Wellesley Institute
Wellesley Institute is a non-profit and non-partisan research and policy institute based in the Greater Toronto Area. The organization focuses on developing research and community-based policy solutions to the problems of population health and health disparities.
St. James Town Initiative is a signature project of Wellesley Institute, established in 2007 as a 5-year community-based research and capacity building initiative. The Initiative has focused on neighbourhood-level factors affecting health and wellbeing among immigrants in St. James Town. As Wellesley Institute strengthens its research and policy work across the Greater Toronto Area, the Initiative will soon broaden its focus to immigrant health throughout the city.
Immigrant health is a central area of research at Wellesley Institute. Immigrant status intersects with multiple social determinants of health, making immigrant health a major equity and population health concern.
History
Wellesley Institute’s initial interest in the St. James Town neighbourhood stems from its history with Wellesley Central Hospital. When the City of Toronto designated 13 priority neighbourhoods in Toronto, St. James Town just missed the cut-off as priority neighbourhood #14. Since St. James Town was part of Wellesley Central Hospital’s catchment area of Southeast Toronto, Wellesley Institute made a 5-year commitment to the neighbourhood.
Since 2007, SJT Initiative has worked closely with neighbourhood residents and community organizations to conduct a number of research projects and to develop policy suggestions for improving the neighbourhood. We used a range of research methods from community-based participatory arts projects to large-scale surveys. Residents have been actively involved in accomplishing research goals and their voices have been greatly valued throughout the planning and implementation process.
As the Initiative is a capacity building initiative, neighbourhood residents were given opportunities to gain valuable Canadian experience as interns and volunteers for our projects. A resident action group was formed to ensure that the research results would be used to generate positive change in their neighbourhood.
Why Immigrant Health?
Toronto is an international city attracting immigrants from all over the world. Two thirds of Canadian immigrants choose to settle in the Toronto census metropolitan area; as a result nearly half (45.7%) of all Toronto residents are born outside of Canada. When newcomers arrive, their health and well-being tends to be better than that of an average Canadian resident – a phenomenon known widely as the Healthy Immigrant Effect. Yet this health advantage tends to decline in as little as 2 years after their arrival in Canada. To understand the causes of and solutions for the declining health of immigrants to Canada, Toronto needs effective policies backed by solid research to bring positive and equitable change.
Our Goal
The goal of the Immigrant Health – SJT Initiative is to promote the health and well-being of Toronto immigrants and to help newcomers maintain the health advantage with which they come to this country.
