Canada has long been a welcoming country for immigrants from around the world. This year’s ambitious target of welcoming 465,000 immigrants is a testament to the country’s commitment to not only its economy but also to its demographic makeup. The country’s functional system of immigration and integration of newcomers is designed to meet the nation’s social, economic, cultural, and humanitarian needs.
One of the main factors in Canada’s success in settling newcomers into the country has been its robust settlement services. Managed at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels, these services are free and are designed to help newcomers navigate their new lives in Canada.
These services cover a wide range of areas, including needs assessments, information, and orientation services, language training, employment help, and community connection services. Settlement services in Canada are available to permanent residents, protected persons, and some temporary residents of Canada.
It’s important to note that Quebec settlement services operate their own immigration programs, which means settlement services for new immigrants to the province are handled separately. In addition, the Canadian government also runs a separate program for refugees known as the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP).
The settlement services in Canada are designed to ensure that newcomers are enabled to live their best lives in the country while also aiding their ability to contribute economically, socially, and culturally. The goal is to help them integrate into Canadian society smoothly, so they can start contributing to their new communities as soon as possible.
Services Available to New Immigrants to Canada
Settlement services can be broadly categorized as help with daily life, finding a job, preparing for the citizenship test, finding a mentor as a newcomer, language assessments and general language training, job-specific language training, specific services for refugees, women, seniors, youth, and other services.
Newcomers can access these services through Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which has compiled these services into a useful tool that filters search results by postal code to find the closest available services. The tool also covers specific settlement programs for women, seniors, and youth IRCC-funded websites like Compass to Connect also provide easy-to-search directories of settlement services and announcements of upcoming events and workshops for newcomers.
The efficacy of settlement services for newcomers has been studied by the Canadian government, which spends approximately $2 billion dollars annually on these services. The study found that 85% of clients referred to settlement services reported being able to access services without difficulty. The majority of newcomers (95%) who received settlement services found them useful, with an average of 89.5% of newcomers reporting self-improvement in language skills.
Approximately 78% of newcomers who received employment-related services reported that settlement services helped them prepare for the Canadian labour market.
Additionally, 61% of newcomers who received community connection settlement services felt that those services helped them meet people they now consider close friends. Further, 92% of newcomers agreed that their community was welcoming of newcomers, with 90% having a strong sense of belonging to Canada.
In conclusion, Canada’s immigration target is ambitious, but the country’s settlement services for newcomers are designed to help them adjust to their new life and enable them to contribute economically, socially, and culturally. Newcomers should take advantage of these services to ensure a smooth transition into their new home