Across Canada, Cultural Brokers (CBs)* are assisting immigrants and refugees find belonging, navigate complex systems, and build trust between their communities and institutions. Our research shows recognizing this essential work can transform both services and programs, and foster career sustainability.
Authors
Dr Sally Ogoe and Dr Sara Torres, Laurentian University
Location
Canada
Findings
Our CBs survey (n=153) and interviews (n= 50) (2022-2025, Phase I study), revealed that most CBs:
- are highly skilled professionals, lacking recognition;
- are college or university educated, some holding graduate degrees;
- work under job titles or contracts not reflecting the depth of their expertise; and,
- have short job contracts (1-3 years), so lack long-term stability.
CBs work looks different across and within provinces, though they share a common purpose: bridging worlds so that immigrants and refugees can settle in, adapt, and integrate to Canadian society.
Challenges and opportunities:
Shared commitment: Despite the above-noted hardships, CBs see the impact of their work - families settling more smoothly, healthcare access improving, and communities connecting across cultures - and persist.
Potential for transformation: By naming, recognizing and formalizing CB practice, employers can seek better wages, stabilize pay, provide career paths, and advocate for provincial recognition.
Name recognition: Several provinces and organizations are adopting the term “Cultural Broker” in job descriptions and policy language - a crucial first step in professionalizing a currently invisible workforce.
How does this research apply?
For frontline providers, the findings affirm:
- Essential skills: cultural bridging and trust-building skills are essential, shaping equitable service systems and programs for immigrant and newcomer communities.
- Collaborate nationally: Recommend joining the Cultural Brokers Network of Canada (CBNC), to increase CB voices.
FFor those in leadership positions, the findings affirm:
- Make work visible: Include cultural brokering in role descriptions and programs.
- Support growth: Invest in continuing training, mentorship, evaluation, and certification pathways, such as the Cultural Broker curricula.
- Collaborate nationally: Access NCBP CB training. Support the CBNC.
- Link recognition to retention: Reduce turnover by aligning professional titles and pay scales with skills required.
Research takeaways:
CBs are not just helping families navigate systems, they are also improving system accessibility. Recognizing and supporting CB practice entails stronger outcomes for immigrants and refugees and sustainable careers for CBs.
Across Canada, momentum is growing to identify, define, and explore certification options for cultural brokering as a skilled and hybrid profession. With collaboration between governments, service and ethno-specific organizations, newcomer communities, NCBP and CBNC, CBs’ role can become a model for culturally responsive practice everywhere.
Learn more:
Contact Laurentian Researchers atnationalculturalbrokersproject@laurentian.ca
Explore NCBP and CBNC at culturalbrokers.ca
Phase 1 Project Partners
- Laurentian University
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
- Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative
- Umbrella Multicultural Health Co-op
- Manitoba Possible
- Cultural Brokers Network of Canada
* Cultural Brokers are multilingual, multicultural skilled workers who self-identify with the newcomer community they serve, and can go by many names such as Community Health Workers, Multicultural Health Navigators, Community Navigators, Settlement Workers, etc. Cultural Brokers act as relational bridges between immigrant and refugee community members, and formal and informal systems of care to reduce barriers within the process of settlement and integration. For the purpose of the study we use the term “Cultural Broker”, but we understand that your organization might have a different title to support immigrants and refugees.