Founder of Italian Canadian Youth Formation Center and the Ottawa Italian School

Mr. Enrico W. del Castello holds a Master’s degree, and a Post Graduate Degree in Public International Administration from Carleton University. The title of his M.A. thesis is “Challenging Education and Media in a pluri-lingual society.” Enrico began his career with the Ottawa Catholic School Board in 1976, holding several positions involving relations with ethnic communities and public relations. In 1974, he founded the Italian Canadian Youth Formation Centre and the Ottawa Italian School, of which he is still honorary chair and director of educational programs. From 1986 to 1989, he was Executive Director General for the National Congress of Italian Canadians. After teaching Public Affairs and Political Science at Algonquin College, he joined the Federal Government to work for Agriculture Canada. Enrico was one of the principal witnesses before the Parliamentary Committee on Multiculturalism for C-93 – the Multiculturalism Act (1988). He was a Senior Media Relations Officer in the Department of the Secretary of State of Canada from 1991 to 1992, where he coordinated international conferences and was Canadian delegate to the UN General Assembly in New York. From 1992 to 1996, he was Press Attaché to the Commissioner of Official Languages and from 1996 to 1998, he was the Director of Research and Development in the Diversity Management Branch of the Public Service Commission of Canada. For two years, he was the Director of Communications at Industry Canada and from 2000 to 2004 he was Director of the International Relations Coordination Office at the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, where he coordinated international conferences, including the Global Conference on E-commerce and the Inter American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT). Since 2004, he has worked as a director in various positions at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Sample Publications

• Mesana, V., Veronis, L., Berry, E. and del Castello, E. “Framing migrant resilience within Canada’s federal government policy” presented at IGU-CAG conference, Quebec City, August, 2018.