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The concept of multiculturalism has become a fixture in Canadian society as part of a nation-building mechanism. In many ways, this suggests a perception that public policies promoting multicul-turalism are working. However, this perception is based on assumptions that there is a coherent and shared definition and understanding of the implementation of multiculturalism policies. This paper reports the findings of an exploratory study that examined how multiculturalism policies are actualized at the grassroots level through community organizations. This study involved key informant interviews and focus groups of government staff responsible for the delivery of multicultural-ism at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels, as well as discussions with service users and service providers of multiculturalism. Findings of this study show that, first, there is a difference in the understanding of the meaning of the policies among these research participants. Second, there has been a subtle shift of governmental interpretation of multiculturalism policies to an antiracist perspective. Third, although both federal and provincial governments have positioned community organizations as key partners in actualizing multiculturalism policies at the grassroots level, their relationship has been strained, i.e., in order to attain their goals for multiculturalism, community organizations have had to adapt to changing rules and to learn how to maneuver through the funding process. Some policy implications are suggested at the end of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]