Our Cultural Diversity Program promotes the understanding of the unique cultural and ethnic heritage of newcomers and contributes to the development of a culturally responsible and responsive society.

Our goal is for the city, school districts, employers, and community partners to work together to build a more inclusive environment where newcomers feel accepted, succeed in the workplace, and make progress towards their personal settlement goals.

This program is facilitated by KIS volunteer and diversity outreach coordinator who maintains an ongoing presence at Kamloops events and meetings, and meets with service providers promoting multicultural identity, respect and inclusion within the annual cycle of life in the city. People begin to realize the value of the cultural mosaic within our community and behaviours towards various ethnic groups inevitably shift to be more understanding, patient and empathetic.

Our program spearheads events that highlight both international and Indigenous cultural perspectives, which is in line with our efforts to provide newcomers with a vision of Canada that includes Indigenous people. Relationships are cultivated with clients who became established members of the local multicultural community. Many local and regional partnerships originate from these community connections.

KIS supports individuals, communities and organizations to become more welcoming and facilitates intercultural opportunities for all of us to learn together.

Are you a community organization that wants to welcome and serve immigrants? We provide:

• Workshops with information and education about immigration and cultural awareness
• Information resources and
• Opportunities for service providers to share strategies and ideas for engaging immigrants in the community
• Welcoming events for the immigrant and non-immigrant communities to interact with one another