About Safe Harbour

The Safe Harbour: Respect for All national diversity initiative is being implemented in Newfoundland by the Association for New Canadians and is supported by AMSSA – a province wide association of member agencies supporting diversity in BC.

Safe Harbour started in 2004 due to the dedication of one of AMSSA's member agencies in Nanaimo, the Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society and their Action for Diversity team. The program has since expanded across B.C. with funding from the BC Ministry of Regional Skills and Economic Development. Non-profit immigrant settlement agencies that we refer to as Community Organizers currently deliver the Safe Harbour workshop to interested businesses and organizations across BC.

Workshop Length: 2 to 2/12 hours

Workshop Fee: As Safe Harbour is no longer receiving funding through CIC in Newfoundland, most workshops will be delivered for a fee of $250.00, particularly those outside of St. John's or for in-house workshops.

Community Organizers: AMSSA and the Association for New Canadians partnered with Planned Parenthood: The NL Sexual Health Centre and the St. John's Native Friendship Centre Association as Community Organizers to invite local businesses, financial institutions, local municipalities, not-for-profit agencies, libraries, community centres, police, youth and other organizations to join the Safe Harbour: Respect for All program.

Community Organizers invite participants to commit to the three key commitments of the program at the end of the workshop. Participants are invited to then share the commitments with their colleagues, supported by a Participant's Workbook. Their workplace is then designated as a Safe Harbour-certified location with the window decal, a certificate, and other signage to announce to the community that they are committed to standing up against all forms of discrimination and to promoting diversity.

Key Points - Safe Harbour: Respect for All

• Safe Harbour: Respect for All is about demonstrating leadership in understanding the importance and benefits of diversity in the workplace and in the community.
• Businesses and agencies are encouraged to counter racism and hate and build an inclusive and respectful society through their commitments to Safe Harbour.
• Safe Harbour Community Organizers provide a resource to local businesses and agencies to better understand the needs of newcomers and multicultural community members and make referrals to settlement services when necessary.
• Safe Harbour helps prepare employers to recruit and retain an increasingly diverse workforce, including immigrants and refugees.
• Businesses and organizations participating in Safe Harbour are making socially-responsible decisions and will draw in diverse customers/clients who wish to see their values reflected in the places where they do business.
• Safe Harbour-certified locations help create a welcoming community to facilitate the full participation of diverse community members in our society.

How Businesses & Organizations Benefit

Through building a relationship with their local immigrant settlement, multicultural, or another community-based agency, participating businesses and organizations may gain:

• improved customer service and customer satisfaction
• increased awareness about the value of diversity
• proactive steps to address discrimination and harassment
• steps towards developing cultural competency
• a brand that signifies trust to diverse audiences

How Communities Benefit

Neighborhoods, towns, and cities benefit from the commitment made by various
businesses and agencies to create a network of inclusive environments for people of diverse backgrounds. Creating welcoming environments is good for business and good for the community.

Did You Know…?

• In Canada, members of racialized groups earn 28% less than white people.
• Inequitable hiring practices, e.g. denying a customer service job to a person with an accent based on the assumption that customers will not want to interact with them is a form of systemic or institutionalized racism.
• Filtering out candidates for a job based on their name is also a form of systemic racism.
• Assuming that a person who is not white was not born in Canada and does not belong here, e.g. "So where are you from?" is a form of individual racism.