ARCHIVED – Pre-arrival services

If needs and assets assessment and referral services (NAARS) are part of your proposal, clearly describe how it will contribute to this outcome, for example, by specifying how the NAARS accessed through pre-arrival services will enhance understanding of clients needs and inform the provision of appropriate referrals to other pre-arrival and in-Canada settlement services, facilitating prompt access to community supports once clients are in Canada.

If information and orientation activities are part of your proposal, clearly describe how your activity will contribute to this outcome, for example, how, through the provision of accurate and relevant information and orientation activities, clients will learn about different aspects of life in Canada, develop realistic expectations and make informed decisions about their settlement and integration into Canadian society prior to their arrival in the country.

If employment-related service activities are part of your proposal, clearly describe how they will contribute to this outcome, for example, by describing how equipping clients, prior to arrival, with skills and supports needed to access the Canadian labour market, making connections with professionals and employers, or taking action to get their foreign qualifications recognized (or some combination of these) will improve newcomer employment outcomes.

If community connection activities are proposed in your project, clearly describe how they will help build bridges between clients and their intended communities of destination, promote intercultural exchange, facilitate meaningful relationships and help build social cohesion while clients are still outside of Canada.

If indirect services are proposed in your project, clearly describe how they will improve the capacity of your organization or the services delivered to clients.

If any of the following eligible support-service activities are part of the proposal, clearly describe how it will specifically contribute to this outcome. For example, how translation or interpretation, or both, will support client understanding of services provided to ensure full participation; how digital supports will ensure that barriers to the access of services are eliminated.

Description of service

Under pre-arrival programming, individual or family (or both) Needs and Assets Assessment and Referral Services identify eligible clients’ needs and assets, and connect them to: 1) additional relevant pre-arrival services, and 2) existing settlement and community supports available to them upon arrival in Canada.

Comprehensive needs assessment

Comprehensive assessment of an eligible client across a broad spectrum of settlement and integration areas based on the NAARS National Standardized Assessment Template for Pre-arrival for the purposes of referrals to: local information and orientation services; official languages training; employment-related services, including referrals to professional associations, regulatory and apprenticeship bodies for Foreign Credential Recognition; services that connect clients and their intended community of destination; settlement services in French; mental and physical health services; sexual and gender-based violence resources; community supports for specific populations; services for persons with disabilities, and other services that may benefit the client’s settlement journey.

Settlement Plan and Referrals

The assessment process will result in the development of an individual’s or a family’s settlement plan that guides clients along their settlement pathway and refers them to other pre-arrival and in-Canada settlement services, including Francophone service providers, provincial and territorial government supports, community services and specialized organizations that provide targeted services.

Requirements for the delivery of Needs and Assets Assessment and Referrals services

Delivery of Needs and Assets Assessment and Referrals services in pre-arrival will need to fulfill the following requirements:

• Be delivered by the same service provider organizations delivering pre-arrival Information and Orientation services.
• Services must be national in scope (focused and applicable to two or more IRCC regions).
• Services must be delivered remotely, except for clients served through a Guichet unique and refugees selected for resettlement to Canada.
• Include provisions to refer French-speaking clients to le Guichet unique pour les services de pré-arrivée francophones, if and when applicable.

Description of service

National-level Information and Orientation Sessions

Delivery of national-level group orientation sessions that address client’s pre-departure needs and essential and immediate settlement needs. Sessions include the provision of information on topics such as:

• Living and working in Canada
• Housing
• Education systems
• Francophone Minority Communities
• The Canadian labour market (e.g. job preparation, licensure requirements for regulated trades and professions, documentation and language requirements)
• Canada’s official languages
• Canadian culture
• General rights and responsibilities
• Canadian law and justice
• Financial literacy
• Prevention of family and gender-based violence
• Health care and mental health supports
• Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation, and Indigenous Peoples culture and history

Local-level Information and Orientation Sessions

Delivery of local-level group or individual orientation sessions that provide information about the client’s intended community of destination and address immediate settlement needs. Sessions include the provision of information on topics such as:

• Cost of living, housing, schools, health care and social services; culture and recreation
• Local labour market information and employment
• Language learning supports
• Other settlement and community-based services

Targeted Information and Orientation Sessions

Delivery of group or individual orientation sessions tailored to specific eligible client groups (e.g. youth, women, seniors, 2SLGBTQI+, and newcomers with disabilities) to provide them with information on topics such as:

• Rights and responsibilities relevant to a particular group
• Settlement and community-based supports tailored to specific client groups
• Mental health supports
• Relevant government benefits
• Other settlement and community-based services

Requirements for the delivery of Information and Orientation Service Activities

Delivery of Information and Orientation services in pre-arrival will need to fulfill the following requirements:

• Be delivered by the same service provider organizations delivering Pre-arrival Needs and Assets Assessment and Referrals services.
• Services must be national in scope (focused and applicable to two or more IRCC regions).
• Services must be delivered remotely.
• Include provisions to refer French-speaking clients to le Guichet unique pour les services de pré-arrivée francophones, if and when applicable.

Note: Group orientation sessions for refugees selected for resettlement to Canada are not being solicited under this Call for Proposal; they will be solicited outside of this process.

Description of service

Under pre-arrival programming, IRCC will only fund general employment-related services for eligible clients outside of Canada. However, these clients will also be able to access any online intensive sector-specific employment programming and general national employment information self-directed modules funded under Employment-related Services and available to pre-arrival and newcomers already in Canada. (See Employment-related Services Funding Guidelines for details on which sector-specific services will be provided to clients outside of Canada).

Eligible activities to be funded under Pre-arrival services include the following interventions:

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 and employment supports available in their communities of destination. This type of information should include help 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 JobBank employment platform).
• Increase eligible clients’ skills (non-technical/non-academic skills) – based on the Skills for Success framework – that are foundational for building other skills and knowledge, are inclusive, and can be adapted to different employment contexts.
• 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 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.

Requirements for the delivery of Employment-related Service Activities

Delivery of Employment-related services in pre-arrival will need to fulfill the following requirements:

• Services must be national in scope (focused and applicable to two or more IRCC regions).
• Only remote delivery of services will be considered.
• Duration of services should generally not exceed 8 weeks.
• While only eligible clients who are outside of Canada can access these services, consideration may be given for certain services to be completed following the clients’ arrival to Canada, if warranted.
• Costs associated with an actual credential assessment conducted by a regulatory body are not eligible for funding.

Description of Service

For Community Connections services in pre-arrival, IRCC will fund the following activity:

• Canada Connects (one-to-one and family matching)
• Matching with volunteers (Canadians or long-term residents in Canada) in the client’s community of destination to obtain early support in navigating the client’s new community in Canada, establish local networks, develop soft skills, and meet life goals.

Requirements for the delivery of Community Connections services

• Delivery of Community Connections services in pre-arrival will need to fulfill the following requirements: Be delivered by the same service provider organizations delivering pre-arrival Information and Orientation, and Needs and Assets Assessment and Referrals services.
• Activities delivered under this priority must be local in scope.

If support services are proposed in your project, clearly describe how they will enable clients to participate in Pre-arrival services by addressing access barriers.

1. Interpretation and translation

While direct service delivery in the local language is preferred, interpretation and translation services may be considered for delivery of national-level group orientation services and Needs and Assets Assessment and Referral services, to ensure that clients have access to and benefit from relevant settlement information.

2. New for CFP 2024: Digital supports

Digital supports for eligible clients who need assistance in accessing any IRCC-funded settlement services being delivered remotely. Digital support funded in pre-arrival refers to:

• Digital skills supports: sessions/assistance for eligible clients who have demonstrated a need for help navigating online/digital technologies in order to access IRCC-funded settlement services. For example, the service provider offers support to the client in navigating the platform needed to access the digital IRCC-funded direct settlement service (e.g. an online information and orientation module).

Note: Digital literacy is its own distinct term, pertaining to the ability to use technology or the internet in the most appropriate way for personal or professional purposes (e.g. knowing appropriate use of social media). Digital literacy activities are not an eligible support service under online/digital supports.

Description of service

Indirect service activities at the organizational level that support the delivery of direct pre-arrival services include:

1. Service Delivery Tools Development

• Development or enhancement of digital/online tools that contribute to better settlement outcomes for clients. This can include employing emerging technologies to support delivery of pre-arrival services and the use of user-centric design principles to improve client experience.
• Collecting and sharing information products, websites and other resources with clients to support their orientation on the topics listed under Information and Orientation services.
• Producing information products to share with clients on Canada and the communities of destination.

2. Engagement

• Participation in conferences and video-calls organized by the pre-arrival coordinating body to enhance the capacity and collaboration among pre-arrival settlement service providers, and coordinate the delivery of pre-arrival services.

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

• Coordination, Engagement and Representation: Activities enhancing collaboration and coordination amongst IRCC-funded organizations provider services to eligible pre-arrival clients.
• Capacity Building: Activities to strengthen the capacity of the pre-arrival sector to deliver outcomes-driven settlement services.
• Service Delivery Tools: Projects that support the development of tools to foster consistent and standardized service delivery.

The selected projects should include provisions to refer French-speaking clients to le Guichet unique pour les services de pré-arrivée francophones, if and when applicable.

In addition to meeting the CORE and EDI criteria, applicants to become a dedicated pre-arrival service provider must:

• Demonstrate organizational capacity and experience delivering similar services and activities.
• Demonstrate organizational capacity to deliver pre-arrival services remotely in an efficient and effective manner.
• Demonstrate capacity to deliver services across different time zones.
• Demonstrate established partnerships/networks and capacity to refer clients to other pre-arrival services, domestic services and other types of community supports across Canada.
  • Proposals must clearly describe the intended approach to refer clients to other pre-arrival service providers so that clients avail themselves of all services available to them, regardless of which one they register for first.
  • Proposals must clearly describe the intended approach to refer French-speaking clients to Francophone pre-arrival services as early as possible after being contacted by clients.
  • Proposals must clearly describe the intended approach for referrals to in-Canada settlement supports, demonstrating a comprehensive and equitable process for providing referrals to appropriate services across Canada.

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:

• previous experience delivering pre-arrival services.
• 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).
• GBA Plus in the design, implementation and evaluation of the project(s). Please refer back to the overview of Funding Guidelines for more information on GBA Plus.