The Somali Immigrant Aid Organization (SIAO) is a non-profit community based Organization and represents the growing interests of the Somali immigrants in Metro Toronto through a full range of services; integration and settlement services; and the preservation of the Somali Culture. 

The history of Somali Community in Toronto goes back to the late 1970's. However, it was not until the early 1980's when the community started to grow. Until then Somalis were able to organize themselves informally. 

As the community grew, it became apparent that there was a need for a kind of community Organization to help with settlement of the growing number of refugees and newcomers from Somalia. For this reason, the Somali Immigrant Aid Organization started as a working group in January 1986 to facilitate awareness of refugee needs, promote understanding of the impact of domestic law, practice on refugee relief and encourage direct services to Somali refugees. 

In March 1987, a series of meeting were held to discuss the needs of the community with the support of Parkdale Community Legal Services. Out of these meetings a Somali Canadian Organization was developed. Later in 1987, the Somali groups branched out from the initial Organization as a result of political issues in Somalia. In August 1988, The Somali Immigrant Aid Organization was incorporated and continued their work in the community. In 1990, SIAO opened an office at 11 St. Joseph Street, Toronto and became a member of Ontario Council of Agencies serving immigrants and in 1992 the Organization moved to the present address. 

The number of people in our community has in the last couple of years grown from 65,000 to over 90,000 and the number seems to grow daily. Somali refugees having initially come through the major airports of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and through the Canadian and USA border, almost always move to Toronto, because of the large Somali community. Next to the Srilankan Community, ours has one of the largest influxes of desperate refugees seeking refuge to Canada. 

Unlike most newcomers, the Somali refugees and newcomers come to this country with little or no knowledge of the official languages of Canada. As a result, the existing community based settlement of Somali organizations seem not to have met their needs. We know this because we have limited resources and experiences. There is a large percentage of illiteracy in our community, especially with women, as there was little need for literacy in their previous nomadic lifestyle. 

In the early years, the Organization has seriously struggled because of lack of necessary funds, the spirit and small donations of its members and Board of Directors being the only assets which supported the Organization. In the past four years, SIAO has obtained funds from organizations and all three level of Government. United Way has contributed a total of $83,000 (eighty-three thousand dollars) in 1992/93, 1993/94 and 1994/95. Among other main funders are: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ministry of Citizenship, City of York, Health Canada, Ministry of Social Services, Metro, Province of Ontario, and Ontario Social Development.