Welcoming Week toolkit
Welcoming Week is an annual opportunity to recognize and celebrate the people, places and values that help everyone feel welcome and give them a sense of belonging in their local community, no matter where they come from.
This year’s Welcoming Week takes place from September 13 - 22. We recognize the important work of many immigrant settlement organizations in this space. Welcoming Week is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of these activities.
Successful integration is a two-way street: the more welcoming communities are, the more newcomers feel at home and contribute locally.
Here are some tips and shareable content to help you spread messages about inclusion and the benefits of immigration on your website and social media channels, or during events and meetings. We encourage you to do what works best for your community or organization.
These recommendations aren’t intended to be prescriptive. You can design Welcoming Week activities to resonate locally, by considering what events, messages and collaborations will be the most effective in building a welcoming place for all.
As part of Welcoming Week, it’s important to acknowledge that the history of Canada began far earlier than the European colonization and settlement, and to understand the history of the Indigenous Peoples(opens in a new tab) that are living on this land and have been since time immemorial, long before immigrants came from all around the world.
On this page
How you can participate
Web and social media
- When sharing on social media, remember to use #WelcomingWeek2024 and tag
- Issue a Welcoming Week proclamation or resolution on your website or social media channels.
- Promote the positive impact that immigrants have had on your community or workplace using stories, facts and infographics.
- Share inspiring stories of how you, your organization or community are promoting inclusion or working together to make your community a better place for everyone.
- Share photos that show how you or your organization are creating a welcoming place for newcomers.
- Post a short video clip of your community or business leaders talking about the importance of inclusion.
- Share a story from an immigrant or refugee’s perspective on how their employer or community welcomed them and made them feel at home. If you’re an immigrant or refugee, share your own story.
- Launch a new program, publication or video that features the work your organization does for newcomers.
- If you’re an immigrant settlement organization already active in this space, reshare content on social media related to welcoming or newcomer days/weeks/initiatives held in the past.
- Customize the image, sign and messaging templates to share.
Events
- If you’re planning a newcomer or welcoming event/day/week, consider hosting it during Welcoming Week. Check out the Welcoming Week event map and submission form(opens in a new tab) to register for your events and see what others are doing to celebrate.
- Host an event that brings new and long-time residents together. Examples include
- local park clean-up or other community work
- a cooking demonstration with an immigrant chef
- a dance party with an immigrant DJ
- a film screening or book club featuring an immigrant filmmaker/author or film/book related to immigration
- a networking or training opportunity for entrepreneurs of diverse backgrounds
- Learn how you can welcome newcomers by volunteering, donating, learning and celebrating.
Images and messaging you can share
Welcoming Week image
Use the Welcoming Week image in your materials.
Social media content
The images and social media text below can be interchanged and customized based on your community’s or organization’s preferences.
Welcoming communities are successful communities! Immigrant-owned businesses such as [insert business name and locality/region/country here] enrich our economy and culture. Join us by celebrating #WelcomingWeek2024 this September 13 to 22.
Download Facebook or Instagram image (JPG, 549 KB) Download Twitter or LinkedIn image (JPG, 753 KB) Download ALT text for image (TXT, 1 KB)
New to [name of locality/region/country]? Welcome! Join us @[insert Twitter here] for #WelcomingWeek2024 this September 13 to 22. No matter where you’re from, we’re glad you’re here.
Download Facebook or Instagram image (GIF, 3.4 MB) Download Twitter or LinkedIn image (GIF, 3.6 MB) Download Facebook or Instagram image (JPG, 57 KB) Download Twitter or LinkedIn image (JPG, 93 KB) Download ALT text for JPG image (TXT, 1 KB) Download ALT text for GIF image (TXT, 1 KB)
Each and every one of us has the power to help others, regardless of background, to be seen, heard, welcomed and included in our communities. That’s why we’re participating in #WelcomingWeek2024. Find out how to get involved: [link to organization, community events, resources, volunteer opportunities, etc.]
Download Facebook or Instagram image (JPG, 629 KB) Download Twitter or LinkedIn image (JPG, 863 KB) Download ALT text for image (TXT, 1 KB)Communications timeline (recommended)
1 month prior to Welcoming Week:
- Encourage social media followers to “save the date” and highlight the hashtag on social media (#WelcomingWeek2024).
- Post 2 or 3 times per week per platform, gradually increasing the number of posts as more information for the event(s) becomes available.
2 weeks prior to Welcoming Week:
- Increase the number of posts to 3 or 4 times per week. Posts should ask attendees to register for events and engage on social media through hashtags. The posts should generally build excitement for the event(s).
During Welcoming Week:
- Post at least once or twice per day per platform.
- Schedule reminders for events right before their start time.
- Assign a staff member or volunteer to live tweet from virtual and in-person events.
- Collect notable stories throughout the week and save them for a follow-up email campaign or blog post.
After Welcoming Week:
- Share success stories from the event(s).
- Highlight prominent guests, notable social media moments and metrics on attendees, views, likes, etc.
- Thank any partners and donors by tagging them in posts.
Social media tips
- Shorter is better.
- A candid or action-oriented photo is better than a posed photo.
- Use a high-resolution photo, if possible (typically 300 DPI and at least 1 MB in size).
Share these on your social media:
Welcoming communities are successful communities PSA Transcript
Video length: 30 seconds
Emotional piano and strings music play throughout the video.
In a gymnasium, a woman throws a ball.
In an indoor ice rink, a man takes a picture of a curling game on his phone.
Outside a greenhouse, a man walks on grass.
Inside a greenhouse, two men talk and walk while looking at plant crops.
In a park, a mother, father, and two daughters are feeding ducks and pigeons.
In a park, two young girls run toward a play structure. One of them is seen exiting a covered slide.
A young girl throws a snowball while her parents laugh.
In a forest, a man looks up at the tree tops and the sky.
In a grocery store, two women are having a conversation while one of them pushes a cart.
In a laboratory, one woman shows a test tube to another woman.
In a factory, two men wearing protective equipment are seen in an animated discussion.
A man and children are seen smiling and dancing Bhangra, a type of traditional folk dance of Punjab.
A woman in a storage facility smiles in delight and laughs.
On a street outside a building, two women smile and exchange a hug.
Text displays over the image of four people having a meal together, toasting and smiling: “Welcoming communities are successful communities. canada.ca/immigration-matters”
The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada corporate signature is shown over black background, followed by the Canada wordmark.
The more welcoming communities are, the more people feel at home and contribute locally. Check out the stories of newcomers making a positive impact in communities throughout Canada. #WelcomingWeek2024 #ImmigrationMatters
Welcomer signs
Take a selfie with a Welcomer sign and post it on social media with #WelcomingWeek2024. If you would like to create a sign in your language, download a blank version and write it in.
News release template
For immediate release: September [xx], 2024
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[Locality/region/organization] celebrates Welcoming Week!
This week, [name of locality/region/organization] celebrates Welcoming Week by [explanation of activity]. [Insert quote from executive or prominent community member on what welcoming week accomplishes locally].
[Name of locality/country/region/organization] will host the following [event(s)] in September: [Add details of event – what, where, who, etc.].
Welcoming Week is an annual opportunity to recognize and celebrate the people, places and values that help everyone feel welcome and give them a sense of belonging in their local community, no matter where they come from.
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About Welcoming Week
Welcoming Week is an annual campaign and celebration to showcase the movement of communities striving to be more welcoming places for all, including immigrants.
About Welcoming International
Welcoming International is an initiative that consists of several programs: the Welcoming International Alliance of peer national networks supporting local actors to advance immigrant inclusion at the community level across the world, local-to-local learning exchanges, and technical assistance to national institutions on welcoming standards and strategies. Learn more at welcominginternational.org(opens in a new tab) .
About [your organization’s information]
Media Contact:
[Local media contact info here]
Proclamation template
Welcoming Week 2024: A proclamation
Our [locality/region’s] success depends on ensuring that all residents of [name of locality/region] feel welcome here.
Today, new [residents, for example, Torontonians] are a vital part of our community—bringing fresh perspectives and new ideas, starting businesses, and contributing to the vibrant diversity that we all value.
This week, we honour the spirit of unity that brings neighbours together across [name of locality/region].
During Welcoming Week, I invite all [residents of locality/region] to join this movement of communities—nationwide and worldwide—by renewing our commitment to our core values and taking action in the spirit of welcoming. By working together, we can achieve greater prosperity and make [locality/region] the kind of place where diverse people from around the world feel valued and want to put down roots.
Regardless of where we are born or what we look like, we are [residents], united in our efforts to build a stronger [name of locality/region]. By recognizing the contributions that we all make to create a vibrant culture and growing economy, we make our community more prosperous and more inclusive to all who call it home.
Let us come together to build communities where every resident has the opportunity to contribute at their best. Let us come together to create more prosperous communities and to reaffirm that [name of locality/region/country] is a welcoming community.
Now, therefore, I [name, title], by virtue of the authority vested in me by the laws of [locality/region], do hereby proclaim the week of September [date], 2024, Welcoming Week. I call upon the people of [name of locality] to join together to build stronger communities across our [locality/region].
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