Research by and for Community: SHIFT Research and Advocacy Program Showcase

This project supported an awareness campaign aimed at expanding employment assistance for formerly incarcerated individuals and those soon to be released in Quebec, particularly within the Black community, through a community-managed pilot employment database. The research and awareness program fellow used community-based research methodologies to document current barriers to access for DESTA members, to understand the political landscape and power dynamics surrounding post-release employment opportunities, and to analyze the development of similar pilot programs to inform DESTA's awareness strategy.

This project contributed to Climate Justice Montreal’s Free, Expanded, and Accessible Transit campaign. The SHIFT Research and Advocacy Program Fellow played a pivotal role in the coalition’s project to catalyze existing popular support for the campaign into concrete wins.

This project contributed to the Kapwa Centre’s advocacy for more equitable and culturally relevant mental health services for Filipinx youths within Quebec’s public system. The Research and Advocacy Program Fellow employed research the policy and power landscape around mental healthcare in Quebec, documented current barriers to access, and analyzed recent campaigns that have effectively moved the healthcare system to inform the Kapwa Centre’s entry into policy advocacy.

This project supported Growing A.R.C.’s call for Montreal’s urban agriculture and community garden strategy to better serve the needs of marginalized communities in neighbourhoods vulnerable to gentrification and displacement. The Research and Advocacy Program Fellow examined the policy and power landscape around Montreal’s urban agriculture policies and funding decisions, documented existing mismatch with the needs of marginalized communities (including cases of green gentrification) and analyzed recent  municipal green policies to inform Growing A.R.C.’s advocacy strategy.

This project supported a campaign advocating accountable and community-driven ethics protocols for research projects led by and working with Black and racialized communities. The Research and Advocacy Program Fellow helped PSRR better understand the policies, practices, and decision framework on ethics approval processes within research councils specifically for by/for/with Black and racialized communities research projects.

This project contributed to Welcome Haven's policy advocacy efforts to reduce the timeline for family reunification for refugee claimants and asylum seekers in Canada. The Research and Advocacy Program Fellow analyzed the policy and power landscape around family reunification legislation in Canada and studied recent policy shifts to inform an advocacy strategy for Welcome Haven.