Canadian Council for Refugees
Client
Sectors
Human Rights
Services
Campaigns
Strategy & Messaging
Website Design
Training & Speaking
Over the last few years, the Canadian public’s support for immigrants and refugees has declined. At the same time, the Canadian government’s support for policies favourable to newcomers has also declined.
This problem motivated the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) to unify the settlement sector around a shared vision and message — one that could strengthen public support for immigrants and refugees. Their vision was to create a campaign that would encourage Canadians to speak out in favour of immigrants and refugees, showing how our communities are stronger and better together.
Together, we created a research-backed Message Guide, a persuasion-driven campaign strategy, and a distinct visual identity that would bring the Canadian Council for Refugees' member organizations, partners, and allies across the country together under one unified campaign: We’re Better Together. The campaign is also known as 'On fait mieux ensemble' in French, with a translation selected to resonate in a francophone context.
As part of the campaign launch, we led training sessions for the Canadian Council for Refugees' members and campaign partners, exploring how to practically use the campaign and resources such as the Message Guide. Accounting for the capacity of immigrant and refugee-serving organizations, our trainings provided realistic and impactful advice on how to use the key messaging, and to scale up engagement with the campaign through existing work.
At the core of the campaign is collaboration — between advocacy organizations, service providers, and the average Canadian, to join in calling for a Canada that includes everyone.
Research and Message Testing
Working with the Canadian Council for Refugees, we developed a campaign grounded in an evidence-based approach to improving public opinion. The Canadian Council for Refugees conducted research in English and French in collaboration with ASO Communications, Keith Neuman, and EKOS Research, reaching over 2,000 people from all across Canada. The results were used to tailor the messaging and narrative guidance to a Canadian audience, with a particular emphasis on highlighting Canadians' shared universal human values.
The research found that although anti-newcomer hate and blame is on the rise, the majority of Canadians are still supportive of immigrants and refugees. More Canadians support than oppose immigration and believe in the positive role of immigrants in Canadian society (66% versus 20%). However, the research also uncovered that our base, meaning Canadians who support immigrants and refugees, aren't loud enough about their support.
Therefore, we sought to tap into the support and make it louder and more visible. To do this, we highlighted Canada's legacy of welcoming newcomers. We set out to create a campaign that spoke to the average Canadian’s pride in their community, their hope for the future of Canada, and that would reflect the truth of how certain politicians stoke division, when they should be creating solutions to our problems.
Like many countries around the world, Canada is experiencing rising costs of living and pressures on our public services — and immigrants and refugees are being unfairly blamed. Our campaign messaging highlighted that certain politicians, at home and abroad, point the finger to scapegoat newcomers — rather than addressing the root causes of the cost of living crisis, like government inaction on housing.
Message Guide
At the heart of our collaboration is the We’re Better Together Message Guide. This Message Guide provides a practical, accessible resource designed to help organizations and individuals communicate more effectively about immigrants and refugees.
The Message Guide was developed by the Canadian Council for Refugees and LeBlanc (& co.) Communications. We are deeply grateful to have collaborated with Anat Shenker-Osorio and the team at ASO Communications, who led the messaging research and analysis phase of this project. The approach in this guide is rooted in the Race Class Gender Narrative – a proven, research-backed messaging and organizing framework created by ASO Communications, that weaves together race, class, and gender in order to advance our progressive worldview, and counter right-wing divide and conquer tactics.
Drawing on the messaging research, we wrote and designed a Message Guide that is free for public access, and helps advocates shift public opinion through emotionally resonant and evidence-based messaging. The guide offers adaptable key messages, practical examples, and framing techniques.
The Message Guide acts as the foundation for the campaign, empowering the Canadian Council for Refugees' network to communicate with consistency, strength, and optimism.
Campaign Strategy and Branding
We worked with the Canadian Council for Refugees to develop a campaign strategy which outlined a clear theory of change: by growing and equipping their base of supporters, the campaign could win over more public support for newcomers and make that support impossible to ignore.
Key elements included:
- Partner engagement
- Decentralized action
- Cross-sector collaboration
- Measurement and learning
- Training and capacity building
Through collaborative meetings with the Canadian Council for Refugees' members, we developed a campaign strategy that actively addressed common issues faced by refugee and immigrant-serving organizations, building capacity for effective and consistent messaging in the sector. We also worked to reach beyond CCR's membership to align and unite other movements, from 2SLGBTQ+ to labour groups, in showing their solidarity with newcomers. The campaign strategy includes engagement strategies and tailored resources for both CCR members and wider, cross-movement public organizing, enabling CCR to reach even more Canadians with the key messaging.
To bring the campaign to life, we developed a bold, contemporary visual identity that balances optimism with credibility. The palette uses bright, uplifting tones that build on the Canadian Council for Refugees' existing brand while giving the campaign its own fresh energy. At the centre of the system is a pair of double arcs made of multicoloured dots, an element that echoes CCR’s brand while introducing a new, dynamic motif. The arcs can be interpreted as a mosaic, a smile, a megaphone, or an embrace, evoking warmth, connection, and unity.
We also designed a dedicated campaign microsite that centralizes the campaign’s resources, messaging, and engagement tools in one accessible hub, strengthening both partner coordination and public outreach.
