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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.

Women in Canada are missing from all levels of politics and there has been a painstakingly slow increase in the number of women involved. Women in Politics workshops have been run throughout Ontario and Canada as a whole. This project looks at Peterborough, Ontario and the opportunity for the YWCA of the area to host such workshops. It was found that workshops about women in politics are effective when the right curriculum is used and have an impact on the women who attend. It is recommended that the YWCA begin to increase the frequency with which these workshops are offered as well as tailoring each workshop to a specific interest, increasing overall effectiveness and impact and in turn increasing participation of women in politics in the Peterborough Region.

The Peterborough Police Service require better evaluation tools for their Crime Prevention through Social Development (CPSD) efforts. There are four research categories driving this project: general understanding of CPSD; tools and methods for evaluating CPSD; personnel conducting the evaluation with specific emphasis on police; and collaboration between police and other organizations. Research was conducted through literature review and administering a survey to police officials throughout Ontario. The literature review and the survey indicated that there is no existing easy measurement system for CPSD due to a dearth of specific evaluation tools. It was discovered that collaboration is important and that there are potential methodologies that could be applied to evaluating CPSD from a variety of disciplines, but nothing specifically created to measure CPSD was found. Where evaluations were taking place, the personnel conducting the evaluation varied but were primarily municipal officials or civilians/third-party organizations. Collaboration is a crucial component for any CPSD measure. Further research into evaluation tools, creating a CPSD working group for Ontario police services, merging 'hard' and 'soft' policing, conducting longitudinal studies, and creating standardized language are recommended.

Food localization is an economically viable initiative that addresses some wider themes associated with international development, namely, the question of food insecurity and self- sufficiency faced by local economies; and that of sustainable growth models of development, predicated upon the provision of alternative, local sustainable options for economic security. The challenges created by food insecurity and dependence on imports is compounded by the volatility and unreliability of global oil prices, which in turn has an effect on food prices due to transportation and fossil-fuel inputs costs. Localization aims to eliminate these issues by creating independent and self-sufficient community-based economies with structurally adequate forward and backward linkage food supply chains. Localization not only embodies an environmentally conscious model of growth, but it also fosters economic benefits for the economy mainly achieved through the direct, indirect and induced employment impacts originating from the food industry. The purpose of this research is to provide insight into how the employment potential of localization could be assessed, through a viable impact assessment tool. The historic and contemporary trends in Peterborough's food industry justify the economic imperatives for a localization shift. Transition Town Peterborough (TTP)'s 25% shift committee has been conducting research on the economic development opportunities that an increase of 25% in Peterborough's local food supply and consumption over a decade would generate, with specific attention to employment generation. Research undertaken by TTP suggests that the 25% shift will create a net economic benefit of over $400 million per annum for the local economy (TTP 2014). The purpose of this report is to further enumerate on the economic viability of localization for Peterborough, and to address the alleged and potential economic opportunities arising from its implementation, with special emphasis on job creation. This project also discusses impact assessment methodological options to capture the employment effects of localization. The paper begins by an executive summary and introduction, which set the scene for the analysis of the primary research questions and methodology. This is followed by a section on the findings of the research, informed by the methodology and the research questions. The final component comprises a section on recommendations and a conclusion.