CANADA INVESTS $100 million to support newcomers’ integration

Image credit: News Canada

Settlement services are crucial to a newcomer’s success in Canada. They help new Canadians get work, learn English or French, find a place to live and, more broadly, succeed in this country.

With the pandemic exacerbating the already challenging process of beginning a new life in a new land, settlement services have never been more critical. To help ensure that all newcomers have access to the support they need, Marco Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced an investment of $100 million over the next three years to improve the way newcomers access settlement services through the service delivery improvements (SDI) process.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) launched the SDI 2020 funding process in 2020 to 2021. As a result of this process, 78 projects have been selected. These projects will explore how to better integrate newcomers in their new communities and support the settlement sector as it recovers from the pandemic. For example:

• The University of Windsor’s Artificial Intelligence: A Rapid Response Leveraging Newcomers’ Pathway to Settlement will test whether artificial intelligence can be used to develop an effective settlement strategy for newcomers.

• The Accessible Community Counselling and Employment Services’ Connecting Canada: Employer Engagement Driving Settlement in Smaller Communities will test whether connecting newcomers with employers in smaller urban and rural communities before they arrive will lead to more newcomers choosing to settle there.

• S.U.C.C.E.S.S. An anti-oppression framework to combat systemic racism in immigrant services will explore service approaches designed with an anti-oppression framework.

Throughout the pandemic, many settlement services have moved online. SDI funding will help IRCC determine the kinds of services newcomers need, while taking into account the increased reliance on online service delivery.

“Settlement services play a fundamental role in Canada’s immigration system,” said Mendicino. “From work to housing to language training, they set newcomers up for success. During this challenging year and a half, I think it’s safe to say everyone has needed support in some form or another. One can only begin to imagine the additional hurdles this pandemic has presented newcomers trying to start their lives in Canada. These new SDI projects will help us enhance and improve settlement services so every newcomer can reach their full potential here.” A few quick facts:

• Since 2017, SDI projects have centred on developing innovative approaches to better support the settlement and integration of newcomers.

• Funding will begin in the fall of 2021 and run until March 31, 2024.