Our Story

Home / Our Story
Immigration & Refugee Services
our mission bar

Services for Refugees and Immigrants in Saskatoon

Welcome to Global Gathering Place (GGP), a drop-in non-profit centre that provides personalized, heartfelt settlement assistance to refugees and immigrants. To achieve our vision of a society where newcomers are fully engaged and valued, we also partner with a wide range of organizations in Saskatoon and beyond.

A welcoming home away from home, GGP acts as a cultural bridge between newcomers and life in Canada. We help refugees and immigrants navigate everything from language, healthcare, and employment, to developing life skills that many of us do without thinking (like grocery shopping and taking the bus).

We offer a dynamic variety of programs and services—from résumé workshops to computer classes to the famed Coffee & Conversation—that support newcomers in building knowledge and making connections.

Through collaboration, trainings, and events, we work to help the Saskatoon community recognize our shared responsibility in helping newcomers integrate and thrive. We offer guidance for making local services more inclusive and accessible, and advocate for what we know to be true: that immigrants and refugees, when given the opportunity, make valuable contributions to all aspects of Canadian society.

Looking to support the exciting work happening at the Global Gathering Place? We invite you to make a donation, or check out our volunteer opportunities.

Since our beginnings as a volunteer-run effort in 1998, Global Gathering Place has played a role in thousands of newcomers’ lives as they settle into Saskatoon and far beyond.

As we continue to serve more clients each year, we pride ourselves on continuing to provide personalized, heartfelt and effective support.

You can support our work:

Core Values

Our vision: A society where newcomers to Canada are fully engaged and valued. 

Our mission: To engage and support immigrants and refugees to integrate and thrive in Canadian society. 

Our core values inform how we deliver programs and services to clients, and the relationships we build with diverse individuals and organizations in the community. 

  • Person-Centred Support—GGP recognizes that one size does not fit all and that people’s needs vary and change over time. We seek the clarity to understand the needs of the individual and adapt our resources, programs, and services to meet those needs. We seek to adapt and create the appropriate practical and quality response to the identified need. 
  • Holistic Approach—GGP recognizes that all aspects of a person’s needs and hopes must be respected and taken into account when developing effective solutions. 
  • Welcoming and Friendly Environment—GGP cherishes a warm, open, dignified and friendly atmosphere where refugees and immigrants to Saskatoon feel welcome, safe, secure, and accepted. We seek to provide a home away from home. 
  • Respect—GGP believes in self determination, discovery and the integrity of choices, encouraging each person to make decisions and take control over his or her life. 
  • Responsiveness—GGP finds solutions which meet the needs and preferences of refugees and immigrants through informal drop-in, direct service, or referrals to other providers.
  • Partnerships—GGP collaborates and builds positive working relationships with a wide scope of partners in order to share knowledge and ideas, and to ensure the best opportunities and quality of service for refugees and immigrants. 
  • Outreach—GGP educates the public about issues affecting refugees and immigrants and advocates on their behalf and in their best interests. 
  • Dignity—GGP believes that all persons have the innate right to fairness, compassion, respect and ethical treatment. 
  • Financial Sustainability—GGP believes its work as a service provider will be needed for many years to come in the community. Therefore, we strive with due diligence to meet our mission through thoughtful strategic choices that will ensure sufficient financial resources. 
  • Diversity—GGP welcomes and is inclusive of people from all cultures, languages and religions, and sees this inclusiveness as a means to learn and enrich all our lives. 
  • Care—GGP demonstrates compassion and concern for refugees and immigrants. As a part of this caring attitude, we listen to people, discover who they are, and find or develop solutions to meet their needs.