Trent Community Research Centre

The purpose of this study is to determine how well known the services of the Community Counselling and Resource Centre (CCRC) are to the people of the Peterborough community, along with organizations and professionals in the community who serve the aging/senior population. The CCRC is a non-profit organization that provides credit counselling services, among others, to the community. The Peterborough community has the largest senior population in Canada at 19.5%. Senior financial abuse is prevalent in society and is determined to be the 3rd most prevalent type of senior abuse. Non-profit organizations are competing in a growing commercial environment. Three stages of interviews were conducted with staff at the CCRC, other community non-profit credit counselling agencies, and community members who work directly with senior members of the community. These interviews examined the problems that the Peterborough community was facing, why these problems occurred, and what problems were occurring in other communities. Interviews determined there is little to no knowledge of the CCRC's credit counselling services in Peterborough. The CCRC has a lack of funds to complete accurate advertising in the community. These problems are not limited to Peterborough and also appeared in other communities. The findings demonstrate that there is a high need for more advertising in the community. To help combat these issues, the CCRC should hire volunteers for marketing, allocate more funds to advertising, prepare public education in the senior community, and establish community connections.

Peterborough Ontario is looking at ways to improve immigration integration within the community. This environmental scan explores current and innovative practices of workplace and vocational English as a Second Language (ESL) programming for small urban cities to determine if such a program could fill this need. The broader literature and prior studies maintain that there is a need to determine if language is the sole deterrent to hiring foreign-born employees in small urban centers or if there is a larger cross-cultural issue that must be addressed. The research presented here suggests that the most successful programs consider these cross-cultural matters and the importance of including stakeholders at multiple levels. Given the diversity of Peterborough's immigrant population and the logistical vastness of the Peterborough area, it was determined that a program that was multileveled and delivered as a workplace ESL program to meet the varied needs of immigrants and their employers would be best suited to the area. Qualitative data collected through a literature review and key informant interviews with service providers generated deeper understanding and nuances of program challenges, and an online survey supported the collected data.