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ARCHIVED – Employment-related services

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For applicants of Information and Orientation (I&O) and Employment-related Services (ErS)

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 Glossary of terms – CFP 2024

Check the glossary for definitions of terms used on this page (opens in a new tab)

New for 2024 Call for proposals

  • Funding to deliver national online self-directed employment modules, and sector-specific employment programming for in-demand sectors to be delivered both pre and post arrival.
  • Additional services for employers to support newcomer settlement, including intercultural competency training and connections with settlement resources.
  • Entrepreneurship supports are now focused on information & referrals.
  • Greater commitment to client-specific services, including prioritizing services for youth and racialized women.
  • Refinement of Employment-Related Services activities, including new parameters around certifications and job matching and elimination of unpaid work placements in favour of short term workplace orientation. Further, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will no longer be funding services that support newcomers in accessing loans to facilitate labour market integration.

Further information is available on this page. All applicants are responsible for reading the guidelines in full.

Description

Employment-related services prepare eligible clients for working in Canada and support their access to the labour market by providing services that assist them to develop and leverage their existing skills and experience. This will facilitate their economic integration as they progress through their settlement journey.

Note: Applicants who wish to provide employment-specific language training should review the Language Assessment and Training Services funding guidelines.

Eligible Indirect Services with a national or sector scope

Please refer to the Indirect Services with a national or sector focus funding guidelines for more details on the following activities:

Expected outcomes

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) expected immediate outcomes, as described in the (Re)Settlement Program Logic Model, are written to capture the overall results for all projects that deliver a particular line of service.

There are 3 IRCC expected immediate outcomes, related to Employment-related direct services and related Indirect services:

1. Clients improve labour market knowledge, employment related language skills, job search skills, connections, and acquire Canadian work experience.

If employment-related services are part of the proposal, clearly describe how they will specifically contribute to this outcome, for example, by describing how increasing knowledge, developing job search skills and Skills for Success, acquiring connections with an employer, gaining experience in the Canadian labour market, or receiving support in a chosen field (or more than one of the above) will improve client employment outcomes.

2. Non-settlement partners improve capacity to provide support to diverse groups of newcomers across all sectors, in large, medium and small communities, including Francophone minority communities.

If working with employers is part of your proposal, clearly describe how it will specifically contribute to this outcome, for example, by describing how you will improve employer’s ability to attract and retain newcomer labour.

3. Settlement sector improves capacity to provide coordinated and effective settlement support to newcomers, including equity deserving groups.

If working with employers is part of your proposal, clearly describe how it will specifically contribute to this outcome, for example, by describing how you will improve employer’s ability to attract and retain newcomer labour.

Each eligible employment-related and indirect service activity is associated with the above IRCC expected immediate outcomes. When an activity is selected in the application, the applicable IRCC expected immediate outcome will automatically populate.

For more information on outcomes please refer to the Outcomes Guidance.

Eligible activities

Eligible activities for Direct Services
  1. Knowledge and skills
    • Offer information and employment navigation supports (e.g. individual employment counselling or employment workshops) that provide eligible clients with information on how to access occupations related to their experience and skills, as well as referrals to occupation-specific programming available in their communities. Information should include helping to identify if their desired occupation is regulated, and finding the contact information for the regulatory body, through tools such as Job Bank FCR tool and cicic.ca.
    • Develop eligible clients’ resume/cover letter writing skills, interview skills, and job search skills (e.g. navigating the Job Bank employment platform).
    • Increase eligible clients’ skills (non-technical/non-academic skills) – including those based on the Skills for Success framework – that are foundational for building other skills and knowledge, are needed to participate in the workplace and can be adapted to different employment contexts.
      • Note: Short term non-academic certification courses (such as First Aid, WHMIS, etc.) can be an eligible activity when they are included as part of an employment readiness program and not as standalone courses.
    • Provide support to eligible clients interested in acquiring general knowledge on business ownership and entrepreneurship through information and referrals to other related services available to newcomers (e.g. connecting clients to professionals or programs that support newcomer entrepreneurship).
  2. Workplace connections

    Provide opportunities for eligible clients to connect with other professionals and employers (e.g. to help to build professional networks), through activities such as:

    • Mentoring, including one-on-one or group mentoring, or speed mentoring events, or
    • Networking events and structured activities that allow clients to be present in an environment with their professional peers and potential employers to increase their professional networks.

    Note: Activities such as resume screening or job fairs that are solely aimed at helping clients acquire employment are only eligible for funding if the clients receive prior supports, either general or intensive, to prepare them for employment.

  3. Workplace experience

    Provide opportunities for eligible clients to acquire Canadian work experience and learn about Canadian workplace culture, through work placements including:

    • employer-paid, work placements, or
    • short-term unpaid orientation sessions in the workplace with a maximum duration of two weeks.

Direct Service specific priorities

1. Targeted Programming for Youth

As a Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) partner, IRCC is prioritizing the provision of targeted settlement supports for newcomer youth aged 15-30 to help them acquire skills for the future, find quality jobs, and develop their careers.

To support these efforts, proposals are expected to include a range of activities that help youth overcome barriers to employment, including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Individual employment counselling and workshops to prepare youth for career planning and finding their first employment, including teaching youth about resume/cover letter writing skills, interview skills, and job search skills;
  • Peer employment mentorship or coaching for youth; and
  • Work placements (employer-paid), with ongoing retention support for newcomer youth and employers.

For further information on the Strategy: Youth Employment Strategy - Canada.ca

Please note that the following priority programming should be made available where possible to both pre-arrival and post-arrival clients:

2. General national employment information online self-directed modules on labour market information, resume development, interview preparation, job search skills, understanding regulated occupations in Canada, and information about available employment supports in communities in English and French.

3. Intensive sector-specific employment programming (i.e. multiple employment activities) focused on helping eligible clients overcome barriers to employment in priority occupations or sectors – delivered regionally and/or nationally. In order to avoid duplication, IRCC will consult with ESDC and other government departments who fund employment programming. Please see References for Applicants section for examples of other federally funded employment-related programs.

This type of programming is limited to medium and high skilled occupations (TEER categories 0 to 3 – see details in References for applicant section) in the following in-demand sectors:

  • Health (with a priority on pre-arrival programming and in-Canada sector-specific language training)
  • Education
  • Trades
  • Transportation
  • Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

Eligible activities for Indirect Services to support employer engagement

To facilitate and strengthen settlement sector engagement with employers:

  • Support employers to hire and retain newcomer employees (e.g. retention supports), create welcoming workplaces (e.g. intercultural competency training), and be engaged as active community partners in settlement and newcomer employment.

Indirect Service specific priorities

IRCC is seeking proposals to ensure the following priority programming is available to employers:

  • A referral service to connect employers across Canada with key resources and settlement service provider agencies to facilitate connections with newcomers and other relevant community supports.
  • National online intercultural competency training for employers across Canada: The development and delivery of online self-directed training in English and French, for employers across Canada that would reflect varying sizes of employers and communities, including Francophone minority communities, on intercultural competency and creating welcoming workplaces
  • Intercultural Competency Training specifically for employers participating in the Atlantic Immigration Program: Since 2021, employers who want to hire immigrants through the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) are required to take intercultural competency training. The training is provided free of charge by service provider organizations throughout Atlantic Canada. The training materials (handouts, slides, activities guide) and a Train-the-Trainer course have already been developed. The training is a half-day, offered both in-person or via live webinar, and is available in English and French.
    Service providers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island who are interested in providing intercultural competency training for AIP employers should include this activity in their proposal.

Ineligible activities

The following Employment-related service activities are no longer eligible for funding through the Settlement Program:

  • To ensure complementary programming with other government departments, IRCC will no longer be funding the administration and other services (e.g. employment counselling) provided in direct support of loans that facilitate newcomer labour market integration; individualized business planning and development for entrepreneurs; and new job matching digital platforms;
  • To ensure newcomers – notably women - are adequately compensated for the skills they bring to the workplace, IRCC will no longer be funding the facilitation of unpaid work placements.

Mode of delivery

Where possible, leverage technology to reduce barriers to access and optimize employment-related program delivery by offering a variety of formats, including in-person, remote (online/digital) staff-led, remote (online/digital) self-directed, and remote email/text/phone.

The possible modes of delivery for the eligible activities described above are:

Funding applicants will also need to consider who the client audience will be for each of the project activities being proposed in their online application form (more than one audience may be selected per activity):

Eligible clients

As per section 3.7 of the Settlement Program Terms and Conditions, only the following persons are eligible to receive these settlement services:

Notes

Restrictions

  • Canadian citizens and non-permanent residents are not eligible persons. However, the Settlement Program provides opportunities for citizens and other residents of Canada to participate in the provision of settlement services to clients as volunteers.

Eligible applicants for funding

Eligible applicants for funding for settlement services are:

Restrictions

  • For-profit organizations may be eligible for funding provided that the nature and the intent of the activity is non-commercial, not intended to generate profit, and supports IRCC program priorities and objectives.

How we assess applications for this service

Mandatory and asset criteria

Your application should describe how your project aligns with and supports the expected outcomes.

All applications

 All applications will be assessed according to the CORE criteria

Applications will also be assessed against Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) criteria. More information about the CORE and EDI criteria.

Mandatory criteria

In addition to meeting the CORE and GBA Plus criteria, applicants for this service must:

  • Demonstrate complementarity with other government funded services: Applicants should demonstrate what services already exist in their community, how they complement employment services funded by provinces or territories (or both), other federal departments or other funders (i.e. coordination, referrals, knowledge-sharing, and co-location among service providers should be in place where possible), and what gap their proposal fills within these offerings.
  • Demonstrate integration of Gender-based Analysis Plus as much as possible within the design, implementation, and evaluation of the initiative: Applicants under employment-related services should consider the needs of diverse newcomer populations and the distinct barriers to services and integration that some experience. Please refer back to the overview of Funding Guidelines for more information on GBA Plus.
    • Additional consideration should be given to how projects will support racialized newcomer women and assess the need for programming to address this issue including: women-only cohorts; focused recruitment of newcomer women who may have longer absences from the workforce; and/or targeted services to build their confidence and enhance their employment skills. For more information, please refer to Findings from the Racialized Newcomer Women Pilot.

Asset criteria

Proposals demonstrating the following may be prioritized for funding.

Applicants for this service should include a description of the following experience or capacity, as applicable:

  • an established successful track record in engaging with employers.
  • cross-sector partnerships, including with Indigenous Peoples and communities, organizations that provide a capacity-building and professional development role within the settlement sector (e.g. Umbrella Organizations), organizations with expertise working with specific populations (e.g. racialized populations) or on specific issues (e.g. advancing substantive gender equality and women’s empowerment).

Examples of quality projects

  • The service provider organization collaborates with sector councils, regulatory bodies and others in one of the identified sectors to deliver an intensive national sector-specific employment program. The supports provided include: professional mentorship and networking opportunities, employer-paid work placements, as well as preparation for licensure for newcomers intending to work in regulated occupations within the targeted sector. Many of these supports are available to newcomers prior to their arrival in Canada, enabling them to access the labor market at an early stage in their immigration journey.
  • The service provider organization offers a general employment preparation program in a specific city. The program is open to all newcomers who are looking for work regardless of their intended occupation and aims to equip clients with employment-related skills to help them prepare for, and connect with, the Canadian labour market. The service provider organization refers their clients to self-directed online/digital resources to learn about labor market information and how to write a resume and cover letter in the Canadian context. The service provider organization provides individual employment counselling and employment workshops to assist clients in their job search. Clients are provided an opportunity to participate in mock interviews. After completing the program, clients are invited to attend networking events with local employers.
  • The service provider organization offers employment-readiness programming targeted to racialized newcomer women who are actively looking for work or want to begin their job search after the training. Through a newcomer women-only cohort, the program equips participants with the knowledge and confidence necessary to access the local labour market. The service provider organization also provides a measurement of client’s progress in soft skills development through an employability skills assessment tool; after which they have an opportunity to attend interactive workshops led by a variety of employer partners on job search tools and techniques that address resume, cover letter, interview skills and how to connect and network with local employers.
  • A service provider organization provides workshops to clients who are interested in starting or purchasing a business. Clients are referred to more specialized supports offered by other funders, including Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

References for applicants

  1. Findings from the Racialized Newcomer Women Pilot

    Through the Racialized Newcomer Women Pilot (RNWP), IRCC has been supporting targeted services designed specifically for racialized newcomer women with a robust test of employment-related settlement services – the results of which indicate that these employment programs produced meaningful and measurable outcomes in support of labour market integration.

    While employment programming available to all newcomers can also support newcomer women, there is evidence that suggests that targeted programming supports racialized newcomer women in finding employment in jobs commensurate with their education and experience faster - while also creating a space for participants to share their experiences and challenges and to build friendships and a sense of belonging – ultimately having a greater improvement in self confidence.

    All projects under employment-related services should consider the needs of racialized newcomer women, and whether there is a need to offer newcomer women-focused interventions, such as:

    • Newcomer women-focused employment workshops that include the creation of safe spaces to foster a sense of belonging for racialized newcomer women.
    • Transferable skills assessments and training for newcomer women-only cohorts to support their ability to market themselves to employers and enhance their career adaptability.
    • Peer mentorship and networking opportunities tailored specifically for racialized newcomer women to support their self-confidence.
    • Post-placement support services for racialized newcomer women to further increase their career development and advancement.

    Further information on the reports funded under the Racialized Newcomer Women Pilot can be found here: RNWP research reports

  2. Foreign Credential Recognition

    Some jobs are regulated, which means a specific license or certificate is required before someone can work in these jobs. Foreign credential recognition is the process of verifying that the knowledge, skills, work experience and education obtained in another country is comparable to the standards established for a regulated occupation or skilled trade.

  3. Training education experience and responsibilities (TEER)

    The training, education, experience and responsibilities (TEER) categorization system of the 2021 National Occupational Classification (NOC) replaced the skill type and level structure of the 2016 NOC system. You can use the table at the following link to find the TEER category for a specific occupation:

    Other federally funded employment-related programs:

  4. Other resources

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