The Catholic Immigration Centre:
The Catholic Immigration Centre (CIC) has been serving immigrants and refugees in the Ottawa-Carleton region for 52 years. It is a community-based non-profit, charitable organization.
The Catholic Immigration Centre’s mission:
"To welcome immigrants and refugees and to build a more welcoming community"
The Community Cup’s Mission:
“Provide an inspiring and engaging one day multicultural and intergenerational event where our community stakeholders, newcomers, and residents will meet each other and work closely together in fostering long lasting positive relationships”
The Community Cup began in 2005 as a soccer tournament in Ottawa, Ontario, as an initiative of the Host Program of the Catholic Immigration Centre (CIC), which works to integrate newcomers to Canadian culture and lifestyle.
The Host Program chose to host a soccer tournament because of soccer’s connection to Ottawa’s multicultural groups, and holding a large, one-day recreational tournament was a fresh idea to actively bring everyone together in the spirit of creating welcoming communities and facilitating new friendships.
The Community Cup has grown to be a captivating project for Ottawa’s mixed communities - as a way to celebrate welcoming communities. What’s been interesting about the Community Cup is that, while the primary focus of the event has been on providing a soccer tournament for people to enjoy, the event itself has always resulted in much more.
Over the years, the Community Cup has grown by scale and attendance. Live music and entertainment, an International Food Bazaar, cultural craft workshops, Musical and Artistic Language workshops, Kids Zone, A Community Tent, Seniors Sharing Circles, and much more are just some examples of the many other activities that visitors were able to participate in during the day of the Community Cup.
The 2009 and 2010 events were the biggest and most successful years of the event so far. Attended by over 1500 people, it offered something for the whole family. This year we will have an official Citizenship Ceremony - every one is welcome to participate and feel the emotion as we get ready to celebrate our civic pride on Canada Day and National Multiculturalism Day.
On Sunday, June 26, 2011, the seventh Community Cup will be held at Brewer Park in Ottawa. A dedicated group of volunteers have been planning the event for several months already and are excited to welcome you at the park.
