1. Prairie Metropolis Centre Research Symposium January 23, 2009 Edmonton Presented by : Dr. Anna Kirova Domain Leader

2. T his policy research priority domain, established in 2007 by the federal Metropolis partners will:  Examine the consequences of migration to Canada for families, children and youth  Develop proposals for enhancing immigrant success  Place high priority on policy-relevant research

3. 58 Research Priority Questions organized 11 Priority Themes : 1. Migration Decisions 2. Cultural Identity 3. Education and Cultural Identity 4. Educational Outcomes 5. Civil Participation and Work 6. Extracurricular Activities 7. Mental Health 8. Health and Movement 9. Health and Gender 10. Services 11. Intergenerational Dynamics

4.  127 PMC research affiliates o 57 indicated family, children and youth as one of their affiliation choices o 12 indicated family, children and youth as their only choice for affiliation

5. Conducted by : Dr. Anita Gagnon, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Family Children and Youth Priority Leader Aligning research to meet policy objectives for migrant families: An example from Canada. AJ Gagnon, M-P Joly, J Bocking (paper accepted by Health Research Policy and Systems Jan 10 2009) Objective : To determine what has been studied within a research- policy partnership over the last 10 years about immigrant “family, children and youth” in the absence of a clearly defined priority area.

6. Figure 1. Priority Themes

9.  Qualitative works were available to inform the eleven priority themes  Quantitative results were available for 5 priority themes:  Educational outcomes  Civic participation and work  Mental health and movement  Services

10.  All federal priority themes were addressed but few specific policy questions were addressed.,  The greatest volume of policy-relevant academic works were identified for Services and Educational and Cultural Identity.  Most studies were descriptive and non- comparative in nature, with small study population drawn from local areas.

11.  Specifying federal priorities can be expected to more clearly direct future research within a policy-research partnership.  These have been identified by the federal partners as follows:  Mental health: accessibility of health services; health care services for seniors; (unpaid) contributions of seniors to family  Refugee families  Programs for youth/multiculturalism  Contributions of families in language acquisition and integration  The role of federal government in supporting families in becoming proficient in one of the official languages.

12.  Consider the less researched areas/age groups in our research  Engage in larger-scale, cross-centre or comparative studies.  “Translate” descriptive findings to policies  Submit publications for the Working Paper Seires