Our Spring 2024 Newsletter is ready! Discover everything we’ve been up to these past few months, including our participation in the Victims and Survivors of Crime Week, in which we organized and hosted the panel Building Safety & Support: A Survivor-Led Approach to Gender-Based Violence & Human Trafficking; and the appearance of President of FCJ…

FCJ Refugee Centre participated in the City of Toronto’s SPIDER Program, with a presentation by the Centre’s Anti-Human Trafficking Manager, Jovana Blagovcanin, about Barriers to Services: victims of labour trafficking and exploitation. The presentation was part of the Open Dialogues with Community Partners implemented by this initiative. SPIDER (Specialized Partnership for Inter-Divisional Enhanced Responsiveness to…

“The FCJ Refugee Centre’s overarching concern with the proposed amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act is that they undermine important guardrails in Canadian asylum procedures, exacerbate precarity and legal limbo for vulnerable persons, and risk refoulement, contrary to Canada’s domestic and international legal obligations,” said Sharry Aiken, President of FCJ Refugee Centre’s Board…

All Torontonians are invited to welcome and celebrate newcomers at the 10th annual Toronto Newcomer Day in Nathan Phillips Square at City Hall. The festivities include a showcase of cultural performances, a Citizenship ceremony for new Canadians, diverse foods, and much more. Newcomers can meet representatives from local organizations and learn about services that will…

Let’s get together and build community! The FCJ Refugee Centre’s annual Diverse Residents, One Community Street Party is coming up! Join us for this family event, where you’ll find activities for children, games, food, music, live performances, piñatas, and much more. When: June 15, 2024, from 12pm to 6pm Where: Right outside of our office…

Two teams from the FCJ Refugee Centre delivered this Thursday to MP Mary Ng (Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development) and MP Mark Holland (Minister of Health) a total of 38,758 signatures of people —organizations and constituents in Ajax and Markham-Thornhil—, asking the MPs to support regularization for undocumented people and permanent…

During National Volunteer Week, we come together to recognize and celebrate the importance of each and every volunteer’s impact. The theme for National Volunteer Week 2024 is Every Moment Matters. It highlights the importance of every volunteer and each contribution they make at a moment when we need support more than ever. The sharing of…

The Canadian Council for Refugees called today on the federal government to create a national plan that addresses the growing number of refugee claimants and ensures the right to asylum. The proposal was presented by Gauri Sreenivasan (co-executive director, Canadian Council for Refugees), Loly Rico (founder, FCJ Refugee Centre), Allan Reesor McDowell (executive director, Matthew…

On the occasion of Refugee Rights Day, celebrated every year in Canada on April 4, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has proclaimed April 2024 as “Refugee Rights Awareness Month” in the City of Toronto. Refugee Rights Day is celebrated in the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1985 ruling that stated that refugee claimants are entitled to…

FCJ Refugee Centre Board of Directors Public Statement, April 2nd, 2024 The FCJ Refugee Centre’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce a series of changes in the structure of the organization’s leadership team. Loly Rico is stepping down as Executive Director and assuming a new role as Founder with a focus on advocacy and…

FCJ Refugee Centre joined the hundreds of people who took to the streets of Toronto this Saturday, united in the Migrant Spring March. Once more, we demanded Permanent Resident status for all migrants, and we asked the federal government to keep its promise to bring regularization to the cabinet in the spring. Photo Gallery:

Our Winter 2024 Newsletter is ready! Check it out and find all the information about the activities we have going on, the upcoming events and the events we have participated in, and everything that has happened at and around the Centre during these last few months, including updates from our programs (Youth, Access to Education,…

We are excited to announce the launch of our Friends of FCJ Monthly Donation Campaign, set to kick off this March. In our efforts to sustain our core programs through increased monthly donations, this will help us to continue to walk with refugees and precarious migrants without interruptions in our work. As part of our…

The federal government is reimposing visa requirements on Mexican nationals visiting Canada, with new rules that started taking effect this February 29. In a statement published today, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) stated the following: As of February 29, 2024 at 11:30 PM EST, Mexican citizens will need a visa to enter Canada unless…