"Collaboration is about achieving results, both in their novelty and scale, together that are otherwise impossible. The complex challenges we face in New Brunswick demand this collaboration to move to the next level. What we have found are new perspectives, promising points of intervention, connections to folks we otherwise would not know or work with. This is the work of systems change. This is the work of transformation.”

“The Lab created space for participants to better understand the complexity of immigration through personal stories and data. They disagreed, agreed, changed minds, and took collective action - a great recipe for breaking down silos and working in complexity! Witnessing those conversations and moments of transition is what gets me out of bed in the morning.”

“Guiding teams through the process of developing new ideas to work on is both a challenge and immensely rewarding. The lab participants, most of whom previously did not know each other, formed strong bonds over the workshops and that is essential for the longevity of all the prototypes going forward.”

“It has been so energising to watch the way that participants transform throughout the lab. They transform the way that they approach their work, how they interact with the system, and how they connect with one another. These new ways of relating - to self, to others and to the larger system - have the power to fundamentally change the dynamics of the immigration ecosystem in New Brunswick, and possibly in more profound ways than the prototypes themselves.”

“Prototype teams have to truly believe they are headed in the right direction. If they are sincere in their efforts, driven by passion and conviction, they will put in the time, effort, and rigour required, giving them high quality learning and results.”

“EIL was a process of continuous learning. Participants learned from each other, from communities, from testing prototypes. Our team learned alongside participants, responding to what emerged as the process unfolded. We learned together about the complexity of the bigger picture, and specific changes in different parts of the systems that could have real impact.”

This report is a compilation of findings of the Economic Immigration Lab, a social innovation lab facilitated by NouLAB between June 2017 and March 2020. The report includes a review of lab activities and outputs, an evaluation of objectives, and a summary of of learning and recommendations for the future beyond the activities of the lab.

From left to right

Joanna Brown, Lewis Muirhead, Amanda Hachey, Shawni Beaulieu, Nick Scott, Jason Doiron and Jules Maitland

Individual capacity for innovation

Individuals who complete a Social Innovation Lab process are trained with new capacities, skills, and the ability to replicate the lab’s approach to problem solving in their work and communities. The lab has an explicit goal of building capacity for public sector innovation.

Ideas ready for further development

At the end of the Lab, some promising ideas emerge. These are not yet solutions, but the best ideas are ready for further development. With additional supports and investments, these ideas may develop into breakthrough solutions, in the form of new services and infrastructure.

Content expertise

The lab stimulates new knowledge and learning about complex issues, a more comprehensive understanding of the context and dynamics at play, and builds awareness and readiness for the participants to tackle the challenge beyond the lab.

Networks and trust

Social Innovation Labs foster new networks, characterized by increased trust in collaboration. People leave the lab with new relationships and connections that allow their work to be more effective and lead change initiatives inside and outside of their organizations.

New Brunswick is at a crossroads. This may sound like a tired cliché, but it is true nonetheless. In fact, the next five years could well be the most important in at least a half century. What we will do, or fail to do, over that period could have a decisive impact for decades to come. - Richard Saillant

The challenges facing New Brunswick’s economy are multifaceted and complex. According to New Brunswick’s former chief economist, David Campbell, the province’s declining population is the biggest public policy challenge of our time. The labour market is in structural decline and there is a dire need for workers to grow existing businesses. The combined out-migration of working-age New Brunswickers with a higher than national average median age is putting serious pressure on the labour market’s ability to supply workers to grow and support business in the province.

It is clear that traditional methods of attracting and retaining workers and their families to NB are not working and systemic barriers hinder current immigration efforts. These challenges called for a new approach to immigration and to growing NB’s economy.

Essential to the effectiveness of a lab is the diversity of stakeholders that are participating. Bringing together as many perspectives as possible on the same challenge enables the best possible solutions to be developed. When building the lab cohort, NouLAB looks for a diversity of perspectives and experiences to ensure that it includes participants with first-hand knowledge of the challenge and participants with the decision-making power to implement lasting change. This diversity in perspectives must be multi-disciplinary or “horizontal”, meaning that there is representation across sectors from non-profit, business, government and private sector individuals. Equally important is diversity in decision-making power known as “vertical” diversity. People working with low levels of influence and decision-making power often have different perspectives from people working with high levels of influence and decision-making power - even in the same organization. Working with diverse perspectives creates empathy amongst participants and helps them understand the experience of the humans that are most affected by the challenge being addressed.

The initial spark for the Economic Immigration Lab happened during NouLAB’s Academy program, an introductory workshop on social innovation labs. At this workshop, Alex LeBlanc, Executive Director of the New Brunswick Multicultural Association and Adrienne O’Pray, CEO of the New Brunswick Business Council found themselves talking about the dire need for immigration to the province, and a new approach to solving this challenge. Alex, Adrienne, and the NouLAB team became the convening team, and started the planning of the Economic Immigration Lab.

The first step was to bring significant stakeholders to the table. An advisory group known as the Leadership Council (LC) was formed, with a purpose of making connections, fundraising, and help shape the lab’s objectives.

Funding and willpower was committed from PETL, ACOA, McCain, and Imperial Manufacturing and the stage was set for the first year of a 3 year lab on economic immigration. The plan was to have two “cycles” of the lab per year - a cycle being one cohort of lab participants going through the lab process to develop prototypes.

When people think of labs, they often picture a room with scientists working on experiments to expand knowledge. Similarly, a Social Innovation Lab is a place for experimenting and learning, in an effort to solve complex social challenges.

A Social Innovation Lab is a convening of multi-sectoral stakeholders to experiment, work on and increase knowledge about a complex challenge.

NouLAB helps the public and innovators act together to address our most pressing social, environmental, and economic challenges. By connecting change agents from across sectors, convening them around pressing issues, and facilitating their journey to deep change, NouLAB is making the change process smarter.

Designed to address public challenges that affect many and which no single party or institution can solve alone, NouLAB exists to be a trusted, neutral convener of the change process. As an organization they care most about changing our legacy systems to get the most desirable outcomes for all stakeholders. NouLAB offers the space and process to do this.

As the lab concept gained momentum, the Leadership Council met regularly to define the inquiry of the lab, the purpose, and the objectives. The inquiry that the lab was to explore was defined as “How might we become leaders at attracting, welcoming and retaining newcomers to contribute to the economy of New Brunswick?” In consultation with the NouLAB team and Leadership Council, COLAB Consultants created a developmental evaluation strategy.

Additional funding was secured from Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) for the first year of the lab. In addition, private sector sponsorship from McCain, and donations from Imperial Manufacturing, and Venn Innovation.

An initial round of invitations went out to recruit participants for cycle 1, and the NouLAB team began designing a relevant and effective process. This included looking at different types of labs (Social Labs, Social Innovation Labs, Design Labs) and deciding what was most relevant for the challenge at hand. The team looked to other examples of social labs globally and received generous support.

BIRTH OF LAB - JANUARY - MARCH 2017

• The spark

• Assembling the convening team

• Forming the Leadership Council

• Securing initial funding

PREP YEAR 1 - MARCH - SEPTEMBER 2017

• Clarifying purpose, objectives, & evaluation

• Securing additional funding

• Recruiting participants

• Designing cycle 1

LAB CYCLE 1 - SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER 2017

• 34 participants

• Workshops 1-4

• 8 prototypes developed, 3 continuing

• Evaluation

LAB CYCLE 2 - APRIL 14 - 20, 2018

• 20 participants

• 3 teams formed, prior to lab

• 5 day sprint workshop

• 3 prototypes developed

PROTOTYPE TESTING - APRIL - AUGUST 2018

• Prototypes continue

• Lab Cycle 3 prep

LAB CYCLE 3 - MAY 13 - 17, 2019

• 17 participants

• 3 teams formed prior to lab

• 5 day sprint workshop

• 3 prototypes developed with initial round of testing complete

PROTOTYPE TESTING - MAY 2019 - MARCH 2020

• Working closely with the teams to continue with iterative testing of their prototypes

• NouLAB researchers conduct the interviews or coach on strategy for moving forward

• Often need to remind teams to slow down and gather more evidence before developing further

To begin the process, NouLAB invited a diverse set of stakeholders, that were representative of all parts of the immigration system in NB which included newcomers, immigrants, international students, small and medium sized business owners, settlement agencies, academics, and all levels of government employees working on immigration.

The first convening of lab participants was a three day process that set the stage for what the social lab process would entail.

Participants were tasked with understanding the immigration challenges of NB by looking at them through the perspective and experience of newcomers and employers. This was done through exploring the knowledge and experience present in the room, and then interviewing newcomers and employers to map out their journeys. By accessing different experiences of immigration, participants got at a more comprehensive understanding of the system and issues. Participants were better prepared to identify root causes of systemic issues, rather than just the symptoms. Not only did participants have this more informed perspective of the bigger challenge, the experience built empathy for different perspectives and generated buy-in to the lab process.

On the second day, two questions were posed to the participants: What could the future of New Brunswick be? What does the province look like in a future where immigration is not a new and poorly understood process to employers and citizens?

Guiding Metaphor - Water

For the first cycle, the theme of water was chosen. As the story of immigration has historically been one of ocean, river and lake travel, this theme connects the present and future with the past. The titles of each workshop were chosen to portray their objectives in the broader context of the cycle.

The Leadership Council is comprised of:

• Rob Kelly, Assistant Deputy Minister for the Atlantic Immigration Pilot and PETL

• Alex LeBlanc, Executive Director of the New Brunswick Multicultural Association

• Adrienne O’Pray, CEO of the New Brunswick Business Council

• Angelique Reddy-Kalala, City of Moncton

• Kalie Hatt-Kilburn, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

• Frédérick Dion, Association francophone des municipalitiés du Nouveau-Brunswick

• Thomas Raffy, Conseil économique du Nouveau Brunswick inc.

110,000 people are expected to leave the New Brunswick workforce in the next 15 years.

Only 72% of people who move to New Brunswick stay in New Brunswick.

NB needs 150,000 immigrants over the next 20 years

This is the number of people that are required to migrate to NB to support its future economic well being. David Campbell suggests that if NB continues on its current trajectory significant challenges will arise such as schools shutting down and too few taxpayers to support provincial medical services of the elderly.

The declining growth of the labour market can be seen here:

For a deeper look at the context and need for immigration in NB:

Social Innovation Labs are made up of four phases:

Discovery

Multi-sectoral teams are guided through activities designed to expand their understanding of the systemic nature of a challenge, and uncover the root of the problem. Informed by systems thinking, lab participants explore the broader context and the dynamics between people, power, and resources related to the challenge.

Ideation

Participants then work through a rigorous design thinking process to generate many new ideas, the most promising of which are developed into prototypes.

Prototyping

These new ideas are developed into prototypes, which are then tested and refined. Teams use prototypes to test their assumptions about potential effective solutions. Following human-centred design practices, teams go out in the real world and test their ideas with users. The user feedback is tracked and integrated into further iterations of the prototype.

Implementation (post-lab)

High quality prototypes continue to evolve, learn, and adapt beyond the lab. Their success is dependent on supportive resources and commitment from the team. Successful prototype teams partner with existing organizations, community groups, or government agencies to continue the testing and eventual scaling of their idea.

The problem is complex, rapidly shifting, and multi-stakeholder

There is no obvious path to a solution

Elements of the challenge are outside of one individual’s or organization’s realm of influence

A strategic plan is not adequate because the challenge is too dynamic and uncertain

There is the need to engage multiple stakeholders

There is commitment to support the outputs of the lab

How to use the prototype descriptions

The prototype descriptions listed below provide detail on the prototype, the status as of March 2020, the team and any relevant public documentation.

Prototypes: What has EIL created?

One of the most tangible and visible outputs of the lab are the prototypes. In the lab, multi-sectoral teams are formed around a focus area, an idea, or a leverage point, where they can make a systemic change and improvement to the immigration system of NB. Their ideas for how to do this best are built into a prototype. 15 prototypes were developed through the 3 years of the lab, with some continuing and some elements of others being integrated into programs in government, agencies and private enterprise.

Promising ideas and prototypes developed in EIL require support to continue on beyond the lab workshops. They can be supported through a variety of mechanisms:

• Mentoring and coaching from the Leadership Council

• Partnership with organizations with complimentary mandate

• Access of up to $5000 from NouLAB’s prototype fund, to develop, test, and iterate

• Investment by key organizations and/or departments

• Sustained coaching and supports from NouLAB

Prototyping is about making an idea or concept tangible – whether that’s through writing, drawing, storytelling, sculpting, digital mockups, or some other approach. Prototyping is also not just about the act of making something real, but also about learning something from this process – most commonly in social labs, this is about either testing feasibility, or putting it into people’s hands to get feedback on the idea, or test demand. - Roller Strategies

Value of Prototypes

Whether the prototypes continue being tested and refined beyond the lab, or if they “fail early” and discontinue, the prototypes developed in the EIL have provided value in multiple ways:

1. They continue to take action after the lab: Prototypes continue beyond the lab, taking a novel approach to addressing root causes of the challenges facing immigrant attraction and retention. These prototypes are promising enough to attract partners, funding, and implementation support outside of the lab.

2. They validate existing initiatives: Teams develop prototypes in the lab that replicate what already exists or is in development elsewhere, without knowing it. The ideas generated by a diverse and multi sectoral prototype team validates the direction and strategy of other immigration initiatives.

3. They provide new insights: Not all prototypes continue, but they often provide new insights or nuance to a challenge that was not previously known.

4. They have significant ripple effects: Individuals lead effective immigration change initiatives inside and outside of their organizations related to their prototype, and augmented by the lab experience.

After assessing the outcomes from the first round, the NouLAB team and the leadership council decided to use an accelerated model in order to go deeper. Instead of an open call for individuals, there was a call for people to come with specific topics and challenges that had been identified by the leadership council as

important to immigration in New Brunswick. Two new, more specific calling questions were developed: How might we help newcomers to find meaningful employment and feel part of the New Brunswick community? How might we help employers find talent to grow their businesses?

In April 2018, three teams convened for a one- week process designed by the team at NouLAB. Modelled after Google’s Sprint methodology. The teams focused on: Diversity and inclusion in the Parkton community of Moncton where many refugees live; How to bring more Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) to the province; and Streamlining the process of immigration for employers in New Brunswick. How has the lab evolved?

Involvement from major employers and the federal government were highlights of this round. The three teams that went through this week all continued to work at varying levels on their challenge by evolving the prototype developed during the sprint. To continue to offer support and invest in further innovation and prototype iteration, a NouLAB team member became a partner and coach to all active EIL teams. This blend of coaching, prototype design skills, and implementation support was found to significantly hasten progress. The continued convening support that NouLAB offered functioned to keep teams active and in a prototype mindset , as well as, keep the leadership council informed on any significant hurdles, which they might be able to help teams surmount.

A unique and essential element of the Economic Immigration Lab is the connections facilitated between government and other sectors. Because these longer-term working relationships are somewhat of a new phenomenon, NouLAB has found it important to continue convening partners. The feedback we have had thus far is that this process has been extremely valuable because of NouLAB’s neutrality as a convener. We are bringing stakeholders together for the betterment of immigration on all fronts. Although our leadership consists of the New Brunswick Business Council, the New Brunswick Multicultural Council and the government of New Brunswick, no one partner is in charge, dictating how the findings of lab are used. The organic relationship development serves all parties involved equally.

How might we intentionally create opportunities for local New Brunswickers to connect and share experiences with the others outside of their circle?

The prototype took many forms and by the end of the lab the team had chosen to focus on the leverage point of educating children. The prototype is helping educators around New Brunswick to bring local and newcomer children closer together. This support includes a package of resources, train the trainer programming, grant program, and community of practice for educators in the Anglophone School District to bring cultural diversity awareness into the classroom and schools.

STATUS: Ongoing

UPDATE: A Capacity for Courage grant program for educators within the Anglophone School District was launched for teachers to bring cultural diversity awareness into classrooms and schools. 50 applications were received and 28 projects were awarded funding from between $300 to $4000. Recipients of the grants were encouraged to attend a 3 day mini lab training to further develop their ideas.

The Capacity for Courage training occurred over 3 days from July 30th to August 1st, 2018. 28 teachers and educational staff were in attendance. Teams had applied with projects in their schools to increase and support cultural diversity awareness amongst students and staff. The NouLAB team guided participants through a process of looking at personal motivations, values and beliefs as well as how those informed the projects they were developing. The main takeaways were: a strong network of teachers working on this issue, a support network as projects grow and develop, improved understanding of the root causes of cultural divides and racism issues and a sense of urgency to enact solutions in schools. The goal of this training was to provide provocation to the participants about what cultural diversity really means and to build solutions out of that deeper understanding. Going forward there will be checkins, updates, and measurement of the impact of the 28 projects that received funding. Lessons learned and resources will be shared with teachers throughout the province.

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Lauren Sears - Common Good Solutions

• Kathy Whynot - Specialist - English as Additional Language & Newcomer Children and Youth - Department of Education and Early Childhood Development

• Heather Keats - Consultant - Programs and Services - PETL (GNB)

The third year of the lab brought further development to prototypes in action and three new teams into the fold. The Employer Process Team and the Internationally Educated Nurses Team both received dedicated support from the government of New Brunswick. The Community Engagement Team continued solid offerings to connect people in Fredericton and conducted a detailed study on how to reach a wider audience. Unfortunately the Capacity of Courage project did not receive funding for a second year but the teachers who were a part of the project continued to offer the programming. The network and connections made throughout the previous two years became more and more evident, with past participants staying in contact and new initiatives emerging. For example, Nicolas Bertrand, who was part of the first year and went on to work as Mackenzie College's international recruitment officer, is now working on private sector offering for settlement services.

The support provided by NouLAB for teams was strengthened by the work of Jules Maitland, a human centered design specialist who took a key role as a coordinator and convenor for the Employer Process Team and the Internationally Educated Nurses Team.

In May 2019 three new teams went through the five-day sprint process with the NouLAB team. The teams were: Rural Immigration Support, Foreign Credential Recognition and the Technology Action Group. These topics were chosen based on the need for deeper research in the province and the teams' interest in engaging with a new way of working. All teams came out with a deepened understanding of the issue and new connections to take them further in their respective work.

As of March 2020, the Foreign Credential Recognition Team is still active with resources provided from the NouLAB's prototype testing fund and support from the Department of Post Secondary Education, Training and Labour. The Rural Immigration Support Team completed what they aimed to do with multiple public events. While the Technology Action Group had some early success with meeting and sharing resources, the team disbanded due to job changes.

How might we help nominees from the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) in the business stream to have voice and influence through a provincial organization?

This team focused on building a business council for new immigrants and hosting a conference for business immigrants to share knowledge and have a voice for new immigrant business owners. They hoped to support immigrant business owners to meaningfully participate and lobby for their needs. Make NB known for supporting immigrant business people.

STATUS: Discontinued

UPDATE: A council for newcomer business owners has been established but is no longer connected to lab.

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Roxanne Reeves, Ph.D. - Lecturer - UNB

• Adam Luo - ONB

• Kinh Huynh - Owner - MFCIC Business Services Inc.

• Janet Moser - Director Immigrant Business Services - Fredericton Chamber of Commerce

How might we help employers looking for low skilled workers to find the right fit?

Raising awareness about current services available to employers and prototype a screening tool that helps employers assess and identify their hiring needs, and match them with appropriate resources and support.

STATUS: Learning incorporated into government program

UPDATE: For employers, awareness and support through the immigration recruitment process was found to be critical to success; and for government, they needed better avenues to get key information regarding immigration recruitment to the businesses in need. To achieve these goals, this team decided to prototype two ideas. The first was an informational video to demonstrate to employers the benefits of hiring immigrants and the support that is available through the Government of New Brunswick. The second piece was a screening tool that employers can fill out to further narrow-down what needs they have for immigration support and then be matched with newcomers with those skills.

The work and progress that occurred throughout the lab aligned with work that was already underway in the immigration department and was bolstered by the ability of participants to get human-centric data through interviews. The work is now being carried on by Jake Arbuckle in his work with the Population Growth Division at the Government of New Brunswick. In particular, some of the ideas developed in the lab have been incorporated into a new process the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour is currently piloting across its various regional offices to better assess employers needs and develop strategies to help them meet these needs.

The first trial of the prototype failed in the sense that it did not continue on beyond the lab, but it validated actions that are happening in the government, and exemplified the effectiveness of a multi sectoral approach. After the lab a second iteration of the employer screener was implemented internally, by PETL’s population growth division.

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Andrée Caissie Savoie - VP Customer Service and Corporate Affairs - Imperial Manufacturing Group

• Jake Arbuckle - Team Leader - Immigration, Settlement and Multiculturalism, Population Growth Division (GNB)

• Marie Thibeault - Economic Development Officer - ACOA

• Patrick Richard - Workforce Strategist - ONB

• Stephen Alexander - Consultant - Enterprise Saint John

How might we help the NB private sector to initiate an international hiring process?

This team prototyped a matching service for recently settled immigrants to find employers that need their skillset. Like Tinder for employee/ employer matches. Helping newcomers who are already here find jobs that are matched with their skillset and in so doing, prevent the ongoing loss to other provinces.

STATUS: Discontinued

UPDATE: While the need is still present to match newcomers settled in NB with jobs, this team has not continued to pursue this issue. It may, however be picked up in future cycles. Through connections made in the lab, team member Erika Cantu is now working with United Way as their Diversity Champion. She carried her learnings from this cycle 1 prototype into cycle II of the lab, where she is currently part of the Diversity Champions Team.

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Erika Cantu - Owner - Steps2Canada

• Steven Fecteau - HR Director - Sunnymel Foods

• Rahma Kouraich - Consultant - Atlantic Human Services

How might we better understand the experience of internationally educated nurses (IENs) applying for registered nurse status in NB to improve the process for future IENs navigating the process successfully and gaining employment?

Currently it can take up to 2 years for Internationally Educated Nurses to have their credentials upgraded and recognized in NB. There is a forecasted shortage of nurses over the next 3 years that is expected to be catastrophic. In addition to keeping more of our New Brunswick educated nurses, bringing in nurses from overseas may be an effective way to meet the coming demands of New Brunswick’s healthcare system. This team is looking at ways for international credentials to be recognized in a more expedient fashion. They are looking at the possibility of having immigrant nurses without fully recognized credentials working as personal support workers (PSWs) until they can satisfy the Canadian requirements in order to become a registered nurse (RN) in New Brunswick. This would also satisfy the shortage of personal care support workers.

STATUS: Ongoing

UPDATE: The team is working within the context of a broader nursing recruitment strategy, which will include the lab prototype for bringing in Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs), which has the support of the department of health as a testable idea to help meet labour shortages. The prototype could be incorporated into the overall recruitment strategy.

This team brought together stakeholders all dealing with the nursing shortage. They will be looking at targeting French and English speaking countries that have a greater match with the credentials required within the Canadian system as well as looking to bring in IEN’s sooner to work as personal care workers while getting upgraded to work as RN’s within the nursing system. Jake Arbuckle was able to impact this group’s work by bringing some very specific recruitment issues for healthcare because of his daily interaction with companies looking for a specific healthcare skill sets. Government data indicates that international migration is essential to meeting NB employers’ healthcare recruitment needs over the coming years.

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Odette Comeau Lavoie - Principal Nursing Advisor - Department of Health; Health Workforce Planning Branch

• Allison White - Director of Emergency Services - Réseau de santé Vitalité

• Virgil Guitard - Nursing Consultant - Nurses Association of NB

• Suzie Durocher-Hendriks - Professor in Nursing - Université de Moncton, Edmundston campus

• Eric Levesque - Director, Health Workforce Planning - Department of Health

• Julie Weir - Assistant Director, responsible for clinical and care innovation - New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes

• Jake Arbuckle - Team Lead, Team Leader - Immigration, Settlement and Multiculturalism - PETL (GNB)

UPDATE (February 2020):

Leadership team:

• Mark Wies - Assistant Deputy Minister - Health;

• Rob Kelly - Assistant Deputy Minister - Atlantic Immigration Pilot (Agency), Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour;

• Jake Arbuckle - Director - Health Workforce Planning (Branch), Health;

• Odette Comeau Lavoie - Principal Nursing Advisor, - Health Workforce Planning (Branch) Health;

• Robb Parker – Program Consultant - Health Workforce Planning (Branch), Health.

Working Group:

• Carolyn Lordon (Nurses Association of New Brunswick); Susanne Duff (Association of New Brunswick’s Licensed Practical Nurses);

• Julie Weir and Sergio Silva (New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes);

• Kerry Kennedy and Lisa Robinson (Horizon Health);

• Isabelle Duguay and Allison White (Vitalité), and

• Abby David (New Brunswick Multicultural Council).

How can we help francophone international students in the IT and health industries find a job in their field and gain Canadian work experience?

This team focussed on improving the awareness of, and ease of accessing, programs that support Francophone International students. This team’s aim was to ensure students were well informed and prepared for life in New Brunswick after graduation, and to provide international students with similar supports as NB residents.

STATUS: Committee formed

UPDATE: This team focused on Francophone international students and did a deep dive into better understanding how to effectively integrate these students into the workforce after graduation. They conducted several focus groups with students and discovered that many students don’t realize the value or necessity of learning about the Canadian workplace culture or learning English until their fourth year which is often too late. This team is made up of many of the stakeholders directly connected with Francophone international students and they subsequently pitched to PETL that they become an advisory council to help recommend and implement ideas. They are currently working on a terms of reference for this council and will present that back to PETL for approval.

TEAM MEMBERS

• Leyla Sall - Professor/Researcher - UdeM

• Lisa Griffin - Ndour International Student Services - UdeM

• Jean-Claude Bagnah - Account Manager - ACOA

• Charles Fournier - Economic Integration Agent - CAFI

• Chantal Lessard - Continuing Education Advisor - Skills Development and Employability - CCNB

How might we help small NB recruiters to navigate the immigration process effectively?

A streamlined process to allow employers and potential employees to navigate the government services they need to meet requirements for hiring and being hired in New Brunswick. The team is prototyping a concierge service for businesses to access to help guide them through the hiring process as one single point of contact, ideally making the process easier and quicker for both the employer and newcomer. The ability to streamline the process for hiring new employees from outside of Canada is essential for businesses to survive and thrive in New Brunswick.

STATUS: Ongoing

UPDATE: On July 25th the team presented their prototype and implementation plan to IRCC representatives, Louis Dumas - Director General of the Domestic Network, Elizabeth Stronach - Strategic Advisor and Claude Arbez - Assistant Director. The meeting progressed very well with PETL committing to support a trial of hiring one employee, a dedicated account manager, to provide concierge service to employers going through the immigration process. IRCC committed to support this account manager position with onboarding support and direct communication channels. Susan Wilson, Director, Immigration and Talent Acquisition for JDI explained how their detailed tracking system of hiring newcomers has shown that the longest part of the process is getting the paperwork filed from the newcomer and the employer. Once it is in IRCC’s hands, getting to approval is actually quite fast. Therefore this account manager’s concierge services would focus on helping the employer and newcomer make sure they have the right forms and have the information to complete them.

This prototype will be tested for 18 months, not necessarily as a way to scale a concierge service but to help identify bottlenecks, learn from and identify areas for improvement. NouLAB will assist as a project manager for this prototype and help support the account manager in capturing data and lessons learning from this experiment.

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Susan Wilson - Director, Immigration and Talent Acquisition - J.D. Irving Ltd.

• Denis Desjardins - International Recruitment Manager - J.D.Irving

• Sherri Deveau - Consultant - Practical Human Resource Solutions Inc.

• Stephen Chase - Manager, Settlement and Multiculturalism - PETL (GNB)

• Elizabeth Stronach - Strategic Advisor - IRCC

• Maurice Vautour - Program Consultant - PETL (GNB)

How might we help employers looking for high skilled workers navigate the resources available to recruit and retain newcomers?

A “one stop shop” for employers to navigate the resources available to recruit and retain newcomers.

STATUS: Discontinued

UPDATE: This prototype validated a project that the province had already begun working on. GNB is working on a more consolidated service for employers and several of the members from this team are helping inform its development.

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Ashley Noel - Program Officer, Employment Counselling - PETL (GNB)

• Kari Cheyne - Workplace Integration Manager - MAGMA

• Natalie Condron - Senior Analyst and Liaison Officer - IRCC

• Abby David - Project Manager - NBMC

How might we create a stronger and more connected Parkton?

Focusing on one neighborhood in Greater Moncton with a high concentration newcomer residents, this team asked: How can we learn from this neighbourhood about what is needed for newcomers to better integrate? In the case of Parkton, a marginalised community in Moncton, there are issues with cross-cultural integration of the youth. Newcomers, sometimes refugees, are not understood and have a hard time integrating into New Brunswick and Canadian society. This team worked on solutions to bring youth together in sensitive ways to build a stronger understanding between local and newcomer cultures.

STATUS: Ongoing

UPDATE: The first prototype was developing a Neighborhood Association - however, this was found to be unwanted through user interviews. The team pivoted and took a new approach to community engagement with a community picnic, which was trialed on June 21st, 2018 with success. People from the community shared food and conversation about how they could improve their neighborhood and become more connected. Interest for a community council was expressed when discussed with people and more trials are being prepared. They used some of their prototype fund to provide materials for the picnic. At the picnic the team identified 9 community members, both Canadian-born and newcomers, who live in the Parkton area and who are now part of the Welcome Committee - Parkton Area. This Committee aims to welcome new neighbors and to organize more events in this area that will bring neighbors together.

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Erika Cantu - Diversity Champion - United Way

• Brandon Hilts - Youth Integration Coordinator - MAGMA

• Rébécca Ethier - Education Manager - Boys and Girls Club of Moncton

• Ashton Beardsworth - Director of Program ServicesBoys and Girls Club of Moncton

• Angelique Reddy-Kalala - Immigration Strategy Officer - City of Moncton

• Aaron Komondo - Program Consultant - PETL

• Chantal Theriault - Corp. Plan. and Rep. Analyst - ACOA

11 Prototypes developed in the lab

5 Prototypes are continuing beyond the lab, with support and coaching from the NouLAB team

How might we help GNB hire those who participated in the student employment experience development program over the last year to participate fully in the workplace?

The purpose of this prototype is to improve diversity in government employees and show a clear path between entry-level positions and upper management, regardless of background. This is meant to develop role models and diversity at all levels of government decision making. The prototype is focused on matching immigrants with jobs in the government through 1 year internships with the eventual goal of improving cultural diversity in government and providing a clear path from internship to upper management.

STATUS: Learning incorporated into government program

UPDATE: The prototype is being tested and will be evaluated on an ongoing basis. One of the interns recruited through the GNB internship program is an international student. The interns are being provided with additional training and support as required. Funding has been secured through GNB departmental budgets. The 15 new post-secondary graduates were recruited using an innovative cloud-based recruitment and HR practice. The recruits are interns with various GNB departments with a focus on strategic areas of development such as: open data & data visualization, systems thinking, human centred design, citizen engagement and facilitation, prototype design & experimentation, and agile project management. New interns are being provided with mentorship and support to help instill an innovative mindset within GNB and with training opportunities to develop and apply these skills to opportunities and challenges requiring strategic innovation.

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Renu Dhayagude - Executive Council Office of GNB

• Mikael Hellstrom - Post-doctoral Fellow - UNBSJ

• Robert Burroughs - Executive Director - NB Student Alliance

• Laurie Parris - Executive Director - Multicultural Association of Charlotte County

How might we help SME employers understand and recognize how immigrant job seekers competencies meet their job requirements?

• Jesse Kerpan has been approved by CCNB to officially participate in this project. This comes with access to CCNB professional & student networks and other resources.

• Phil reported that shortly after our sprint he was contacted by a number of PLAR/FQR organizations from across Canada (including IRCC and CAPLA) with regards to a 10-year review study the feds are conducting into their FQR funding. Until now they have been focusing on professional associations, and preliminary results seem to show poor success rates, therefore they are apparently shopping around for a new approach. When Phil explained the concept of our prototype they were immediately interested and are flying him to Ottawa next week to present more formally.

• The upshot here is that the concept of approaching FQR from an unregulated, SME, informal qualifications perspective has caught the interest and potential pocketbooks of nationwide stakeholders. We will find out more once Phil meets with them on June 14th. Our team’s goal is to manage expectations and responsibility, as we can’t put the cart before the horse and scale up before we even have a developed value proposition.

• There are other similar tools around the world (in particular UK and Australia) that will be of great help in our development phase. The UK group has already expressed willingness to share best practices. We will continue research into resources supporting competency & qualification definitions, applications, categorizations, etc.

STATUS:

• Active, the team is has done another round of prototype testing interviews and are preparing materials to test a simple digital version.

• Team has received funds from PDC to help with their work

Next steps:

• Firm up team member & roles (see below) Determine parameters for data collection & research (scope of “qualifications”/”competencies”) – funding support needed

• Explore digital platform options (market research, programmer & UX input) – funding support needed

• Team has decided to create a parallel Advisory Committee composed of interested/expert parties that cannot commit to core committee roles.

• Meet to identify next steps and identify which other partners need to be involved to create an advisory committee

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Philip Bélanger - Executive Director - Council on Articulations and Transfer of New Brunswick (CATNB)

• Jesse Kerpan - Coordonnateur - Projets spéciaux et partenariats internationaux - CCNB

• Shannon Brittany-Pollock - Workforce Strategy Coordinator - Opportunities NB

• Charles LeBlanc - Manager - Post Secondary Education, Training and Labour

• Tuy Dinh - Director - PTT Consulting and Trading Corporation

How might we help female newcomers between the ages of 20-45 call Miramichi home?

STORY: The prototype they developed is an invitation to new immigrants and longer-term Miramichi residents to a meeting with a social component that focuses on learning what each person could do to help connectivity between new and existing Miramichi residents.

STATUS: Complete

UPDATE:

• They completed their Annual August BBQ that had hundreds of newcomers show-up last year and felt was a valuable event because it had resources all attendees could easily access (eg medicare card sign-up, etc), which the prototype interviews reinforced.

• Chamber of Commerce also had Karen McGrath, President and CEO of Horizon Health speak at their AGM and she spoke of the importance of immigration and the Miramichi members are supportive of Sam, the ED of the chamber, investing time in the immigration file.

• Built a core team that had time to work on the prototype, testing out invitation with existing residents, and getting clarity on the purpose of the event.

• The event went on twice as long as expected

• The team considers the prototype finished and is taking the learnings forward

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Samantha Murphy (lead) - Executive Director - Miramichi Chamber of Commerce

• Craig Silliker - Executive Director - Miramichi Regional Multicultural Association

• David Godfrey - Economist - Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour

• Adam Lordon - Mayor - City of Miramichi

• Rachel Bernard - Community Economic Development Executive - Opportunities NB

• Amy Savile - Phd Student Researcher - University of New Brunswick

How might we empower skilled IT professional newcomers to find purposeful employment?

The Technology Action Group (TAG) is a working group between settlement agencies, immigration support, and a technology incubator to help navigate IT employees to appropriate positions. As frontline employees dealing directly with immigrants seeking employment, the TAG team was able to connect on a regular basis to share issues as they develop with current applicants. The information shared between the group members allowed them to effectively and appropriately triage needs in terms of language training, technology skills applicability, experience and others.

STATUS: Discontinued

UPDATE: Due to restructuring and funding changes at PETL, this team is not meeting anymore. The structure and process of their meetings may be useful for other groups.

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Jessica Kennedy - Venn Innovation Inc.

• Daniela Fernandez - The Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area / L'Association Multiculturelle du Grand Moncton

• Chantal LeBlanc-Maldonado - Atlantic Human Service

• Lori-Ann Dubiel - 3+ Economic Development Corporation

• Maryse Leger - Atlantic Human Service

• Kathie Ouellette - Post Secondary Education Training and Labour

How might we help newcomers of all backgrounds create meaningful relationship outside of their cultural community of origin?

This team is developing a Cross-Cultural Toolkit: a collection of resources and supports for anyone (event organizers, facilitators, community leaders, government representatives, business leaders, etc.) to meaningfully help people connect across cultural differences. The prototype’s initial aim was to engage newcomers at existing events through a series of cross-cultural activities designed to lower barriers and increase the ease of conversation across cultural differences. Their user was initially defined as a newcomer spouse, who they found to take longer to integrate as they are often not engaged in the workforce, but who have an equal say in whether the couple/family will stay in NB.

STATUS: Ongoing

UPDATE: The team has completed 4 events in the Fredericton community and are actively developing their toolkit. Ideally this toolkit will be shareable with other communities and integrated into myriad events and trainings. As part of their toolkit, The Living Library concept was born: a place where people are given the opportunity to share their stories as ‘human books’. For the Community Engagement team they focused on newcomer stories at their June 21st Living Library event at the Fredericton Public Library as a part of the Cultural Expressions Festival. The walkthrough traffic was excellent because of the overlap with this festival and the Fredericton street market, proving their strategy of overlapping with existing events was valid. Many attendees expressed satisfaction with the event.

TEAM MEMBERS

• Diluckshnie Jayawardena - Regional Performance Director - Sitel

• Leticia Leon de Gante - Local Immigration Partnership Fredericton

• Lisa Bamford de Gante - Executive Director - Fredericton Multicultural Association

• Sebastián Salazar - Urban Planner - City of Fredericton

• Tiziana Zevallos - Student - St. Thomas University

• Nicolas Bertrand - Owner - Steps2Canada

Participants represented regions across the province from Edmunston to Bathurst to St Stephen

• 40 organizations

• 33 women

• 21 men

• 21 Anglophone New Brunswickers

• 15 Francophone New Brunswickers

• 12+ Countries

In the economic immigration challenge that is facing NB, there are many stakeholders. Settlement agencies, newcomers, and employers are not the only people who have a stake in solving this challenge. The economic wellbeing of the entire population of NB has a stake in seeing a reversal of the current immigration attraction and retention trends. The participants engaged in the lab process were representative of the many stakeholder groups in NB and this diversity was achieved through an intentional invitation process.

From Sept 2017 to May 2018, 55 people participated in the lab, representing the following groups:

95% of lab participants are committed to continuing to work on the immigration challenges of NB

“My prototype team did not get together, but I have continued the work by getting involved with the core working group for the broader GNB internship program for all graduates.”

“Immigration is critical for NB growth, it is reassuring to note that there is more interest than in the past years by various agencies.”

“I sense that there is more buy-in from gov't depts apart from Population Growth Division (GNB).”

100% of lab participants agree or strongly agree that they had the opportunity to meet and work with compelling people

“Knowing there was no fixed solution, the greatest value was working alongside people from different backgrounds and professions on a challenge that allowed us to be creative, innovative and fearless.”

“The greatest value of the lab was realizing that we are already on the right track, retention numbers in our region are improving, clients are more engaged, and we are aligned with our funders strategies.”

*Lab participant quotes

Beyond developing and testing prototypes, the lab also builds the capacity of individuals to innovate, so that no matter what the project, their work on immigration can better serve NB. The ripple effects of this built capacity will have immeasurable impact. The lab is a professional development opportunity on an individual level, and this itself holds great value.

THE LAB TEACHES:

• Systems thinking

• Design thinking

• Working in complexity

• Prototyping

• Leadership practices

• Effective team practices

90% of lab participants agree or strongly agree that the lab provided an innovative process for working on the immigration challenge of NB.

“We are too often rushed to identify solutions quickly to issues. This process allowed us to take more time and collaborate and fully explore a very concise issue and identify and create a solution for that issue”

“I’m very happy I got to participate from this experience, it provided me with excellent tools to face any challenge that I will always have present with me.”

“We need to work on a narrative for the local population to feel that they play an important part in making our community more inclusive. We need to bring them into the process of integration for immigrants instead of just letting it be the work of government, non-profits, and civil society committed to inclusion. The day-to-day lives of local persons can also include ways to demonstrate a genuine interest for getting to know immigrants. I proposed the theme for the Cultural Expressions Festival's ten year anniversary as "We are all ethnic" because it is important that everyone feel that they can celebrate their ethnicity, but more importantly, that everyone HAS an ethnicity, not just people of colour or visible minorities. That category of the "other" that people of colour usually fall under, the way the word "ethnic" is used, can be a bit insulting because it creates an Us/Them mentality. So this lab certainly made me be bold enough to push the line, based on some of the things I heard, some of the people I met, and the conclusions that we need to treat everyone's background equally if we are going to come together as a community.”

78% of lab participants say that they have adopted the lab’s approach to problem solving into their work and other projects. This approach emphasizes gathering diverse perspectives before generating potential solutions.

“My colleagues themselves aren't very diverse, so it is hard to get those types of diverse perspectives, but we are working to make City Staff more culturally diverse, and the decision-makers (I think) are on board with starting the process.”

“I didn't know much about the current situation in NB before participating in the lab. I found the process itself to be very effective for collecting data and bringing stakeholders to the table. Participating showed me how I can contribute to the work being done.”

65% have adopted a user-centred approach to solving challenges in their work.

“Newcomers have much to say, we often aren’t listening and too wrapped up in our own agendas to see what is directly in front of us.”

“If you want real answers start building trust, relationships, focus groups and start including immigrants in higher numbers ..it really makes a difference.”

“We are doing it, starting small, but eventually with cultural competence training, that ability to work with different cultures will be enhanced.”

“I gained an increased understanding that a poor experience in immigration processes has on individuals and their families - those "people stories" are the ones that stick with you.”

“I already try to do this but the lab gave me better tools.”

45% have adopted prototyping as a method for learning and solving a problem in their work.

“I feel more confident in my ability to contribute to an innovation process (as a critical, pessimistic, non-creative, ha!)”

“Recognizing that some of the paths that we thought we were taking weren't the ideal ones or the ones that we really wanted, so by retracting and starting again we are now sure that we looked at many options and chose the one that really could accomplish what we want to do. Trial and error and no regrets.”

“We simply do not have the time to do prototyping. When you are underfunded and under resourced there is little time for experimental programs.”

How might we cater to the needs of new immigrant parents coming into the education system?

Comment pourrions-nous, le système francophone, répondre aux attentes des parents nouveaux arrivants?

Prototype

Development of a survey to identify factors and needs of anglophone, francophone and allophone parents coming to NB when choosing where to place their children in the school system.

Développer un questionnaire pour faire un échantillonnage auprès des clientes et clients des centres d'accueil et d'établissement.

Team

• Rodrigue Hébert - District scolaire francophone sud Agent pédagogique -- Nouveaux arrivants

• Caroline Turnbull - Ministère de l'Éducation et du Développement de la petite enfance Agente pédagogique provinciale - Direction des Services éducatifs francophones

• Chantal Ouellette - Fédération des conseils d'éducation du Nouveau-Brunswick responsable administrativie des Conseils d'éducation de district, secteur francophone

• Marie-Joëlle Bergeron - Division de la croissance démographique, MEPFT Agente de programme d'immigration

• Isabelle Lavoie - Codirectrice, Équipe famille-école CAFI

Status

Abondonné / Ended

Many changes in organizations involved and lack of time to invest in the project.

Any ripple effects?

This multi-stakeholder team was composed of people who generally hadn’t worked together. The relationships built through the process was a major outcome of this work. Team members have shifted their perspective on the problem

BESOIN DES UTILISATRICES/UTILISATEURS

Être bilingue (deux langues officielles du Canada) pour connaitre le succès auquel ils et elles aspirent en immigrant au Canada, et plus particulièrement au Nouveau-Brunswick, seule province officiellement bilingue.

OBJECTIFS D'APPRENTISSAGE

• Faire un échantillonnage des raisons qui amènent les parents à choisir un système scolaire ou l'autre.

• Faire des 'One-Pager' pour les nouveaux arrivants francophones, anglophones, allophones, pour les enfants qui sont à l'élémentaire et au secondaire.

• Cartographier les alliés du système scolaire en accueil, intégration, établissement des nouveaux arrivants.

Vision

• La population active et francophone augmente au Nouveau-Brunswick, et le déclin démographique n'existe plus.

• Le nombre d'inscription de nouveaux arrivants francophones et allophones dans les 3 districts scolaires francophones augmente.

• Les élèves issus de l'immigration aiment leur nouvelle école et leur nouvelle communauté, ils et elles y sont bien, s'y sentent bien et y sont inclus. Ils et elles progressent rapidement dans leur apprentissage des deux langues officielles, connaissent la réussite éducative à laquelle ils et elles aspirent, et participent à diverses activités culturelles et sportives.

93% of participants say that their understanding of both the newcomer and employer experience has increased

Improved understanding of the newcomer experience:

“The greatest value for me was learning more about the perspectives and experiences of various participants. Knowing more about the situation in the field allows me to take initiatives that can be more productive.”

“If we don't create environments that are welcoming for those who choose to move to NB, it will be very hard to keep them here. And that welcoming begins with a message of acceptance and highlighting the aspects of the local culture that immigrants are arriving to that should also be appreciated (oftentimes, because there are things that we left our countries to come and enjoy here, such as the value of one's profession, the respect of human rights, the rule of law, and equal opportunities for everyone).”

“I am now more apt to approach a newcomer in my workplace.”

“There is no one experience, you have to be careful with generalizations.”

Improved understanding of the employer experience:

“The Lab was extremely helpful to get employers' and provinces' perspective. Was empowering to see how quickly our prototype is moving through approvals thanks to our individual contributions.”

“It gave me a more comprehensive look at immigration across streams”

“I learned that most newcomers struggle, settlement agencies seem to be propositioned as the solution to fixing all problems but they lack the support to provide the attention needed, and that many newcomers become isolated the longer they take to integrate and some never do.”

“I learned that contrary to the mainstream narrative, many newcomers do want to stay in New Brunswick, instead of using NB as a bridge into becoming a permanent resident in Canada and move elsewhere.”

95% of participants say that they were given the opportunity to analyze opportunities and barriers to immigrant attraction and retention within New Brunswick

The biggest value of the lab is as a tool for multi sectoral stakeholder engagement and innovation. The lab is a concentrated opportunity to see the broader system and work through a rigorous process to develop and prototype solutions. - Rob Kelly, Assistant Deputy Minister for the Atlantic Immigration Pilot

“We are too often rushed to identify solutions quickly to issues. This process allowed us to take more time and collaborate and fully explore a very concise issue and identify and create a solution for that issue”

“I learned that our prototype/pilot is already "somewhat" in place in Ontario so may have something we can re-apply from that it also provides more backing for our proposal.”

“Connections were made between businesses and the immigration sector that didn’t exist before. A new understanding of how we can better work together was born.”

*Lab participant quotes

11 Prototypes aimed at the following leverage points…

Employer to Government Connection

Employers lack awareness of, or ability to navigate and efficiently utilize, available government supports and resources for hiring newcomers

Destination NB

Improving connection between employers’ hiring needs and available government supports and resources for hiring newcomers.

Newcomer to Influencer

Lack of immigrants/diversity represented in NB government

Diversity Champions

Newcomers lack meaningful integration into local communities, and following employment, this is the second most important element to retain newcomers

Capacity for Courage

Address cultural gap between Canadian-born and newcomer children and youth, to assist newcomers in meaningful integration into local communities

Business Immigration

Lack of support for immigrant business owners to meaningfully participate in local business councils

Match NB

Helping newcomers, who have already settled in NB, secure employment, supporting them to stay

Les Connecteurs

Lack of awareness and ease of accessing SEED program for international students

Internationally Educated Nurses

Nursing shortage in NB, improve recognition of credentials for Internationally Educated Nurses

Employer Process Team

Streamlined process to allow employers and potential employees to navigate the government services they need to meet requirements for hiring and being hired in New Brunswick

Community Integration Team

Address cultural gap between locals and newcomers to assist newcomers in meaningful integration into local communities (ie; racism)

Heather Keats - Program Consultant responsible for long term integration committee for newcomers under PETL - Post Secondary Training & Labour

Heather’s team focused right in on the root causes of why immigration was not as successful in New Brunswick as it has been in other provinces. Through their initial discussions in the first workshop they noticed that newcomers highly valued their children’s experience in the immigration process. With this as a clue to the systemic issue, Heather and her team went and talked to teachers about the experience of teaching with diversity in the classroom. This process of going from a hunch to backing it up with human-centred field research is exactly what the lab is designed to facilitate. Heather reflected on the lab process and her experience saying that it has put new wind in her sails after working in government for many years.

Jake Arbuckle - Team Lead for Skilled Worker Unit, GNB

Jake came into the lab in the first cycle with a lot of experience in immigration. He has been on multiple trips overseas to attract newcomers to New Brunswick so he was an excellent person to have in the room to share his knowledge of the immigration process. What Jake learned throughout the sessions was the importance of stepping back and looking at the motivation behind why he does this work. The human-centred toolkit was especially important in how his team’s prototype was developed. Even though is team from the first cycle did not stay together, Jake has taken their idea into practice within his department as a new approach for the regional immigration office to assess the employer needs in the area and deliver services based on that information. This shift is a direct reflection of the style of work encouraged in the lab. Jake subsequently participated in the second cycle of the lab and made contributions to the internationally educated nurses team.

Elizabeth Stronach - Strategic Advisor, IRCC

Elizabeth is a self-described critic and took some time to warm up to the lab process. Coming out from Ottawa to participate, she became an extremely valuable voice on her team, sharing insights into what needed to change at the federal level to move things forward. Elizabeth stated that she derived enormous personal value out of the lab. She recognises the huge impact this work can have on people’s lives and families, and so taking the human-centred approach made a lot of sense to her. She also saw the value of being able to take action on a challenge after only five days of work with a team.

Erika Cantu - Diversity Champion, United Way

Erika came to the first cycle of the lab wearing a number of hats. As the owner of a small business that helps newcomers land in Canada and a newcomer herself, she understands the trials of coming to a new place and starting anew. Her passion for the topic is evident and informed many discussions during that formative first cycle. Although her team in the first cycle did not end up with a workable prototype, Erika was not defeated, and she was invited to the second cycle after securing a new job with the United Way as their dedicated Diversity Champion. Already knowing the process was a huge benefit to her team as she could move the conversations forward and provide insight into what was coming next. Their team got to the heart of the issue and talked to the people living in a community of Moncton with one of the highest newcomer populations, Parkton. The work they are doing there is ensuring that newcomer voices are heard when attempting to help them integrate into Canadian culture.

Lisa Bamford - Executive Director, Multicultural Association of Fredericton Inc.

Lisa is very connected to immigration in New Brunswick. What she learned from the lab was that even in this specialized realm there are serious silos where information flow is not happening. The value she found in the lab was the multi-sectoral approach that put people at the table together and they could easily find commonalities in their challenges. The in depth conversations she was able to have with other partners and stakeholders made the value of what her team delivered with their community connection prototype much stronger.

Susan Wilson - Director, Immigration, J.D. Irving Ltd.

Susan came into the lab with a fresh mandate at J.D. Irving Limited. As the first dedicated person working on immigrant support within the company, she is focused on ensuring the process goes as smoothly and quickly as possible. Having her, a representative of the biggest company in New Brunswick, at the table with people who are able to make change at the provincial and federal levels was essential to ensuring outcomes that will move the needle on the process. Susan’s engagement was evident from the beginning of the workshop in cycle two. Having those clear objectives from her company allowed her to communicate what needs to change. The resources at her disposal in terms of tracking and sheer numbers of immigrant employees JDI will process is key to learning how the process will be best improved.

Virgil Guitard - Nursing Consultant, Nurses Association of NB

Virgil has been working as a consultant for the Nurses Association and does so remotely for the most part. The lab gave him the chance to work closely with his colleagues and build strong relationships in person. Sceptical at first, he found the processes and tools aligned with his humorous nature and was able to keep energy levels high throughout the week. The value of being in the same room when working on these types of problems was huge. Being forced to push through the challenging moments with a team leads to breakthroughs and the innovative ideas the Internationally Educated Nurses team came up with are proof.

The long term indication of success of the lab to make a significant positive change in the immigration challenge of NB is simple: MORE PEOPLE IMMIGRATING TO AND WORKING IN NB.

Correlating direct cause and effect of the lab against this metric is nearly impossible. However, individual stories and anecdotes help make this connection tangible. This section tells the story of 7 lab participants and the impact the lab had on them and their ability to continue to work on economic immigration issues in NB.

In the summer of 2017, at the outset of the lab, objectives were set collaboratively with NouLAB, funders, and the members of the Leadership Council.

• 50+ Stakeholders engaged at the grassroots

• Improved understanding of the newcomer experience

• Improved understanding of the employer experience

• 3-5 prototype teams testing and learning from prototypes

• Learning that is scalable to other communities

• Greater understanding of leverage points for action

• Build capacity for innovation

The following sections are an exploration of the extent to which the lab met these objectives.

Academic

• Université de Moncton

• CCNB (Collège communautaire du NB)

• University of New Brunswick

• New Brunswick Student Alliance

• Pond-Deshpande Centre

Settlement Agency

• New Brunswick Multicultural Council

• Centre d'accueil et d'accompagnement francophone pour les immigrants du Sud-Est du Nouveau-Brunswick (CAFi)

• Multicultural Association of Greater Moncton Area (MAGMA)

• Multicultural Association of Charlotte County

• Local Immigration Partnership of Fredericton

• Atlantic Human Services (AHS )

• Multicultural Association of Fredericton Inc.

Non Profit

• YMCA of Greater Saint John

• Living English in Moncton

• Fredericton Chamber of Commerce

• Enterprise Saint John

Business

• Imperial Manufacturing Group

• Sitel

• Steps2Canada

• MFCIC Business Services Inc

• Common Good Solutions

• Sunnymel

Government

• Opportunities NB

• Post-Secondary Education, Training & Labour Fredericton Regional Office

• PETL-Employment and Continuous Learning Services Branch

• Government of New Brunswick: Population Growth Division

• Department of Education and Early Childhood Development

• Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

• Immigration Refugee Citizenship Canada

• Executive Council Office, GNB

• University New Brunswick (Saint John and Fredericton)

• City of Fredericton

Academic

• Université de Moncton, Edmundston campus

Settlement Agency

• MAGMA (Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area)

Business

• J.D. Irving, Limited Practical Human Resource Solutions Inc.

• Réseau de santé Vitalité

Government

• Department of Health; Health Workforce Planning Branch

• Post Secondary Education Training Labour

• Immigration, Refugees, Citizenship Canada

• Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

• City of Moncton

• Nurses Association of NB

Non Profit

• New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes

• United Way

• Boys and Girls Club of Moncton

This objective was specifically referring to ideas that were prototyped, the learning that’s happening as a result, and the ability to scale effectively across NB, and beyond. Four of the prototypes are currently scaling their learning and testing in multiple communities.

Capacity for Courage Prototype

This team is actively working to help educators around New Brunswick address the cultural gap between locals and newcomers. Currently they are supporting 25 projects in schools from K-12 across the province in the Anglophone school district. The learning and impact of these projects will be measured and shared with teachers across the school district. Teachers nominated for the Capacity for Courage program will benefit from free training and grants to realize their diversity and inclusion goals in the classroom, and their students will benefit by extension.

Employer Process Improvement Team Prototype

They are actively prototyping a streamlined process to allow employers and potential employees to navigate the government services they need to meet the requirements for hiring and being hired in New Brunswick. The learning from this prototype is scalable to all communities in NB, as employers and employees heavily rely on concierge services to aid their recruitment efforts. With IRCC involved in this prototype the learning could have impact at a national scale.

Community Engagement Prototype

This team is actively building and testing a Cross-Cultural Toolkit, which is a toolkit for supporting newcomer families to have meaningful connection to local communities and combat isolation. This prototype is currently active in several communities, and as this simple yet brilliant concept continues to be refined, it can be applied in any community in NB, or Canada.

Diversity Champions Prototype

This group is working on solutions to bring people together in sensitive ways to build strong understanding between local and newcomer cultures. In the case of Parkton, a marginalized community in Moncton, there are issues with cross-cultural integration of the youth. Newcomers, sometimes refugees, are not understood and have a hard time integrating into New Brunswick and Canadian society. The residents of Parkton will have the opportunity to be involved in placemaking and active citizenship projects.

Academic

Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick

University of New Brunswick

Settlement Agency

MAGMA

Miramichi Regional Multicultural Association

Atlantic Human Service

Business

PTT Consulting and Trading Corporation

Government

City of Miramichi

New Brunswick Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour

Opportunities New Brunswick

Council on Articulations and Transfer of New Brunswick (CATNB)

Non profit

3+ Greater Moncton Economic Development Agency

Miramichi Chamber of Commerce

The following sections are the key elements for running an effective lab, as identified by the NouLAB team upon completion of 2 lab cycles, in year 1.

Multiple Perspectives

• On the checkout of the first day the theme of belonging arose very quickly. Because of the strong representation of newcomers in the room, addressing the feeling of being in a new place and being welcomed was so important. The NouLAB team responded to this by naming the presence of that issue the following morning. It is from this theme that the two most powerful prototypes emerged, driven by passion and the recognition of a deep issue in the topic of immigration to a new place.

• The experience of business in the lab was that they had never had such close working connections with government before. In this context they were on a team that was working towards the same goal. Given equal footing at a roundtable and given the tools to move actions items forward.

• For settlement agencies, they are the frontline workers dealing with the day-to-day issues. Having their grounded understanding was noted by academic voices as very rich, valuable data. This helped ensure interventions would be designed appropriately to the needs of the people on the ground experiences in the issue.

Following Passion

• A sizeable number of the participants were paid to be in the lab. This led to some feeling like they had to fulfil their organisational mandate through their participation. What was surprising was that some of the most productive and provocative prototypes came out of people following a passion not an expected path.

Examples

• The Capacity for Courage team wanted to take a very bold path and tackle racism in the province that prevents meaningful connection between newcomers and locals

• One of the key members of the Diversity in Government team felt like his job would dictate him to a part of the post-secondary student support group but his passion lay in bringing more diversity in government and he turned out to be instrumental in building their team’s prototype into something that could be workable in reality.

• The team that ended up building the Community Inclusion Toolkit was made up of almost all people who had moved to New Brunswick. They knew the story of coming to a new place and being misunderstood. By building a program that is in direct response to the needs they face, they have created something effective and useful.

Ongoing Support for Prototypes

• Coaching has been essential to getting teams to the next level

  • This can mean encouragement, check-in calls, advice on who to contact.

• Further support has come in the form of developing a three day training for the Capacity for Courage team.

• Connections for experts to build on the work

• Each team has access of up to $5000 to test and develop their prototype

Leadership Council

• Connections for prototype teams

• They are the content experts to help guide the process (recruitment, evaluation of ideas, created the original purpose of the lab “HMW retain and attract…”)

How the lab is hosted

• Facilitation methods informed by the Art of Hosting. The Art of Hosting is a suite of participatory processes for enabling meaningful conversations and creates a safe container where teams are more likely to take risks, have empathy for one another, and communicate effectively across differences.

• Building a safe space that feels creative is essential for the best results. The NouLAB team builds experiences with metaphor, play and conscious attention to individual experience. This includes how the room is setup. Centrepieces to create atmosphere.

• Being conscious of participants’ energy and engagement levels in the room. Getting voices heard in the room early. Taking a pulse with check-ins and check-outs.

Harvesting

• Visual learning, make it visible!

• Making sure that data is captured as it happens whether by excel spreadsheet or by photo.

• Using templates to guide conversations - Always be capturing.

What funders should keep in mind

• (video about not “winning”, but about continually learning/evolving). This means having principles to work/live by, not looking to win.

If we convene diverse, multi-stakeholder groups and support them through a social innovation lab process we will a) build individual capacity for innovation, b) enhance our understanding of complex problems affecting New Brunswick, and c) produce promising, novel ideas ready for the next stage of development.

A. Human-centred design

Human-centred design directs problem solving at the root of issue, helps to dispel assumptions about “what should be done” and “what works and doesn’t work”, and focuses solutions towards the people most impacted by the problem. Iteration and feedback through rapid, low-cost/low-risk experiments prototype emerging ideas.

B. Theory U

Theory U is based on the premise that individual change is necessary in order to move towards systems change. Teams unpack their assumptions, values and beliefs about the issue, and recognise their role in perpetuating the systems they seek to change, before acting to create possible paths forward.

C. Systems and complexity lenses

Systems thinking shows the interconnectedness of issues, and how stakeholders interact and uphold any given system (and thereby implicated in the problem and its solution). Complexity orients the teams to the appropriate solutions frame for the kinds of challenges they are tackling. Together a complexity and systems analysis helps to reveal potential leverage points, bottlenecks, and roadblocks.

D. Art of Hosting

Art of hosting is a suite of participatory processes for enabling meaningful conversations and creates a safe container where teams are more likely to take risks, have empathy for one another, and communicate effectively across differences.