Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Building a community to belong and grow
Our Welcoming Communities program helps service providers and community members make Nova Scotia safer and more welcoming for immigrants. Through interactive workshops and community projects, participants learn how to move from just understanding the issues to taking real action. The program helps people build better relationships across cultures and break down barriers.
A key part of the program is the Building Intercultural Competence workshop, a full-day session that helps people understand immigration, settlement, and integration better. Participants learn practical ways to welcome newcomers and improve communication across cultures.
Our workshops also include equity, diversity and inclusion, unconscious bias, micro-aggressions, power and privilege, and the immigrant experience. One unique workshop, celebrating our Black Heritage: Uniting people of African Descent, focuses on the history and contributions of African Nova Scotians and Black immigrants, encouraging understanding, respect, and unity amongst these communities, as well as creating safer spaces for conversation.
The Welcoming Communities Program has provided much support for healthcare organizations in the province by providing training for healthcare leaders in support of Internationally Educated Nurses and Physicians, and in support of Internationally educated Nurses working in healthcare organizations and retirement facilities. Whether you work on the front lines, make policies, teach, or are an active community member, the Welcoming Communities Program gives you tools to help build welcoming, diverse communities where everyone feels at home.
Through generous funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada over the course of the year ISANS delivered an Anti-Hate Strategy Conversation Tour engaging 5 communities across the province, including Francophone communities, to examine the causes and impacts of hate and discrimination.
Through community tours, roundtables, social media outreach, and shared resources, the project raised awareness, deepen understanding of Canada’s intercultural and interfaith realities, and promote respect, empathy, and solidarity. It equipped communities, newcomers, employers, towns, and municipalities with practical strategies to continue anti-hate conversations and actions beyond the project.
The initiative also worked with other key partners, including law enforcement, the Human Rights Commission, recreation
organizations, health promoters and faith communities to strengthen prevention efforts. By engaging equity-deserving communities and key stakeholders, the project improved public understanding of hate-motivated incidents, supported reporting and response, and built safer,
more inclusive communities across Nova Scotia.
18
workshops on Building Intercultural Competence
24
welcoming communities’ workshops on equity, diversity, and inclusion
1,467
people participated in our equity, diversity, and inclusion workshops
5
regional Anti-Hate Strategy Conversation Tour events facilitated across
Dartmouth North, Truro/Colchester, Queens–Lunenburg, the Annapolis Valley,
and Digby/Yarmouth
1
Knowledge Exchange event joining participants from each regional Anti-Hate
Strategy Conversation event
170+
participants involved in Anti-Hate Strategy Conversation Tour events