Question Period Note: Settlement Services

Update on how IRCC supports settlement services for immigrants.

• Canada’s world-class settlement and resettlement services help newcomers successfully integrate into Canadian society and build a life in Canada.

• Throughout the pandemic IRCC has demonstrated flexibility and adaptability in supporting the settlement sector to respond to newcomer and refugee needs.

• In 2021-2022 the Government will increase its investment to support the settlement needs of newcomers and refugees. This includes additional support for vulnerable populations who have been particularly affected by the pandemic.

• These investments reflect the Government’s recognition that settlement services provide newcomers a solid foothold to contribute to Canada’s economic recovery.

If pressed
• They are an essential requirement to accepting more immigrants and especially important in the context of the pandemic.

• As of April 1, 2021, the Government of Canada is investing $876.6 million in 2021-2022 to support the settlement needs of newcomers (outside of Quebec). This is an increase of 5% from the previous year.

• Canada is recognized internationally for its inclusive policies that support diversity and for its unique two-way approach to integration. One objective of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) Section 3 (1) (e) is “to promote the successful integration of permanent residents into Canada, while recognizing that integration involves mutual obligations for new immigrants and Canadian society”.

• Canada has a managed immigration model that includes setting annual immigration levels, selecting immigrants, supporting their settlement in the early years after arrival, facilitating the acquisition of Canadian citizenship and assisting with long-term integration. The ultimate goal is for immigrants to fully participate in the economic, social, cultural and political life of Canada.

Settlement services for immigrants in Canada

• Under the terms and conditions of IRCC’s Settlement Program, all permanent residents (including resettled refugees and protected persons) are eligible to receive settlement services in English or French, including the principal applicants and members of their families, up to the point of citizenship.

• Temporary residents, asylum seekers and Canadian citizens are not eligible for federally-funded settlement services in English or French. However, the department has extended client eligibility for certain settlement services to temporary residents participating in a permanent residence program through regional pilots, including in the Atlantic Immigration Pilot and the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot.

• Federally-funded settlement services are delivered in English or French by more than 570 service provider organizations and help newcomers prepare for life in Canada and successfully integrate. This includes approximately 80 Francophone service providers, which support French-speaking newcomers’ integration into Francophone Minority Communities.

• There are currently more than 850 agreements for settlement services that provide stable funding to the settlement sector over a five-year period (2020-2025). These enable newcomers to access the following federally-funded settlement services in English or in French:

o Needs and assets assessments and referrals: This service includes a review of the client’s settlement needs along with their strengths (skills, life experiences, and abilities), resulting in a personalized settlement plan with referrals to IRCC funded and community services to support the client’s settlement journey.

o Information and orientation: This includes one-on-one, family and group information sessions on topics such as health-care, employment, education, filing taxes and banking, available both pre- and post-arrival.

o Language training: Formal language training, known as Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de langue pour les immigrants au Canada (CLIC) in French, helps newcomers improve and acquire the official language skills they need to contribute to the Canadian economy and to integrate into their communities.

o Employment-related services: These English and French services are aimed at helping immigrants with job search and preparation for the labour market. This includes basic skills such as résumé-writing and interview techniques, as well as mentoring and bridging programs to connect employers and immigrants.

o Community connections: These English and French services build social cohesion and allow newcomers to develop a sense of belonging. Activities include Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS), Conversation Circles, and Canada Connects.

o Support Services: Additional supports are available to immigrants in order to encourage uptake and remove barriers to attending settlement services. These supports are available free of charge to all clients who need child care, transportation, translation, interpretation, short-term counselling, and provisions for disabilities.

Supporting Vulnerable Newcomers
• Tailored supports are also available to newcomer and refugee populations that face additional barriers to services and who are at increased risk of marginalization, including racialized women, youth, seniors, people living with a disability, and members of the LGBTQ2 community

• Budget 2021 announced a $15 million extension to the Racialized Newcomer Women Pilot to support newcomer women facing barriers to employment. Initially launched as a three-year initiative through Budget 2018, the Pilot provides employment-related settlement services - such as mentorships and employment counselling - to support employment outcomes and career advancement for racialized newcomer women in Canada.

• The Budget also included an additional $2 million over 5 years to build settlement sector capacity to address family and gender-based violence. This will include strengthening collaboration between the settlement and anti-violence sectors to increase newcomer supports and resources.

The impacts of COVID-19 on Canada’s settlement sector

• Since the onset of the pandemic, IRCC has worked closely with Canada’s well-established settlement service provider network, the private sponsorship community, as well as with provincial/territorial counterparts and other federal departments, to ensure that newcomers and refugees are well-supported and that services are adapted to meet their needs in the COVID-19 context.

• The extensive work of this Network has been critical to ensuring that newcomers and refugees, who have been heavily impacted by the pandemic receive the supports they need to obtain information, receive language training or find employment.

• In response to pandemic-related challenges and amid physical distancing requirements, service providers have rapidly expanded services that were previously delivered online. In addition, most services that have traditionally been delivered in-person, including language assessments and training, have been adapted to remote and online delivery methods.

• Other key steps taken early on to lessen administrative pressures on service providers include:
o Providing clear direction on critical services to be delivered in-person and non-critical services to be delivered remotely;

o Enabling service providers to purchase IT equipment for their staff and to loan to clients in need; and

o Extending the validity period of language assessment results.

• Most recently, the settlement sector has been supporting vaccine uptake among newcomers and refugees by sharing multilingual information, helping newcomers to register for their vaccine, and hosting pop-up clinics in hard-hit areas.

Francophone Immigration

• The Department funds services that facilitate the integration and retention of French-speaking immigrants and refugees into Francophone Minority Communities (outside Quebec).

• On March 13th, 2019, the Meeting our Objectives: Francophone Immigration Strategy was launched to increase Francophone immigration to reach a 4,4% target of French-speaking permanent residents outside Quebec by 2023; strengthen settlement and integration of French-speaking newcomers; and build capacity of settlement organizations in Francophone Minority Communities.

• In 2018, the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced $36.6M over five years within its Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023 to support a consolidated Francophone integration pathway, which includes:
o The co-design and implementation of the Welcoming Francophone Communities initiative, an investment of $12.6M over 3 years in 14 communities across the country;

o Strengthening the capacity of the Francophone settlement sector through national projects to support training, tool development and the sharing of best practices; and

o Improving core settlement services, such as increasing availability of and access to settlement language training services adapted to the needs of French-speaking newcomers.

None