PROJECT 4000: AN OVERVIEW

Project 4000 was Ottawa's response to the Southeast Asian refugee crisis of 1979.  Canadians from across the country were quick to offer help, but nowhere were volunteers mobilized so rapidly and in such enormous numbers, as here in Ottawa.

Little more than two weeks elapsed from the initial meeting of church leaders, ethnic community representatives and immigration authorities in Mayor Dewar's office on June 27, until the Rally at the Civic Centre on July 12, and yet it was in this short period that the structure for one of the largest social movement organizations in Canada's history was formed.

Within a month of that rally, which attracted close to 3000, most of the 347 sponsoring groups had been formed and registered at the local Immigration office.

The first meeting of this Board of Directors was held on August 2, 1979, and within 4 days of that event the first wave of 200 refugees had arrived at Ottawa Airport.

Among the many dates and events of interest that summer, was the appearance on July 7th of the first of a series of sponsorship request forms given space by the Ottawa Citizen.  These advertisements continued daily for several weeks and allowed us to match potential sponsors with others in the same neighbourhood.  As a result people who had no more in common than a wish to help were moved spontaneously to make a legally binding commitment to one another for a full year.  According to Immigration authorities, these commitments were upheld without exception.

Volunteers came and went.  Staff changed. We had our share of internal struggles.  But surely, by all the important measures we were a success.  We assisted private groups to bring in what is now close to 2000 refugees.  A further 1638 arrived under Government sponsorship.

In the ensuing three years many groups went on to help reunify families by agreeing to sponsor some of their relatives.  The Executive Committee allocated funds for this work and for emergencies as they rose.

More time should pass before any final conclusions are drawn about the success of Project 4000.  Early results have been documented in the Refugee Needs Assessment Study by the Ottawa-Carleton Southeast Asian Refugee Project. While this report indicates many problems such as unemployment, inadequate language skill, illness, and cultural maladjustment, it also shows that private sponsorship yielded better results than government sponsorship.  In particular, privately sponsored refugees suffer only half the unemployment rate of the other group.

Immigration authorities tell us that the support systems fostered by Project 4000 and the social climate in the area have made Ottawa one of the best places in the country for refugee settlement, whether under Government or private sponsorship.

Project 4000 was a huge risk, for both refugees and sponsors.  It required a leap of faith on both our part, and we cannot help but emerge enriched from the experience.