Participants at the regional dialogue session in Halifax

 Starting in February 2008, Canada's World went across the country holding eight dialogue sessions to discuss Canada’s role in the world.

30 participants were selected for each of the eight dialogues, and invited to be part of a session on three of the nine realities facing Canada in the world. These participants were chosen through random-digit dialing, representative of the demographics of their region and equipped with all the tools they needed to participate in two days of in-depth, solutions-oriented discussion on the new realities facing Canada, led by expert facilitators. Participants learned about the issues, debated various approaches, questioned experts in the field, made trade-offs about key policy choices, and developed their own set of policy options related to the themes. The deliberations were guided by a respectful process and framed by clear questions to provide sufficient focus without being leading or directive. The sessions were supported by experienced and professional facilitators and subject experts were available as resource persons. Participants can be confident that those who invited them to the dialogue listened carefully to what emerged from their collective conversations.

The results of the participants’ deliberations were recorded, transcribed, analyzed, and summarized in dialogue highlights and a dialogue report, "Moving Beyond Dichotomies: Canada's role in the 21st century," created in collaboration with the participants and based on their visions. At the beginning and at the end of the two-day session, participants were asked to complete a survey and an evaluation form. They were also asked to nominate someone or put their own name forward for the national dialogue in January 2009.

In addition to the general citizens’ dialogues, specific dialogues with targeted audiences were also held throughout 2008. These dialogues allowed Canada’s World to drill deeper into the ideas and visions of some key audiences such as young people and diaspora communities. Participants in all CW dialogues have become part of a new community empowered to advocate for their own positions and educate others on Canada's role in the world.

Participants at the regional dialogue session in Halifax

Regional Dialogue Timeline

February 15th to 17th → Calgary

February 22nd to 24th → Winnipeg

February 29th to March 2nd → Toronto

March 7th to 9th → Vancouver

March 14th to 16th → Halifax

March 28th to 30th → Montreal

April 4th to 6th → Moncton

April 11th to 13th → Ottawa