IRCC must expand settlement services for temporary residents at the request of settlement providers. The department recently officially revealed the key findings of the 2024 CFP Stakeholders Consultations.
To begin with, IRCC assists new immigrants in settling conveniently in Canada through the Settlement Program and the Resettlement Assistance. This department collaborates with Canadian organizations to make sure that these newcomers get the help they need.
Settlement Programs and CFP
Besides this, the department also manages the funding for various such programs. CFP, or Call For Proposals, assists the department in developing the settlement or resettlement programs that mainly affect new immigrants.
Those programs that have the maximum influence will receive increased funding distribution. The primary aim of these consultations was that IRCC would be able to attain feedback from these settlement programs. The feedback will be regarding the expected changes for CFP 2024.
Typically, the Canadian government contributes $2 billion CAD on settlement services annually. This amount also includes the separate allocation to Quebec. IRCC takes assistance from Service Provider Organizations and other firms that have no funding from it. It also consults officials from provincial or territorial governments to comprehend how it provides further assistance.
The services under the settlement programs include informing newcomers about language training, employment, housing, and referrals. This also indicates that Canada is ready to welcome 500,000 new permanent residents annually toward the end of 2025.
However, with the forthcoming 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan, the above figure is likely to change. This new information will become official only on November 1 this year.
These consultations comprised 1,187 participants and were supposed to provide feedback on the department’s priorities. They had to give their reviews on the things that were working well in the settlement and resettlement sectors. Also, they had to tell if there was any scope for improvement.
These key findings were compiled through seven different webinars. Besides the general feedback, IRCC wanted feedback on the 2024 CFP priority areas. These are as follows:
- Innovation or Outcomes
- Right Clients
- Francophone Integration Pathway
- Right Time
- Right Clients
IRCC must expand settlement services for temporary residents – Which areas need improvement?
Participants claimed that IRCC deeply required to expand the eligibility of settlement services for temporary residents who wished to attain Permanent Residence. This also implies Temporary Foreign Workers and International Students.
Typically, the IRCC-funded settlement services are more helpful toward permanent residents, their dependents, spouses, and even asylum claimants who have been approved.
According to Statistics Canada’s latest report, Canada’s total population of temporary residents accounts for 2.2 million.
Marc Miller, Canada’s Immigration Minister, anticipated that nearly 90,000 international students would emerge in the country toward 2023. He further stated that almost 1.4 million people were already residing in Canada with a work permit.
Canada’s government showed its support toward the Ukrainians who arrived here as temporary residents through the CUAET program. As a result, extending the settlement services to temporary residents will be possible. Additionally, even the temporary residents under the Atlantic Immigration Program shall be able to access this support.
Furthermore, the reports also claim that participants during each webinar pointed out their difficulties in welcoming and retaining eligible staff. They even stated that enhanced mental health support must be available to staff and customers. The staff must get additional training so that they can comprehend when the new immigrants are facing mental health issues. This must be the case for refugees so they can get advanced evaluation.
For instance, participants also discussed that they required a centralized process to ensure newcomers know about the settlement services they can access. This includes their beginning journey as a newcomer and the rest of their immigration experience. A few participants also stated that this evaluation must be continuous and not just in the initial phase.
Additionally, participants even requested IRCC to make the funding administration more flexible to enable SPOs to align with the client’s requirements. This flexibility will permit providers to align with the urgent and short-term requirements. This also implies not having to wait for the upcoming five-year funding cycle to start over.
The report suggests more emphasis on client impact and successes
The participants also claimed that the reporting primarily focuses on quantitative metrics and less on client impact and achievements. Further, they also discussed that indirect services consist of positive advantages. However, these benefits are not a part of the iCARE, which assists the settlement services delivery. This platform also looks into the service outcomes and activities and their evaluation.
SPOs that aren’t big enough usually don’t consist of an HR department that can contribute extra time for reporting and data collection. However, participants insisted on observing a less rigid and dynamic database. Hence, they can access the client’s data and use it accordingly.
Canada’s different regions have separate requirements
The report elaborates that Canada’s different regions have separate requirements to assist newcomers. If we talk of Atlantic Canada, the outside areas of the cities lack transportation facilities and new immigrants largely rely on volunteers. They have to use their help to fulfill their basic necessities, such as searching for a place to live or buying everyday stuff. However, IRCC doesn’t permit these SPOs to use their funding to reimburse volunteers who are helping the newcomers for transportation.
These SPOs in Ontario seek more partnerships with other organizations. They ask for a referral increase between service providers. This is an additional requirement apart from the flexible and limited funding to effectively look into crises while handling routine work.
IRCC also comprises a tool to assist new immigrants in searching for nearby services available to them. However, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories demand an app creation that will assist clients effortlessly. This app would make locating settlement services simpler and get easier referrals.
IRCC’s successful efforts in assisting SPOs
The report even suggests that IRCC also successfully helped SPOs, with the participants claiming a higher level of partnership between the government and organizations. They even claimed that several services were easily accessible even outside business hours in single locations.
Furthermore, they reiterated that the organizations even successfully provided personalized, culturally-inclined services to newcomers. This includes mental health services to refugees, along with better service delivery to Francophone new immigrants. The service delivery worked with a “by and for” approach.
If you seek information on how to begin your Canada immigration application process, you can talk to our MakeHomeCanada experts at 1-800-979-0509, or you can drop us an email at [email protected].
