All Webinars

Poverty is a complex, multifaceted issue that requires a comprehensive and intersectional approach.

In the week leading up to October 17, Dignity for All will engage members of civil society and government representatives in a series of webinars, offered in collaboration with Leading in Colour and other partners, to dig deeper into issues, experiences, and recommendations related to poverty in Canada. These webinars will point people to our calls to action (letters to MPs, letters to local media, e-rally registration) and engage people from a variety of sectors in support of our shared goals.

Visit Leading in Colour, Poverty Talks! and Tamarack Institute for specific webinar details and registration.

At this time, our webinars are available in English only. Watch them HERE!

Part 1: Housing & Homelessness 

Part 2: Jobs & Employment 

Part 3: Food Security 

Part 4: Health

Part 5: Income Security 

Part 6: Early Childhood Education & Care 

Social workers scope, & skill set - whether supporting people in private practice, community services, corrections or health care - lends itself for us to be leaders in Advance Care Planning. Join us as we learn about the importance of planning in advance for future health care – for ourselves, & our clients. Through this interactive series, you will be supported to create action plans and advocate for social work leadership.

Webinar Key Objectives:

1. Understand the various ways to plan in advance for health care (Advance Care Planning), a process that starts when we are young adults & healthy, as well as when we have chronic & serious illnesses
2. Learn about the vital role of Social Workers in Advance Care Planning processes - whether you work in private practice, health care, community services, provincial or federal government organizations (Corrections, Veterans Affairs, etc), Advance Care Planning is relevant for you, & your clients!

Social workers will use this webinar to discuss the work of Leading in COLOUR: a Canadian based grassroots organization. We are dedicated to equipping young, racialized leaders and activists with training that provides them with the necessary skills needed to conduct their advocacy efforts. 

- How best to support racialized youth.

- The value of lived experiences with the system and its stakeholders (SWs)

- Defying the racialized community monolith; how different racialized communities are impacted and in what ways.

The legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic will be a significantly elevated need for core child welfare services over the months and years to come. COVID-19 has created a high degree of anxiety, stress, grief, and loss. It has reduced access to support networks at a time when families need them most. Public health measures like physical distancing and quarantine may be necessary, but their unwanted consequences - unemployment, financial and food insecurity, mental illness, family violence, and separation from family and culture - undermine child safety and well-being. 

Drawing on the research and professional expertise of the presenters, this webinar will offer an overview of Canadian immigration policy; followed by a discussion of the effects of these regulations upon the lives of migrants separated from their family members. Drs. Martin and Redmond next explore the challenges and opportunities associated with social work with separated families and close by detailing how social workers can work towards the social justice aim of all families being able to live together.

The webinar will cover some of the following about Family Reunification:

• Introduce participants to Canadian family reunification policies
• Highlight the policies’ effects upon migrant clients
• Explore social work’s role in immigration social policy development
• Offer avenues for addressing social justice challenges and barriers faced by migrant families

We recognize that many psychosocial care providers, including psychologists, counsellors, and social workers are engaged in providing care and support to those people who are facing dying, death, and bereavement. This webinar will highlight some key psychosocial principles and explore their relevance to end of life care through stories, anecdotes, and examples. Common risk factors for challenges in adjustment to illness, caregiving, and grief will be introduced, along with simple strategies that clinicians may use to assess client needs and to intervene appropriately. Resources and tools will be identified during the webinar and shared as additional resource material. Objectives: Introduce 5 key psychosocial principles in death, dying, and bereavement. Explore the 5 key principles through stories, examples, and anecdotes. Identify simple strategies and approaches that are congruent with these principles. Identify common psychosocial risk factors for people facing end of life and also risks for their friends, family members and other non-professional supports. Share useful resources for people facing death, dying, and bereavement.

“Far too often we falsely convince ourselves that because we have a certain educational background, hold a certain professional title or have our own share of challenges in life, that we are immune to holding harmful beliefs about others.”  

This webinar series focuses on self-awareness as it relates to stereotypes, biases and prejudices that we hold as humans, and as professionals.  By examining how human brain schemas are formed, participants will explore how their familial cultural experiences, the media and the larger culture work to create specific generalized ideas about others.  Participants will learn strategies to combat those beliefs and enable them to enhance their professional relationships with clients and others.  The aim of this webinar is to create a safe and inviting space to be vulnerable within ourselves to examine what beliefs we hold and how they translate into our work with clients. 

“Vulnerability is uncomfortable and discomfort is a prerequisite to growth.”

“Far too often we falsely convince ourselves that because we have a certain educational background, hold a certain professional title or have our own share of challenges in life, that we are immune to holding harmful beliefs about others.”  

This webinar series focuses on self-awareness as it relates to stereotypes, biases and prejudices that we hold as humans, and as professionals.  By examining how human brain schemas are formed, participants will explore how their familial cultural experiences, the media and the larger culture work to create specific generalized ideas about others.  Participants will learn strategies to combat those beliefs and enable them to enhance their professional relationships with clients and others.  The aim of this webinar is to create a safe and inviting space to be vulnerable within ourselves to examine what beliefs we hold and how they translate into our work with clients. 

“Vulnerability is uncomfortable and discomfort is a prerequisite to growth.”

Grief is a normal and natural response in this time. Grief is a response to loss that affects our physical, emotional, behavioural, social, financial, and spiritual lives. It does not only occur in response to death; any loss can cause us to grieve. So much is being lost in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Grief literacy provides a way forward. Grief literacy calls on all of us to be better acquainted with grief so that we can support ourselves and one another. This webinar addresses what social workers can do in the time of COVID-19 to be more grief literate. With greater grief literacy, we can all support ourselves and one another better, now and in the future.

Webinar Key Objectives:

• Review current theory about grief and loss
• Discuss how grief is occurring in the pandemic
• Define grief literacy
• Consider implications for social work practice

This has been a stressful and challenging time across the world for Social Workers. Join this webinar to dive in to substance use and what we need to know as practitioners in terms of addiction and dependency.