Choose Nearest City

  • Calgary
  • Ottawa
  • Edmonton
  • Regina
  • Halifax
  • Saskatoon
  • Hamilton
  • Toronto GTA
  • Kingston
  • Vancouver
  • Kitchener
  • Waterloo
  • London
  • Windsor
  • Montreal
  • Winnipeg
  • Outside of Canada

Choose your city (or nearest city)

  • Calgary
  • Montreal
  • Edmonton
  • Ottawa
  • Regina
  • Saskatoon
  • Halifax
  • Toronto GTA
  • Hamilton
  • Vancouver
  • Kingston
  • Waterloo
  • Kitchener
  • Windsor
  • London
  • Winnipeg
  • Outside of Canada
  • Events
  • Directory
  • PatronsPatrons

Enter your login credentials

Forgot username?

Forgot password?

Remember Me
Register
Facebook Login Google Login
loading
Please wait, logging in...

Register Details

[Form copy_BFRegistration not found!]
Have an account? Login

Forgot Username

[Form forgot_username not found!]

Forgot Password

[Form forgot_password not found!]

How would you like to proceed?

LOG IN / SIGN UP allows you to:
  • Have a record of all events you've been to.
  • Request cancellation if you cannot make it to an event.
  • Post an event of your own.
  • Add your business/organization listing to the online directory.
  • Add an opportunity (job, volunteer, petition, survey, etc.).

Please login to continue

LOG IN / SIGN UP allows you to:
  • Have a record of all events you've been to.
  • Request cancellation if you cannot make it to an event.
  • Post an event of your own.
  • Add your business/organization listing to the online directory.
  • Add an opportunity (job, volunteer, petition, survey, etc.).
Muslim Link is Ottawa Muslims' Online Community Newspaper. The site includes an up-to-date Events Listing and Business and Community Directory for Ottawa Muslims.
.
ML Directory
ML Directory
  • Home
  • Events
    • Ottawa
    • Montreal
    • Toronto GTA
    • Edmonton
    • Calgary
    • Vancouver
    • London
    • Windsor
    • Hamilton
    • Halifax
    • Winnipeg
    • Kingston
    • Kitchener/Waterloo
    • Regina/Saskatoon
    • Event Table
  • Directory
    • Ottawa
    • Montreal
    • Toronto GTA
    • Edmonton
    • Calgary
    • Vancouver
    • London
    • Windsor
    • Hamilton
    • Halifax
    • Winnipeg
    • Kingston
    • Kitchener/Waterloo
    • Regina/Saskatoon
  • News
  • Stories
  • Islamic Finance
  • Classifieds
    • Opportunities
      • Volunteer Opportunities
      • Job Opportunities
      • Crowdfunding
      • Bazaar Vendors Wanted
      • Call for Donations
      • ​​Scholarships / Bursaries
      • ​​Petitions
      • Nominations
      • ​​Call for Participants
      • ​​Call for Submissions
      • Call for Abstracts
      • Grants
      • ​​Surveys
      • ​​Invitation to Dialogue
      • Sponsorships
      • Contests
    • Locations
      • Jumaa Locations
      • Full-Time Islamic Schools
      • Part-Time Islamic Schools
      • Hifz Programs
      • Iftar Locations
      • Taraweeh Prayers
      • I'tikaf Locations
      • Eid Prayers
      • Eid Festival Locations
      • Camps Locations
    • Rentals
      • Add Rental
    • Find a Place
    • Find a Tenant
  • Opportunities
  • Locations
  • Rentals
  • Blog
  • Action Alerts
  • Home
  • News
  • Welcoming Ottawa Week Celebrates Ottawa’s Immigrant Communities
Naima Shegow works with the Somali Centre for Family Services and manages social media for WOW Naima Shegow works with the Somali Centre for Family Services and manages social media for WOW Chelby Daigle
27
Jun
2014

Welcoming Ottawa Week Celebrates Ottawa’s Immigrant Communities

Written by  Chelby Daigle
Published in News
  • Add to Facebook
  • Like this? Tweet it to your followers!

On June 23rd Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson opened Welcoming Ottawa Week (WOW) at City Hall for the second year in a row. WOW is an initiative of the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP) was founded in October 2009 by the City of Ottawa and Local Agencies Serving Immigrants (LASI). The partnership is funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada with the mandate of improving local capacity to attract, settle and integrate immigrants. Events during the week range from academic lectures about migration to restaurant walking tours in Chinatown. The week ends on Saturday, June 28th with the Community Cup, a city-wide soccer tournament at Brewer Park.

“Our team is going to win the championship” stated Naima Shegow, who is convinced that the Somali Centre for Family Services’ team, representing Alta Vista Ward, is the best team in the tournament. Shegow immigrated to Canada with her mother when she was 13 and she now works managing youth services at the Centre but helped with social media for WOW this year.

“I’m an immigrant here so being part of something that celebrates all immigrants, welcomes diversity, and sheds light on what every day immigrants contribute to the City of Ottawa is wonderful,” Shegow explained, “It brings out the old and the new, the person who has been here five years, and the person who has been here twenty years. It’s a time to celebrate where we all came from and I think it is a nice tradition to add to the Ottawa community.”

Shad Qadri, City Councillor for the Stittsville-Kanata West Ward, attended the WOW launch for the first time. His family immigrated to Ottawa from Pakistan in 1963 when Councillor Qadri was eight years old. Councillor Qadri believes immigration to Ottawa must be encouraged in order to help the city compete in a globalized world. “Today we are not just dealing with local markets anymore,” he explained, “We are dealing with the worldwide market, that’s why it is great to see the face of the City of Ottawa diversify.”

Councillor Qadri agreed that an important factor of successful integration is a development of a sense of belonging. “I look at my community as my extended family, and that is the way I think we should be looking at the city, that’s the way we should be looking at the country, coming up to July first we should be all proud to be here,” Councillor Qadri explained.

But Naima Shegow feels that finding community can become particularly difficult for Muslim newcomers who she feels need the added support of the established Muslim community to help them adjust to life in a non-Muslim country. “We are not well connected. Often we don’t know about events or the events are really divided by culture like the Somalis are having their thing and the Pakistanis are having their thing,” she explained, “So a good thing would be for Muslims to have a better portal to communicate and I think that is where Muslim Link comes in to help people know more about all of the events that are happening.”

She is grateful for the support of local mosques in Ottawa-South towards the Somali Centre for Family Services. “Our directors and senior management have a good relationship with the mosques,” she stated, “At last year’s fundraising dinner Masjid Assunnah bought a table.” But she sees the importance of Muslim community members playing a direct role in the lives of Muslim newcomers beyond financial support. As many Muslim newcomers in the area are refugees, the reality is that they tend to take much longer to become integrated into their communities than other immigrants. “They are still suffering from integration problems around housing, language, schools,” she explained, “They don’t know what is happening in their city, they are not involved in voting because they don’t know who to vote for, what issues to support, so it would nice if the Muslim community members who are not newcomers in the South help them.”

An addition to WOW this year is the WOW Ambassadors Award, which recognizes and celebrates Ottawans who show support, hospitality, and respect to immigrants as they find their way in Ottawa’s community. Each Ambassador was nominated by a newcomer to Canada who he or she supported on his or her integration journey.

In order to develop more empathy for what newcomers to Ottawa struggle with, Shegow encourages people to visit the WOW Ambassadors exhibit at City Hall. “The stories of the ambassadors and nominators made me reflect back on how my mom felt when she came,” Shegow explained. “As a child I didn’t see what my mom was going through in the integration process because she sheltered me from all of these challenges from finding employment, to finding friendship, to getting involved in the city, feeling like you belong. Realizing how she must have struggled from these stories made me go back home and thank my mom. I encourage other children of immigrants to come to City Hall and look at the exhibition and bring their parents because I think this is a big thank you to the parents.”

The Community Cup at Brewer Park will take place on Saturday, June 28 (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM) – two days before Canada Day, in order to accommodate the start of Ramadan this year. More than 2,000 guests are expected to gather to enjoy this fun-filled family event, with soccer matches, demonstrations of sports favored by immigrants such as Speedminton, Judo, Skateboarding, and Tai Chi, children’s games, an international food bazaar, and many more activities throughout the day.   At 1:00 p.m. everyone can witness a citizenship ceremony where 40 new immigrants will give their oath of citizenship and receive their Canadian citizenship.   To learn more about the Community Cup visit their website

Click here to read about this year’s WOW Ambassadors and their nominators.

To learn more about the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership visit their website

To learn more about the Somali Centre for Family Services visit their website

This article was produced exclusively for Muslim Link and should not be copied without prior permission from the site. For permission, please write to info@muslimlink.ca.

Read 7706 times Last modified on Tue, 01 Jul 2014 00:03
Rate this item
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
(0 votes)
Tagged under
  • Welcoming Ottawa Week
  • Naima Shegow
  • Shad Qadri
  • Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership OLIP
Chelby Daigle

Chelby Daigle

Chelby Marie Daigle is Muslim Link’s Editor in Chief and Coordinator. Under her direction, Muslim Link adopted its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy so that the website strives to reflect the complexity of Muslim communities in Canada. She knows that she fails to do justice to this complexity every day but she will continue to try to improve as she recognizes the frustration of being both marginalized in the mainstream and also marginalized in Muslim communities. As Coordinator, she works to build relationships with Muslim and mainstream organizations and manages the website's social media, event listings, and directories. She organizes regular Muslim Link gatherings. She also works closely with the Publisher to find ways to keep Muslim Link sustainable. Find her on Twitter @ChelbyDaigle

Latest from Chelby Daigle

  • Islamic History Month and Islamic Heritage Month 2024 Events Across Canada Islamic History Month and Islamic Heritage Month 2024 Events Across Canada
  • Sudanese and Palestinian Canadians Unite at Demonstration Against War in Sudan Sudanese and Palestinian Canadians Unite at Demonstration Against War in Sudan
  • Halal Deli Meat Now Available in the Atlantic Region Through New Partnership between Shahir and Loblaws Halal Deli Meat Now Available in the Atlantic Region Through New Partnership between Shahir and Loblaws

Related items

  • Welcoming Ottawa Week 2019: Organize Events to Connect Newcomers with Long-Term Ottawa Residents Welcoming Ottawa Week 2019: Organize Events to Connect Newcomers with Long-Term Ottawa Residents
  • Mohd Jamal Alsharif Honoured with 2018 Welcoming Ottawa Ambassador Award Mohd Jamal Alsharif Honoured with 2018 Welcoming Ottawa Ambassador Award
  • Hanan Abu Laban Honoured with 2018 Welcoming Ottawa Ambassador Award Hanan Abu Laban Honoured with 2018 Welcoming Ottawa Ambassador Award
back to top
.
.
.
.
.

Subscribe to Mailing List

Sign up for our free Muslim Link Snapshot and get our events listing and latest articles sent to your inbox weekly.

Please enter a name
Please enter a valid email address
Please enter a city

Ottawa Events
View More Events
Eid Pop-Up Market Featured
Sun, May 25, 2025 11:00am EST/EDT
Bazaars
Online Event
Halal Wealth. Real Legacy. Join the Conversation Live.
Mon, May 19, 2025 06:00pm MST/MDT
Educational
Ottawa Eagles Wrestling SUMMER Program - 16+ Grappling Program
Tue, May 20, 2025 all day
Courses
Online Event
The Muslim Advisory Council of Canada presents- From Stories to Solidarity: A Forum for Sharing and Learning
Wed, May 21, 2025 12:30pm EST/EDT
Educational
Centretown Mosque Brothers Social Night
Fri, May 23, 2025 08:00pm EST/EDT
Social/Cultural

Featured Articles

  • GTA Muslims Today Covers the Federal Election through Interviews with Candidates and Communities GTA Muslims Today Covers the Federal Election through Interviews with Candidates and Communities
  • Muslim Canadians Running In The 2025 Federal Election Muslim Canadians Running In The 2025 Federal Election
  • Canadian Council of Imams: Statement Regarding the 2025 Federal Election Canadian Council of Imams: Statement Regarding the 2025 Federal Election

About us

  • About Muslim Link
    Our Team
    About Eye Media
    Contact Us
    Diversity & Inclusion Policy
  • Events & Directory Disclaimer
  • Project: A Muslim History of Ottawa

How To

  • How to Advertise on Muslim Link?
    How to View / Edit Your Advertisement Campaign?
    How to Add a Directory Listing on the Directory?
    How to Claim a Directory Listing?
    How to Add an Event?
    How to Add an Opportunity?
    How to Add a Rental Listing?

Event Listings

  •  - Ottawa
  •  - Toronto GTA
  •  - Montreal
  •  - Edmonton
  •  - Calgary
  •  - Vancouver
  •  - London
  •  - Windsor
  •  - Hamilton
  •  - Kitchener/Waterloo
  •  - Halifax
  •  - Winnipeg
  •  - Kingston
  •  - Regina/Saskatoon

Business & Community Directory

  •  - Ottawa
  •  - Toronto GTA
  •  - Montreal
  •  - Edmonton
  •  - Calgary
  •  - Vancouver
  •  - London
  •  - Windsor
  •  - Hamilton
  •  - Kitchener/Waterloo
  •  - Halifax
  •  - Winnipeg
  •  - Kingston
  •  - Regina/Saskatoon

Advertisers

  • Advertise Online
  • Become a Patron
  • Sponsorships
  • Join Snapshot e-Newsletter
  • Snapshot Publishing Dates

ML Team

  • Writers Workshops
  • Content Policy
  • Staff Payment System
  • Join the team

Social Media

Follow us on our pages!

Facebook Twitter Youtube LinkedIn Pinterest

Copyright © 2025 Muslim Link. All Rights Reserved. All articles, photos, graphics and images on this site remain the copyright of Muslim Link, unless otherwise noted, and should not be copied without prior permission. Designed by Eye Media Solutions
Top
Copyright © Muslim Link. All articles, photos, graphics and images on this site remain the copyright of Muslim Link, unless otherwise noted, and should not be copied without prior permission. 2025 All rights reserved. Custom Design by Youjoomla.com