Canadian Crossroads International

Crossroads International is a Canadian international development organization based in Toronto and Montréal. Funded partly by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Crossroads is dedicated to advancing the rights of women and girls and reducing poverty in West Africa, Southern Africa and Bolivia.

Crossroads International works to create a more equitable and sustainable world by engaging and strengthening individuals, organizations and communities through mutual learning, solidarity and collective action. This mission goes hand in hand with the vision central to Crossroads International’s efforts, One world where poverty is eliminated, equality prevails and the rights of women and girls are fulfilled. Crossroads International believes in active citizenship, equity and diversity, solidarity between the North and South, innovation and learning, as well as transparency and accountability.

Crossroads International, originally established under the name Operation Crossroads Africa, was founded in 1958 by the American preacher James Herman Robinson, who promoted his vision of One World. He believed that people are fundamentally more similar than dissimilar, and that by living and working together we can create a crossroads of cultures and personal experience that ultimately supports positive individual and social change. In the context of the civil rights movement in the United States, Robinson’s innovative and inclusive ideas of encouraging collaboration between black and white Canadians, Americans and Africans in development projects drew many volunteers. That’s how Peter Parris became the first Crossroader to head overseas when he volunteered in Nigeria in 1958.

The number of mandates quickly multiplied. Ten volunteers went abroad in 1960 and by 1969, 257 volunteers had taken part in overseas activities. In 1969, Canadian Crossroads International was granted a charter as a charitable organization, separate from Operation Crossroads Africa, and for the first time began working in countries outside the African continent. That same year, a francophone branch was founded in Montreal, which managed placements in French-speaking African countries. In 1971, Crossroads began its To-Canada program, bringing African participants to Canada. This was followed by the Interflow program, an innovative South-South exchange program. In 2011, the organization’s current name, Crossroads International, was officially adopted to mark the truly international nature of its work.

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