The Portuguese Interagency Network’s (PIN) records, donated by Cidália Pereira in 2009, have been processed and are now open for consultation at the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University Libraries (with some access restrictions). The PCHP is grateful to Cidália Pereira for having donated this vast collection of records to the CTASC and for the archivist Christopher Long for processing it.

Founded in 1978, PIN was a community-based, non-profit organization that connected social service providers and other civic professionals who worked with Portuguese-speaking individuals in Ontario. Its membership would grow to include over 200 member agencies, along with many individual members. PIN’s areas of action were reflected in the make-up of its working committees, which included Adult Education, Child Education, Family and Community Services, Health, Special Needs, and Seniors. Other ad-hoc committees included: “Ready or Not,” “Youth Committee,” “Lusophone,” and “Employment Equity.” PIN also produced multiple studies and reports about Toronto’s Portuguese-Canadian community, with the goal of influencing government policies. It lead education campaigns on issues of health, adult education, literacy, sexual assault, and skills training. The Kensington Clinic, Portuguese Mental Health Clinic, Downtown Employment Services, Portuguese Family Crisis Centre, Access Alliance Multicultural Health Centre, Bradford Immigrant Community Services, and the Portuguese Canadian National Congress are some of the organizations that PIN helped develop. In the mid-1990s, funding cuts during Premier Mike Harris’ government would strike a fatal blow to PIN’s operations, leading to its closure in 2009.

This is the largest records collections that the PCHP has helped transfer to the CTASC, with a total 1,471 folders, containing:
10.9 m of textual records
143 photographs : b&w and col. ; 18 x 24.5 cm or smaller
416 photographs : b&w negatives ; 35 mm
6 computer disks : 9 x 9 cm
34 U-matic videocassettes
17 VHS cassettes
19 audiocassettes
6 Hi8 video recordings
1 micro-cassette audio recording

[Updated on October 14, 2024]