BUILDING STRENGTH
IN OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1970

Community Development & Research

Every community contains unique resources and opportunities to address the challenges they face. The role of the community development & research team is to support the community by working to understand and acknowledge key issues, build relationships between local groups and organizations, and influence social action and policy in the community and within government to promote positive change.

Areas of focus include:

• Diversity and immigration
• Poverty reduction
• Social determinants of health
• Food security and local food systems
• Voluntary sector collaboration and development

For more information on our community development and research work, please click here.

Research & Consulting Services

Operating as a social enterprise, the CDCD currently provides research and consulting services in the following areas:

* Research, data collection, analysis, needs assessment, and evaluation

• Facilitation
  
• Program and Service Development
• Proposal Development

For more information on these services, or to contact the community development & research team with a project idea or proposal, please click here.

Settlement Services

Orientation Program

The Orientation program is dedicated to serving permanent residents, convention refugees and live-in caregivers who are new to Canada. Through the Settlement Counseling Service, this program provides newcomers with a place to find accurate information about settling in Canada by providing intake and assessment services to identify the needs of individual clients and make appropriate referrals based on such needs.

Their services are free, confidential, culturally sensitive and linguistically accessible in over 15 languages with the opportunity to interact with an interpreter.

For more information on the Orientation program, pleaseclick here.

Newcomer Settlement Program (NSP)

The Newcomers' Settlement Program is a program funded by the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration (MCI), as an initiative to support the early and effective settlement of newcomers to Ontario. The NSP was created in order to assist newcomers who are settling, adjusting and contributing to life in Canada and Durham Region. The goal of the NSP is to help newcomers fully engage in the social, economic, political and cultural aspects of Canadian living, and to maximize the benefits of their participation and contribution to Canadian society.

For more information on the NSP program, please click here.

Community Connections

The Community Connections program helps adult newcomers and their children adjust to life in Canada and learn about Canadian values and traditions. With the assistance and understanding of program volunteers, newcomers to Canada feel more at home in their new country.

Community Connections volunteers are Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are established and knowledgeable about their community and who are open to learn about other cultures and willing to share their own cultural background and appreciation of Canadian society.

For more information on the Community Connections program, please click here.

Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS)

The Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) initiative places settlement workers in elementary and secondary schools in Durham Region. SWIS connects newly arrived families to services and resources in the school and the community in order to promote settlement and foster student achievement. Schools are one of the first services that newcomers connect with in the community. With the cooperation of the school, the SWIS worker systematically contacts all newcomer families to orient them to school and community resources and to refer them to specific services. SWIS workers provide group information sessions, often in partnership with school staff, or other community partners, to address issues related to settlement.  The workers also provide orientation on the settlement needs of newcomers for school staff, and provide orientation to newcomer students when they first arrive in Canada.

Language Assessment

The Community Development Council Durham is the Language Assessment office for English language assessment and referral centre for newcomers, 18 years and over living in the Durham Region.

The Language Assessment program is funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). In addition to your assessment, we provide you with language class options and access to other settlement information. We offer assessments across Durham Region (Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa). Our classes are also located across the Region.

For more information on the Language Assessment program, please click here.

Housing Help Durham

Housing Help Durham provides personal support services to assist you with your housing search needs including advocacy/mediation. We provide a comprehensive listing of rental accommodations in Durham. 

Attention Landlords, list your room, apartment or house for rent on our landlord database at no charge. Contact Mike Anton, Housing Help Program Manager at manton@cdcd.org or by phone at (905)-686-2661, ext.106 or you may contact Jackie Baker, Housing Coordinator at jbaker@cdcd.org or by phone at 905-686-2661 ext.107. 

Housing Help Durham is also an office of the Durham Access To Social Housing.  We provide information and applications for rent-geared-to-income subsidy assistance.  To access a rent-geared-to-income application please visit the Region of Durham website, http://www.durham.ca/. 

For more information on our Housing Help programs and services, please click here.

Durham's Child Nutrition Project

Durham’s Child Nutrition Project (DCNP) recognizes that there is a strong link between nutrition and learning. Kids who don’t get enough healthy food to eat are tired, have short attention spans, and don’t learn well, or may have difficulty getting along with others. Child hunger increases the likelihood of poor school performance and /or behavioural problems. DCNP is the only Region-wide organization providing support and resources to child nutrition programs. DCNP works toward providing safe environments, free of judgment, in which children and youth can develop healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime. Our programs take a universal approach, and serve all children in the region regardless of socioeconomic status.

For more information the Durham Child Nutrition Project, please click here.