Building a More Welcoming and Inclusive Kingston
The Welcoming Agencies Declaration is a shared commitment by community organizations in Kingston to help ensure that residents with irregular immigration status can access essential services with dignity, safety and respect, without fear that their immigration status will be voluntarily reported to police or the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for the purposes of deportation or immigration detention.
Developed through collaboration between community partners, the Declaration recognizes that some individuals and families in Kingston live with irregular immigration status, also commonly referred to as undocumented or non-status. This can happen for many reasons, including expired permits, barriers within immigration systems or limited pathways to refugee protection.
For many individuals, fear of deportation can prevent them from accessing healthcare, settlement support, education or other essential services. The Declaration aims to help reduce those barriers and strengthen trust between community organizations and the people they serve.
Why This Matters
Kingston is home to newcomers from around the world who contribute to the social, cultural and economic vibrancy of the community. At the same time, changes in immigration policies and barriers within immigration systems have increased vulnerability for some individuals and families.
Community organizations in Kingston have heard directly from people who delayed seeking emergency healthcare, avoided reporting violence or did not access essential support because they feared deportation or immigration detention.
A welcoming community is one where people can seek help when needed without fear. The Welcoming Agencies Declaration is one step toward strengthening that sense of safety, belonging and inclusion.
What the Declaration Means
Organizations that sign the Welcoming Agencies Declaration affirm the following:
“Our organization will make every reasonable effort within the scope of our mandate to extend services to residents regardless of immigration status.
As part of this commitment, our organization will not voluntarily report a resident’s immigration status to the Canada Border Services Agency or police for the purposes of deportation or immigration detention.
Through this Declaration, we affirm our responsibility to uphold dignity, confidentiality and equitable access in service delivery.”
Participating Agencies
- Kingston Community Health Centres
- KEYS Employment and Newcomer Services
- ACFOMI
- Kingston Literacy & Skills (KL&S)
Access Without Fear Policy
The Welcoming Agencies Declaration builds on the City of Kingston’s Access Without Fear policy. Adopted in 2017, the City of Kingston’s Access Without Fear policy ensures that all residents have access to municipal services regardless of immigration status and that there will be no reporting from the city of a resident’s immigration status made to the Canada Border Services or Police.
More information on the City of Kingston’s Access Without Fear Policy can be found here.
Interested in Learning More about the Welcoming Agencies Declaration?
Community organizations interested in learning more about the Welcoming Agencies Declaration or exploring participation are encouraged to connect with the Kingston Immigration Partnership at [email protected]
Together, we can continue building a Kingston where all residents are treated with dignity and can access support safely and without fear.