Canada’s settlement services help newcomers integrate into the Canadian labour market and society, and build a successful life in Canada.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) Settlement Program is well-positioned to continue to address the needs of newcomers, including refugees arriving from Afghanistan, as Canada recovers from the pandemic.
In 2021-2022, the Government is investing approximately $923M to support the settlement and integration of newcomers to Canada (outside of Quebec, which is covered by a separate agreement).
This investment reflects the Government’s recognition that strong settlement services provide newcomers a solid foothold to contribute to Canadian society in the years to come.
Supplementary Messages
My Department continues to work closely with Canada’s well-established network of more than 550 third-party settlement service providers, the private sponsorship community, Francophone minority communities, as well as our provincial/territorial counterparts and other federal departments, to ensure that newcomers are well-supported and that services continue to meet their needs.
The extensive network of service providers is critical to ensure that newcomers receive the supports they need. This includes services like language training, help finding employment, and finding connections in communities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on newcomers, including racialized newcomers. This has worsened or created new economic and social integration hurdles. Settlement services will play a key role to support an inclusive pandemic recovery.
Additional supports for government-assisted refugees
To meet the unique needs of government-assisted refugees arriving in Canada, including those from Afghanistan, the Department continues to ensure the ongoing delivery of critical Resettlement Assistance Program services.
Third-party service provider organizations ensure that resettled refugees have access to immediate and essential services upon arrival in Canada, such as temporary accommodation, orientation services, and income support.
These dedicated supports are offered to resettled refugees through their first year in Canada, after which time they continue to remain eligible for broader services under the Settlement Program.
Targeted supports for newcomers facing additional barriers
My Department provides funding to settlement provider organizations to deliver tailored services to newcomers 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 include in-school programming, peer mentoring, LGBTQ2 settlement supports focused on newcomer youth, women’s only language classes and conversation circles for seniors. Support services such as childcare, translation, interpretation, transportation, short-term counselling, and services for newcomers with disabilities also facilitate access.
Anti-racism activities
My Department is also committed to examining its programs and policies in support of broader government anti-racism efforts, including within the Settlement Program.
My Department has issued a value statement on anti-racism highlighting the importance of examining its own practices in relation to racialized employees and to programs affecting newcomers.
For Canada’s Settlement Program, this means showing accountability under four pillars:
decreasing clients’ experience of racism within settlement programming;
improving IRCC policy directions related to anti-racism;
enhancing the anti-racism capacities of the settlement sector;
increasing connections between newcomers, all Canadians, and Indigenous populations.
My Department will do this by:
exploring what we already know, including assessing race-disaggregated survey data on clients in comparison to non-clients to learn more about their respective settlement outcomes and help identify potential areas for programming improvements;
learning through engagement with service providers and newcomers themselves, to gain knowledge on racialized clients’ experiences with settlement programming and where service providers may need additional capacity to deliver culturally appropriate services; and,
acting upon what we learn to improve settlement programming for racialized clients through future calls for funding proposals from service providers.
It is critically important to my Department to measure the outcomes of anti-racism initiatives and assess the effectiveness of any changes that are made to IRCC-funded settlement programming.
A 2020 expression of interest process under the Settlement Program’s Service Delivery Improvement fund included a priority on anti-racism. Through these new projects, my Department will support the settlement sector in integrating anti-racism practices in their workplaces and programming.
Youth Employment and Skills Strategy
Through the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS), the Government is committed to helping youth, particularly those facing barriers to employment, to obtain the information, skills, and work experience needed to successfully transition into the labour market and to help drive growth and innovation.
In 2022-2023, my Department will join Employment and Social Development Canada and ten other federal departments, agencies and Crown Corporations, as the newest YESS partner to deliver programming to support youth labour market integration.
The Fall Economic Statement 2020 announced funding of $1.05M (including $0.1M for Public Services and Procurement Canada and Shared Services Canada) in 2021-2022, and Budget 2021 announced funding of $15.82M (including $0.1M for Public Services and Procurement Canada and Shared Services Canada) in 2022-2023 for this initiative.
Specifically, my Department will support YESS program objectives by funding targeted settlement supports that help youth navigate the labour market, such as employment preparation training services, facilitate work placements, retention support for newcomer youth and employers, and support services.
Gender-based violence
Many settlement service provider organizations across Canada deliver programming to help address gender-based violence (GBV), which disproportionately impacts women and which has increased during the pandemic. In response, the Department has issued guidance to organizations to continue providing GBV resources and supports to newcomers as an essential service.
Under Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-based Violence announced in 2017, IRCC received $1.5M to enhance the Settlement Program and work with settlement sector organizations to further increase supports and resources for newcomers experiencing family and gender-based violence.
Budget 2021 included an additional $2M in funding for five years for the Department to continue to build settlement sector capacity on gender-based violence. This includes training for front-line settlement workers to identify abuse and provide support, and strengthening collaboration between the settlement and anti-violence sectors.
Housing affordability and availability for newcomers
The Government recognizes that housing affordability and availability are challenges for Canadians and newcomers alike.
For newcomers, housing is a key component in their successful settlement and integration, which allows them to achieve the long-term social and economic benefits of immigration.
The importance of affordable housing has been brought into sharp focus with our efforts to resettle Afghan refugees. In collaboration with resettlement service providers in communities across Canada, as well as federal and provincial partners, my Department will support ongoing work to address current housing challenges.
Supporting Facts and Figures
The Department funds more than 550 settlement service provider organizations across Canada (excluding Quebec, where services are determined by the Canada-Quebec Accord) to deliver high-quality services to help newcomers, settle and integrate into their new communities.
To support the vitality and development of Francophone minority communities outside Quebec, the Department implemented the Francophone Integration Pathway which aims to strengthen settlement services offered to French-speaking newcomers by Francophone organizations. Funding is provided to close to 80 Francophone organizations to support the integration of French-speaking newcomers.
In 2020-2021, nearly 380,000 clients accessed at least one settlement service.
In 2020-2021, 31% fewer clients used settlement services, attributed to the 46% decrease in permanent resident admissions compared to 2019-2020 in light of pandemic restrictions. Despite the decrease in clients, the demand on service provider organizations has remained high, due to the challenges of delivering services in a pandemic context.
Current figures for 2021-2022 indicate increased demand for settlement services from newcomers compared to the same period last year.
Background
Overseas and in Canada, the Department’s Settlement Program funds third-party delivery partners to offer newcomers services in French or English such as information and orientation prior to, and after, arrival in Canada; language training; employment-related services; find community connections; and support services such as childcare, transportation, translation/interpretation, short-term counselling, and provision of services for newcomers with disabilities to increase equitable access.
Settlement Program eligibility
All permanent residents and protected persons, outside of Quebec, are eligible for federally-funded settlement services until they become Canadian citizens.
Government-assisted refugees are eligible for immediate and essential supports through the Resettlement Assistance Program, including: being greeted at the airport upon arrival in Canada, temporary housing and help to find permanent housing, help to register for mandatory federal and provincial programs, orientation to community services, and income support, including a one-time household start-up allowance and monthly income support payments.
Financial support can last up to one year after a government-assisted refugee arrives in Canada, or until they can support themselves, whichever occurs first.
In the case of temporary residents, the federal government does not generally fund settlement services. However, in the context of certain immigration programs and pilots, such as the Atlantic Immigration Program 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.
In addition, individuals in Canada with temporary status may be eligible to receive services from other funders who play a key role in selecting and supporting temporary residents. For example, other levels of government, community organizations, and post-secondary institutions may fund and deliver integration supports for various temporary resident populations.
A number of provinces and territories, as well as other stakeholders, have called for the extension of federal settlement supports to some sub-populations of temporary residents. As a result, the Department has launched joint work with the provinces and territories to assess the current service landscape for temporary residents, including the impacts of existing services.
