IRCC Deputy Minister Transition Binder 2024 – Settlement and Resettlement

Program Purpose

The Government of Canada funds the Settlement and resettlement assistance programs consistent with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act objective to promote the successful integration of newcomers into Canada, while recognizing that integration involves mutual obligations for new immigrants and Canadian society

Program Context

Settlement and Integration is an essential part of Canada’s immigration continuum, broad in scope and footprint

• The Settlement Program provides settlement supports to permanent residents, and other eligible clients to facilitate participation in the Canadian economy and society.
• The Resettlement Assistance Program provides support for immediate and essential needs for Government-Assisted Refugees and other eligible clients.
• The Francophone Integration Pathway supports the integration of French-speaking newcomers and helps to ensures the vitality of Francophone official language minority communities outside of Quebec.
• In recent years, settlement and resettlement resources have been leveraged to support temporary residents as well as permanent residents, through emergency humanitarian initiatives (e.g., Ukraine, Afghanistan, Gaza). However, these program expansions have created strain on the sector, including on service provider organizations, due to high volumes and the need to ramp up quickly.

The settlement Program

Represents most of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) Grants and Contributions budget:

• 2023-2024: $1.1B in Settlement Authorities (outside of Quebec); annual grant to Quebec is $726.7M in 2023-2024.
• Funding envelopes have allowed significant flexibility to respond to newcomer needs and government priorities. However, recent increases in volumes of clients and more complex needs are creating strain.

Allows IRCC to support newcomers as they settle and integrate:

• Over 550 IRCC-funded service providers across Canada (outside Quebec) offer settlement services and supports.
• In 2022-2023, 680,000 unique clients accessed at least one settlement service.

Eligible clients may access a full suite of high-quality services including:

• Pre-arrival services: Helps newcomers plan and prepare to live and work in Canada in advance of their arrival.
• Needs & assets assessment & referral services: Thorough assessment to refer newcomers to the right community/settlement services.
• Information and orientation: Timely information to help newcomers make informed choices about life in Canada.
• Language training: Tailored and structured English or French training to integrate newcomers into communities and the labour market.
• Employment-related services: Supports to prepare newcomers for the workforce and create links with employers.
• Community connections: Building bridges between newcomers and their communities to create welcoming communities and a sense of belonging, promoting retention.
• Support services: Child care, transport, translation/interpretation, short-term counselling and provisions for disabilities, to remove barriers and increase equitable access.
• Indirect services: a number of partners work within their communities to mobilize various actors (e.g. employers, municipalities, health services, etc.) that strengthen the settlement sector and support newcomers’ overall transition into their new communities.

Settlement in Canada is a whole-of-society endeavour:

• Engagement with provincial/territorial and municipal governments and civil society actors who provide services to newcomers.
• IRCC also collaborates with other federal partners and employers to support successful settlement.

The Resettlement Assistance Program

Given their unique circumstances, government-assisted refugees and other eligible clients are supported by the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) upon their arrival in Canada and are also eligible to receive the full suite of settlement programs.

Immediate and essential services:

• Port of entry services (reception at airport)
• Temporary accommodations upon arrival
• Assistance finding permanent accommodations
• Support to register for federal and provincial programs (Canada Child Benefit, etc.)
• Needs and assets assessments and referrals to settlement and other community services
• Financial and non-financial information and orientation sessions

Direct financial support:

• Initial start-up costs of setting up a home
• Income support for up to 12 months (or 24 months for high-needs cases)

Support to francophone immigration and mass arrivals

Francophone immigration:

• The Francophone Integration Pathway will advance IRCC’s new Francophone Immigration Policy, including: setting new targets for the arrival of French-speaking immigrants outside Quebec; supporting the successful integration and retention of French-speaking newcomers; and building the capacity of communities of Francophone minority communities outside of Quebec.

Mass arrivals:

• The Settlement and Resettlement Assistance Programs have been used to support mass arrivals from Ukraine, Afghanistan, and the Americas; however, a number of ad hoc program modifications have been required, which are outside the current programs’ mandate. To better respond to future crises, the Department has committed to developing a Crisis Response Framework, which would include improved tools for supporting settlement needs of crisis cohorts. This was an outcome of the Strategic Immigration Review exercise.

Current status

Successful integration in Canada is demonstrated in economic outcomes as well as in social integration and public support

The Settlement Program is supported by a robust system to measure and report on results, including data from service providers (iCare), Newcomer Outcome Surveys, and the Settlement Outcomes Report.

Contributing to economic growth: High education rates and strong labour market presence (e.g. 75% of settlement program clients are working).

Strong social/civic integration: Voting, volunteering and charitable giving comparable to Canadians (e.g. 24% of clients have recently volunteered).

Sense of belonging: High reported levels among newcomers who feel a sense of belonging (e.g. 90% of newcomers reported they had a strong sense of belonging to Canada).

Continued public support: Canadians continue to show support for immigration, although recent public opinion research suggests increasing concern with impacts on housing and social services.

The Settlement Program has been evolving with the changing immigration landscape

The foundation of the program is solid, but a shifting immigration and settlement delivery context requires us to adapt our current approach.

Key drivers:

• Significant capacity pressures on service provider organizations due to high volumes of arrivals, including from areas of global crisis (e.g. Ukraine, Afghanistan, the Americas).
• Greater prevalence of multi-step immigration and temporary resident-to-permanent resident transitions, as well as increasing pressure to expand settlement supports to all temporary residents.
• Novel responses to facilitate emergency humanitarian arrivals, including on a temporary basis (e.g. Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel, Gaza public policy).
• Lingering effects of the pandemic on service provider organizations and newcomers (e.g. staff recruitment and retention, transition to digital and remote service delivery).
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Major impacts:

• Changing client needs, including more complex needs from refugees (e.g. mental health).
• Downstream pressures on social services and infrastructure (e.g. housing).
• Strain on sector capacity to keep pace with volume, timing and complexity of arrivals.
• Challenges for settlement provider organizations to attract and retain staff.

Looking Ahead

The 2024 Call for Proposals is an opportunity to support eligible newcomers in the years ahead

The current 2024 Call for Proposals for the Settlement Program and Resettlement Assistance Program provides an opportunity to set direction for five years of funding between 2025 and 2030. It will position the programs to adapt to these new challenges in the following ways:

• Increasing availability of digital services, where appropriate, and expanded reach outside large urban centres.
• Improving services for newcomers facing barriers to integration (including racialized newcomers, 2SLGBTQI+ newcomers, and newcomers with disabilities) and Francophone newcomers.
• Encouraging partnerships between service provider organizations, improving coordination and consistency of service across the country.

Key Milestones For (Re)Settlement Call For Proposals

• November 2023-January 2024: Call For Proposals funding application period.
• February 2024: Assessment period begins.
• March 2025: Agreements signed.

Key Takeaways

• The successful settlement and integration of newcomers is critical to maintaining public support for immigration.
• Funding envelopes and a third party delivery model have ensured that the Settlement Program is nimble and responsive, with the ability to direct funding and programming to government priorities as they evolve.
• The program is already adapting to new realities. The 2024 Call for Proposals will capitalize on opportunities to further improve service delivery and respond to the evolving needs of newcomers. In addition, the development of a Crisis Response Framework will provide new tools to support Canada’s immigration responses to global crises.