DANISH PARLIMENTARIANS

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CANADAS INTEGRATION PROGRAMS

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CANADAS INTEGRATION PROGRAMS

• Rick Herringer
• Director, Resettlement
• Refugees Branch, CIC

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INTEGRATION AND PARTNERSHIPS

• Partnership is essential to achieving effective
  results in the integration of newcomers to
  Canada.
• Partnership with Provinces
• certain provinces have assumed responsibility
  for the design, administration and
• delivery of settlement programs and services,
  with federal funding
• Partnership with private and non-profit sectors
• in the remainder of the provinces, settlement
  programs and services are administered
• by CIC and delivered through a network of CIC
  offices, community organizations,
• educational institutions and the private sector
• Private sponsors and Hosts
• members of the public work with the
  Department to assist in settlement of newcomers

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EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENT AND RESETTLEMENT PROGRAMS

• Two early movements
• Self-help movement AND Philanthropic/voluntary
  sector movement
• Government takes responsibility
• 1948 Order-in-Council
• 1950 Creation of Citizenship and Immigration
• Refugee movements
• Post WWII European refugees
• Mid 1950s Hungary
• 1970s Uganda, Chile, Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos
• Federal Immigrant Integration Strategy
• Placed new emphasis on helping immigrants learn
  about Canadian values and on helping Canadians
  understand diversity
• Additional funds for existing programs and new
  initiatives

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CHALLENGES TO IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION

• Recent immigrants lack occupation-specific
  language skills and networks
• Statistics show many immigrants earning less
  than their Canadian peers
• Barriers include foreign credential
  recognition, lack of social networks, and
  discrimination

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ADDITIONAL CHALLENGES FOR REFUGEES

• In-Canada
• Lengthy and complex refugee determination system.
• Resettled Refugees
• Changing refugee profile
• 1998 66 from Eastern Europe and 11 from Africa
• 2004 40 from Africa and 2 from Eastern Europe
• Impact
• Weaker settlement potential
• More health problems
• Requirement for more supports and assistance
• Strain on current funding levels

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THE RESETTLEMENT/SETTLEMENT CONTINUUM FIRST
YEAR IN CANADA

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IMMIGRANT LOANS PROGRAM (ILP)

• EVOLUTION
• Began in 1951 to assist refugees and immigrants
  leaving Europe and seeking resettlement in
  Canada.
• WHAT IS IT?
• Provides financial assistance to refugees to
  cover the costs of medical examinations,
  transportation to Canada, as well as certain
  costs of entering the labour market such as
  equivalency exams, required tools or licensing
  costs.
• Loans to refugees have a grace period from
  interest of between 1-3 years depending on the
  size of the loan.
• WHY DOES CANADA FUND IT?
• To provide low cost assistance to refugees who
  would not be able to access other forms of
  credit.

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RESETTLEMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (RAP)

• EVOLUTION
• Formerly the Adjustment Assistance Program, began
  in 1951 to assist refugees and immigrants coming
  out of Europe
• RAP replaced the Adjustment Assistance Program in
  1994
• WHAT IS IT?
• Available only to government-assisted refugees.
• Provides income support for up to one year (80
  of budget) and immediate/essential services (20
  of budget).
• In special cases, income support can be provided
  up to two years.
• WHY DOES CANADA FUND IT?
• Supports Canadas humanitarian tradition.
• Canada recognizes that refugees require
  additional assistance to become integrated.

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PRIVATE SPONSORSHIP OF REFUGEES (PSR) PROGRAM

• EVOLUTION
• Evolved out of the overwhelming public support to
  assist in the Indochinese refugee movement which
  began in the late 1970s.
• WHAT IS IT?
• Provides an opportunity for Canadian citizens and
  permanent residents (sponsors) to assist in the
  resettlement of refugees from abroad.
• Sponsors provide settlement assistance, both
  financial and emotional, to the refugees for up
  to one year.
• 94 Sponsorship Agreement Holders make up 85 of
  all sponsorships.
• WHY DOES CANADA FUND IT?
• Recognizes that Canadians play an important role
  in the resettlement of refugees.
• Provides voluntary sector with additional
  opportunities to assist refugees over and above
  support given by government through the RAP.

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INTERIM FEDERAL HEALTH PROGRAM (IFH)

• EVOLUTION
• Came into existence in 1957
• Originally intended to address the impact of the
  sudden influx of Hungarian refugees who had
  limited access to health care
• WHAT IS IT?
• Humanitarian program
• Almost exclusively limited to refugee asylum
  claimants and refugees selected abroad.
• A program to provide temporary health care
  coverage to those who are not eligible for
  provincial healthcare.
• Provides emergency and essential health care and
  dental coverage to individuals who lack financial
  resources.
• WHY DOES CANADA FUND IT?
• To ensure that newcomers are healthy and able to
  function in society

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LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION FOR NEWCOMERS (LINC)

• EVOLUTION
• LINC was officially launched in 1992 as part of
  the Federal Immigrant Integration Strategy
• CIC now spends approximately 80 of its
  settlement budget on LINC
• WHAT IS IT?
• Delivered by Service Providing Organizations
  (SPOs)
• Provides basic language instruction to adult
  newcomers in one of Canadas two official
  languages as soon as possible after arrival.
• WHY DOES CANADA FUND IT?
• English and French are Canadas two working
  languages
• Language ability has been determined to be the
  major factor in successful integration.

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IMMIGRANT SETTLEMENT AND ADAPTATION PROGRAM (ISAP)

• EVOLUTION
• Began in 1974 as a funding mechanism for
  voluntary agencies to provide settlement
  assistance.
• Recently expanded to include Enhanced Language
  Training.
• CIC spends approximately 18 of its settlement
  budget on ISAP.
• WHAT IS IT?
• Delivered by Service Provider Organizations
  (SPOSs)
• Direct, essential services are delivered to
  newcomers, including reception and orientation,
  interpretation/translation, solution-focused
  counselling and referral to community resources.
• Indirect, providing support to the SPOs ,
  including research, professional development and
  resources/tools to facilitate their work.
• WHY DOES CANADA FUND IT?
• Facilitate adaptation, settlement and
  integration.

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HOST PROGRAM

• EVOLUTION
• Piloted in 1984
• CIC spends approximately 2 of its settlement
  budget on HOST.
• WHAT IS IT?
• Volunteer based, win-win program
• Recruitment, training, matching of individual
  volunteers who spend time with newcomers to
  assist them in overcoming the stress of moving to
  a new country.
• Volunteers can also assist in learning about
  available services, practising their official
  language skills, searching for employment, and
  participating in community activities.
• WHY DOES CANADA FUND IT?
• Individual newcomers will develop confidence in
  unfamiliar surroundings and thus be able to
  contribute to their own self-sufficiency sooner.

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EVOLVING DYNAMICS

• Major cities soon dominated by newcomers
• Multiculturalism perceived as a positive
  reality by the majority
• Challenges prevail
• Diversity is evolving, as are we

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EQUALITY OF OUTCOMES

• Address gaps in immigrant outcomes through
• Labour market initiatives
• Address discrimination barriers
• Outreach
• Nurture multi-tiered partnership - NGOs,
  communities, schools, employers, private sector,
  other levels of government, global connections

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CONCLUSION

• More needs to be done
• New Directions