play

By now, you have probably heard about the importance of regular physical activity. You are likely aware that establishing strong physical activity habits at a young age increases the chance of maintaining healthy activity levels into adulthood. Here are some developmentally appropriate activities that can help us instill a love of physical activity for children of all ages!

Safe Spaces: Youth with Refugee Experience and Their Parents Harnessing Resilience

In a recent study, ten workshops were organized for Arabic-speaking refugee youth and their parents. Facilitated by the Syrian Canadian Foundation and psychiatrist Dr. Omar Reda, the workshops aimed to provide a safe space for refugee families to build better inter-family understanding and integrate trauma stories to build resilience. Here's what parents and youth had to say, illustrated in a simple infographic.

How to help young kids cope with the trauma of the last year

https://hechingerreport.org/we-know-how-to-help-young-kids-cope-with-the-trauma-of-the-last-year-but-will-we-do-it/

WEBINAR: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – It Starts in Early Childhood

Diversity, equity, and inclusion seem to be buzzwords these days, but what do they all mean? During this webinar, participants took a closer look at the role of leaders and educators in creating programs, policies, and approaches that reflect these values. They'll also have a chance to discuss practical tips to create environments where everyone is welcome and included!