Canada’s settlement and resettlement services help newcomers integrate into the Canadian labour market and society, and build a successful life in Canada.
Throughout the pandemic, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has demonstrated adaptability in addressing the needs of newcomers and refugees, by providing funding flexibilities and other supports to settlement service providers, and collaborating closely with federal and provincial/territorial partners.
In recognition of the essential role of the settlement sector, in 2021-22, the Government is investing over $876 million to support the needs of newcomers and refugees. This represents an increase of 5% compared to 2020-21.
The Government is also committed to supporting vulnerable newcomer and refugee populations who have been particularly affected by the pandemic, including through a $15M extension to the Racialized Newcomer women pilot and $2M over 5 years to address gender-based violence.
These investments reflect the Government’s recognition that strong settlement services provide newcomers a solid foothold to contribute to Canada’s economic recovery and to Canadian society in the years to come.
Supplementary messages
Since the onset of the pandemic, my Department continues to work closely with Canada’s well-established network of more than 500 settlement service providers, the private sponsorship community, as well as our provincial/territorial counterparts and other federal departments, to ensure newcomers and refugees are well-supported and that services are adapted to meet their needs in the COVID-19 context.
This extensive network is critical to ensuring that newcomers and refugees receive the supports they need to obtain information, receive language training, or find employment, particularly as newcomers have been heavily impacted by the current pandemic.
Most recently, the settlement sector has been working hard to support 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. They have also been working directly with health authorities to raise awareness of newcomer-specific challenges, including those faced by vulnerable clients who may have low official language or digital literacy skills.
Vulnerable newcomer populations
My Department continues to pay particular attention to tailored services 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.
These tailored services can include short term counselling, peer monitoring, childcare services, translation, interpretation, languages training, and accessibility supports for clients with mobility limitations and disabilities.
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 for the Department 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.
To meet the needs of government-assisted refugees arriving in Canada, the Department has ensured the ongoing delivery of critical Resettlement Assistance Program services, such as temporary accommodation and orientation services, while meeting public health requirements. In addition, government-assisted refugees and other vulnerable newcomers continue to be provided with settlement support, to build independence and gain access to services that facilitate their integration.
Flexibility in settlement program delivery
In response to the pandemic, the settlement and integration sector rapidly adjusted to local health guidelines by shifting the delivery of most in-person services to alternative delivery modes, either by phone or multiple virtual formats. As a result, any in-person services offered by service providers will vary depending on their location and the current guidelines in effect.
Key steps taken early on to lessen administrative pressures on service providers, such as extending the validity period of language assessment results from one to two years and introducing protocols for online assessments, which contributed to reduced backlogs and facilitated clients’ continued access to available language training.
My Department has also provided funding flexibilities to allow service providers to purchase additional cell phones or laptops for staff and client use, to support remote settlement service access.
Health, safety and security of newcomers and frontline employees
Early in the pandemic, the Department acquired personal protective equipment for distribution to service provider organizations providing in-person services. We continue to allow service providers to use their Department-issued funding to purchase personal protective equipment to support the resumption of in-person services in accordance with public health guidelines.
The Department has worked to facilitate access to care during the pandemic by aligning Interim Federal Health Program benefits with provincial and territorial programs, as well as with Public Health Agency of Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada and Finance Canada to ensure that information is available in the most widely-spoken newcomer languages, addressing barriers to the access of up-to-date information related to COVID-19.
My Department has also worked with Service Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency to provide information on federal benefits to settlement agency frontline workers to help newcomers and refugees navigate the various benefits available.
Ongoing engagement with settlement agencies, provinces and territories
My officials and I have been in regular communication with settlement sector representatives through the National Settlement and Integration Council to update the sector on COVID-19 related information. This also provides an opportunity for the sector to raise concerns and engage in discussions.
My Department has been working very closely with the provinces and territories to coordinate responses to the challenges faced by the settlement sector during COVID-19, so that we can align services and meet the needs of diverse newcomer and refugee population groups.
As part of broader and ongoing federal engagement with the settlement sector, my Department and Canadian Heritage held a virtual town hall on the topic of anti-racism and newcomers. This event brought together over 600 immigrant-serving agencies across Canada to discuss the ways in which the settlement sector can support efforts to combat systemic racism as Canada emerges from COVID-19.
Supporting facts and figures
As of 2020-2021, IRCC provides funding to more than 500 settlement service provider organizations across Canada (excluding Quebec) to deliver pre- and post-arrival direct and indirect settlement services, including close to 80 Francophone organizations.
In recognition of these essential services, in 2021-2022, the Government is investing $876.6 million to support the settlement needs of newcomers (outside of Quebec). This represents an increase of 5% compared to 2020-2021, to help keep pace with rising immigration levels.
In 2019-2020, nearly 550,000 clients accessed at least one settlement service. While the number of individual clients accessing settlement services generally increases each year, as anticipated, 2020-2021 saw fewer clients, due to the decrease in immigration landings. However, demand on service providers has remained high, owing to the elevated costs and challenges of delivering services in the pandemic context.
Background
In early 2020, IRCC was in the midst of finalizing the largest Calls for Proposals in the history of the Department – over 730 five-year contribution agreements, worth more than $4B, with over 500 service providers. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, IRCC successfully finalized agreements remotely using electronic processing tools.
At the onset of the pandemic, IRCC advised service providers to suspend all non-essential services to focus on providing critical services to clients facing complex barriers. They were also encouraged to provide non-critical services by alternate means, such as virtual delivery, where possible. Updated guidance on service resumption was shared with service provider organizations in June 2020.
Information and orientation
The Department has prioritized the creation and distribution of health-related information for the settlement sector and newcomers. IRCC has updated its pre-arrival and in-Canada settlement-related webpages to ensure newcomers are able to access both in-person and virtual settlement services in the COVID-19 context.
A factsheet on resettling to Canada during the pandemic has been posted on IRCC’s COVID-19 webpage. Developed in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the International Organization for Migration, it is being distributed to refugees resettling to Canada and is translated into multiple languages.
The International Organization for Migration continues to deliver briefings to refugees by phone, and in-person services where possible, providing information on travel to Canada, how to protect themselves and their families, and what to expect on arrival in Canada. These briefings are delivered in the refugees’ primary language, either by the facilitator or with the assistance of a translator.
Settlement Program eligibility
Permanent residents and protected persons are eligible for federally-funded settlement services. The federal government does not generally fund settlement services for temporary residents. However, in the context of certain immigration pilot programs, such as the Atlantic Immigration Pilot and the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, certain limited supports are available to temporary residents who have been selected and are on a pathway to permanent residence.
A number of provinces and territories (PTs), and stakeholders, have called for increased federal settlement funding for temporary residents. With PTs, the Department has launched joint work to assess these service needs, which has shown that many PTs fund and offer certain settlement supports for some temporary resident cohorts, such as international students and temporary workers, in addition to funding mainstream health and social services. Both levels of government have agreed to further develop the evidence base around service gaps, including the impacts and outcomes of existing services.
