Best practices in settlement services
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We fund an extensive network of immigrant service-providing organizations that are able to provide counselling and settlement assistance to newcomers. This section showcases best practices in settlement services to inform organizations, governments and individuals working with newcomers about programs taking place across Canada and around the world. It also aims to promote innovative ways to assist immigrants in their integration into their new communities.
Below you will find best practices that were submitted from selected settlement service-providing organizations. All submissions were considered and assessed using a set of criteria developed by a national panel of settlement experts from immigrant-serving organizations and government.
Select a project type to find an initiative that suits your needs.
Information and orientation
This program provides culturally responsive therapy to immigrant and refugee individuals and families, focusing on issues of war-related trauma as well as on the impact of migration on family, relationships, and parenting issues.
The program provides free pre-departure orientation to Federal Skilled Workers, Provincial Nominees, and their spouses and adult dependants, while they are still overseas during the final stages of the immigration process. It helps immigrants better prepare for economic success by providing information, planning, and online support through partners in Canada.
This pre-departure orientation project is premised on the idea that an individual who migrates to another country has a better chance of successfully adapting to his or her new life when accurate information about the new culture and society is received before arrival.
The Community Airport Newcomers Network (C.A.N.N.) strives to facilitate the pre-settlement of all immigrants arriving in Canada at the Vancouver International Airport by offering individualized reception, orientation, information, and referrals. The one-time service offered at the airport aims to help newcomers gain a better understanding about the first steps to take to settle in Canada by providing them with information and referring them to other organizations. For government-assisted and privately sponsored refugees, the program offers specialized service when required.
The Early Years Refugee Project (EYRP) is a culturally competent early-learning centre tailored to meet the settlement and early childhood developmental needs of refugee children and their families. Its goal is to minimize the impact of the trauma experience that most refugee families experience and to support their children’s development in the Canadian context; facilitating access to resources in the community and helping them feel more welcomed and connected.
As the first place for newcomers to learn about living in Manitoba, the Entry Program provides settlement orientation and an introduction to English language and services in 4 main areas:
- places to go (getting around)
- health
- laws
- employment and education
The 4-week program covers one of these areas each week. For newcomers who already have a good understanding of English and who may not have time for the 4-week program, the express orientation covers all areas in a week.
As a partnership between the Association for New Canadians and the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland, the Gateway Project trains medical students in cross-cultural medicine and engages them in community action while improving access to health care for new Canadians arriving in the province.
The LSP offers a unique and innovative newcomer information service in 11 communities throughout Ontario. This service includes one-on-one settlement information and referrals, group information sessions, and community outreach. Over 60 newcomer settlement workers from 23 agencies work out of the 49 branches of 11 public libraries in communities with high newcomer populations. Services are provided in a variety of languages, based on community needs.
Created in response to the emerging needs of immigrant, refugee, and ethnic minority school children and youth, along with their families, the MLO Program aims for the successful integration of its target population into the Ottawa school system. The program’s service delivery model is based on an original idea taking settlement services to the schools and related places where the client population and other stakeholders are located.
The Newcomer Youth Participation in Sports (NYPS) program bridges newcomer youth, 13 years of age and older, to local sports in the Fredericton community. The project creates an inclusive and supportive environment for the youth to attain the knowledge, resources, skills, and confidence to participate in mainstream sports programming.
Intended for new immigrants settling in Prince Edward Island as well as for institutions serving them, this guide provides basic but comprehensive information about the first steps to take on arrival, essential Canadian documents and how to obtain them, as well as elementary aspects of everyday living in Canada and on the Island. The guide is designed to help newcomers settle easier and faster so that they can enjoy their new environment and participate in society to their full potential.
Ready for School Connects is a school readiness program for newcomer families in downtown Toronto. In partnership with several community organizations, the program identifies immediate settlement issues that affect participants, such as acculturation, language, employment, housing, isolation, and knowledge of and access to resources. The ultimate goal is to prepare the children and their parents for the Canadian school system, starting with kindergarten.
Settlement.Org provides an electronic community where newcomers can get information and resources to settle in Ontario, read relevant news, ask their questions and share their experiences with others, and access a database of community organizations.
Step Ahead is a project designed to assist refugees and immigrants who are facing multiple challenges to their settlement. The hallmark of the project is mobile outreach, whereby settlement counsellors assess referred refugee and immigrant families in their home environment and together, develop action plans to lift specified barriers to their settlement. The project empowers newcomers towards the goals of integration and self-sufficiency through intensive case management.
The Spot is a community drop-in centre for young people aged 13 to 30 years that serves as a safe and welcoming place for children and youth to hang out, participate in after-school programming/drop-in programs, and receive information and referrals about substance use, sexual health, and local youth services.
Language and skills
English Online serves the English-language learning needs of newcomers across Manitoba by linking learners with new and existing English as an Additional Language (EAL) learning resources and helping adult EAL institutions, service organizations, and community groups to develop effective online services for adults. The program grew out of a need for access to EAL learning programs in all regions and communities in Manitoba. Online education was thus identified as a scalable and effective way to address learning challenges for those who cannot take advantage of existing programs due to access barriers, including rural Manitobans.
As the first place for newcomers to learn about living in Manitoba, the Entry Program provides settlement orientation and an introduction to English language and services in 4 main areas:
- places to go (getting around)
- health
- laws
- employment and education
The 4-week program covers one of these areas each week. For newcomers who already have a good understanding of English and who may not have time for the 4-week program, the express orientation covers all areas in a week.
This program provides language training to refugee and immigrant women who are unable to access regular training due to issues related to waiting lists, priority seats, and child care. As part of the program, the itinerant teacher provides weekly tutoring sessions based on the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB).
LINC Home Study is an English-language program for newcomers to Canada seeking to improve their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. It provides permanent residents and Convention refugees—who are 18 years of age and older—with the tools to learn English in their own homes. It is specifically for students who are unable to access regular LINC classes.
The Manitoba Immigrants’ Safety Initiative was developed to prevent injury, death, and workplace-related illness for established and new immigrant workers in Manitoba, by using education. The program was developed to address the unique needs of, and produce health and safety education resources for, immigrant workers, their employers, and a variety of community stakeholders including.
Through employment-specific language training and work-related experiences such as mentoring, volunteering, job placements, and other ways to help newcomers find work, New Brunswick Employment Language Training (NBELT) services help newcomers to more easily and quickly find and keep jobs for which they are qualified.
The Day Centre offers a reception and meeting place where refugee claimants can come to share their experience and break their isolation, and it also provides a wide range of services to foster the integration of refugee claimants into Quebec society.
Saturday school supports the retention and academic success of students from allophone immigrant families who live in the underprivileged neighbourhood of Côte des Neiges in Montréal, Québec.
The program provides free pre-departure orientation to Federal Skilled Workers, Provincial Nominees, and their spouses and adult dependants, while they are still overseas during the final stages of the immigration process. It helps immigrants better prepare for economic success by providing information, planning, and online support through partners in Canada.
Launched in January 2007, the Career Transitions Program for International Medical Doctors (IMDs) is a comprehensive employment preparation program which provides focused training for unemployed or under-employed IMDs in their efforts to gain employment in non-regulated health sector roles.
Windmill Microlending
Windmill Microlending offers low-interest loans of up to $15,000 to help skilled immigrants and refugees get the credentials they need to work in Canada and achieve professional success.
The Manitoba Immigrants’ Safety Initiative was developed to prevent injury, death, and workplace-related illness for established and new immigrant workers in Manitoba, by using education. The program was developed to address the unique needs of, and produce health and safety education resources for, immigrant workers, their employers, and a variety of community stakeholders including.
The Medical Licence Bridging Program for international medical doctors (IMDs) is designed to bridge the gap between the knowledge and skills that IMDs already possess and those they need to become practice-ready in a Canadian medical environment. The program provides training and experience in 4 areas:
- Canadian medical workplace culture
- patient interaction and communication in Canadian medical practice
- training and practice in the objective structured clinical examination
- clinical exposure through observership
This focused training broadens IMDs’ knowledge of Canadian medical practice and improves their success rate as they pursue the Canadian medical licensing exams and residency.
My Way is a 9-month employment program designed for immigrant and refugee women between the ages of 18 to 30 who live in the Saskatoon community. The work placement is intended to give participants real Canadian work experience, provide networking opportunities, and allow them to gain Canadian employment references.
Through employment-specific language training and work-related experiences such as mentoring, volunteering, job placements, and other ways to help newcomers find work, New Brunswick Employment Language Training (NBELT) services help newcomers to more easily and quickly find and keep jobs for which they are qualified.
The Office of the Fairness Commissioner (OFC) assesses the registration practices of 40 regulated professions to make sure that they are transparent, objective, impartial, and fair for anyone applying to practise his or her profession in Ontario.
TRIEC's primary mission is to create and champion solutions to better integrate skilled immigrants in the Greater Toronto Region labour market.
Welcoming communities
DiverseCity onBoard connects qualified candidates from Aboriginal, visible minority, and under-represented immigrant communities to agencies, boards, commissions, and committees in the public and non-profit sectors. In doing so, it works to ensure that the governance bodies of these institutions reflect the diversity of the people who live and work in the Greater Toronto Area.
The Early Years Refugee Project (EYRP) is a culturally competent early-learning centre tailored to meet the settlement and early childhood developmental needs of refugee children and their families. Its goal is to minimize the impact of the trauma experience that most refugee families experience and to support their children’s development in the Canadian context; facilitating access to resources in the community and helping them feel more welcomed and connected.
As a partnership between the Association for New Canadians and the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland, the Gateway Project trains medical students in cross-cultural medicine and engages them in community action while improving access to health care for new Canadians arriving in the province.
This program provides language training to refugee and immigrant women who are unable to access regular training due to issues related to waiting lists, priority seats, and child care. As part of the program, the itinerant teacher provides weekly tutoring sessions based on the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB).
The LSP offers a unique and innovative newcomer information service in 11 communities throughout Ontario. This service includes one-on-one settlement information and referrals, group information sessions, and community outreach. Over 60 newcomer settlement workers from 23 agencies work out of the 49 branches of 11 public libraries in communities with high newcomer populations. Services are provided in a variety of languages, based on community needs.
Created in response to the emerging needs of immigrant, refugee, and ethnic minority school children and youth, along with their families, the MLO Program aims for the successful integration of its target population into the Ottawa school system. The program’s service delivery model is based on an original idea taking settlement services to the schools and related places where the client population and other stakeholders are located.
My Way is a 9-month employment program designed for immigrant and refugee women between the ages of 18 to 30 who live in the Saskatoon community. The work placement is intended to give participants real Canadian work experience, provide networking opportunities, and allow them to gain Canadian employment references.
The Newcomer Youth Participation in Sports (NYPS) program bridges newcomer youth, 13 years of age and older, to local sports in the Fredericton community. The project creates an inclusive and supportive environment for the youth to attain the knowledge, resources, skills, and confidence to participate in mainstream sports programming.
Intended for new immigrants settling in Prince Edward Island as well as for institutions serving them, this guide provides basic but comprehensive information about the first steps to take on arrival, essential Canadian documents and how to obtain them, as well as elementary aspects of everyday living in Canada and on the Island. The guide is designed to help newcomers settle easier and faster so that they can enjoy their new environment and participate in society to their full potential.
The main objective of this project is to support the immigrant- and refugee-serving sector to more effectively serve Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and, additional sexually and gender diverse (2SLGBTQI+) newcomers by identifying safe, positive, and welcoming spaces for them.
The Day Centre offers a reception and meeting place where refugee claimants can come to share their experience and break their isolation, and it also provides a wide range of services to foster the integration of refugee claimants into Quebec society.
Ready for School Connects is a school readiness program for newcomer families in downtown Toronto. In partnership with several community organizations, the program identifies immediate settlement issues that affect participants, such as acculturation, language, employment, housing, isolation, and knowledge of and access to resources. The ultimate goal is to prepare the children and their parents for the Canadian school system, starting with kindergarten.
Saturday school supports the retention and academic success of students from allophone immigrant families who live in the underprivileged neighbourhood of Côte des Neiges in Montréal, Québec.
The Spot is a community drop-in centre for young people aged 13 to 30 years that serves as a safe and welcoming place for children and youth to hang out, participate in after-school programming/drop-in programs, and receive information and referrals about substance use, sexual health, and local youth services.
Policy and program development
MCAP intends to increase the language proficiency, communication skills, and cultural understanding of International Medical Graduates (IMG) for employment within a Canadian medical context.
The Office of the Fairness Commissioner (OFC) assesses the registration practices of 40 regulated professions to make sure that they are transparent, objective, impartial, and fair for anyone applying to practise his or her profession in Ontario.
This is a training and certification program based on occupational competencies determined to be central to best practices in providing settlement and integration support services to newcomers to Canada.
TRIEC's primary mission is to create and champion solutions to better integrate skilled immigrants in the Greater Toronto Region labour market.