Settlement and Integration of Newcomers and Refugees in Canada

1. Settlement and Integration of Newcomers and Refugees in Canada Citizenship and Immigration Canada Regional Conference on Migration November 11-12, 2015

2. Canada’s Managed Migration and Integration Model • Ethno-cultural diversity is a defining feature of the Canadian landscape • Strong public support for immigration as having net positive benefits for Canada • Business view of immigration as national strategic asset • Political discourse on immigration is positive • Managed integration model with broad involvement of societal actors

3. Successful immigrant integration in Canada hinges upon an inclusive, two-way model of adaptation that engages a wide array of actors WELCOMING SOCIETY Employers Regulatory Bodies Professional Associations Educational /Public Institutions Service Provider Organizations Established Canadians • Citizenship • Multiculturalism • Employment Equity • Canadian Human Rights Act • Charter of Rights and Freedoms INCLUSIVE LAWS/POLICIES ENABLING PROGRAMS Immigration Policy/Programs Settlement Programs Foreign Credential Recognition Programs Labour Market Programs Health, Education, Social Programs NEWCOMERS Economic Immigrants Family Class Immigrants Refugees TWO-WAY MODEL Canada’s laws encourage early citizenship for those with a connection to Canada and equal opportunities regardless of ethnic origin. Both federal and provincial/territorial governments have a role in selecting immigrants and in delivering services to newcomers from pre-arrival to post-arrival to long-term integration, in partnership with societal actors. Municipal governments play their part at the local level.

4. Settlement Program

5. Labour Market Barriers For Newcomers, including Refugees • There are a number of barriers that newcomers can face when entering the labour market, i.e.: • Insufficient language proficiency • Need for skills upgrading (including essential skills) • Lack of knowledge regarding Canadian workplace culture • Lack of Canadian work experience • Discounted international credentials • Refugees face additional challenges (language, employment, housing) • Government-Assisted Refugees: • Report using food banks (57%) • Cite difficulties in repaying the transportation loan (61%) • Cite financial challenges as greatest resettlement difficulty (33%) • Were not employed after 3 years in Canada (40%)

6. Employment Supports for Refugees • Case management - more personalized services, typically delivered individually with progress monitoring over a longer period of time. Examples: • A Path to Home: Supporting Housing Needs for Newcomers (National) • Private sponsors and volunteers (National) • Client Support Services (Ontario) • Family Dynamics Supports for Refugees (Manitoba) • Moving Ahead: Vulnerable Immigrant Populations Program (British Columbia) • Pilot initiatives to support refugee employment • Refugee and employer networking sessions • Career pathway sessions • Employer challenge session • Employer awards for refugee employment • Ongoing projects to support refugee employment • Life and Employment Enhancement Program (Saskatchewan) • Low Literacy and Modular Employment (Alberta) • Get Connected Pre-Employment Program (British Columbia)

7. The Citizenship Program • Granting of citizenship is an area of exclusive federal responsibility • More than 85% of eligible permanent residents become Canadian citizens – one of the highest rates of naturalization in the world Citizenship Program: • Promotes the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship to Newcomers and Canadians (Citizenship Awareness) • Administers citizenship legislation and manages the citizenship application process • In support of this, the Citizenship Program is responsible for: • Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship, the official citizenship test study guide • The citizenship knowledge test and language assessment tools which ensures applicants aged 14 to 64 years have adequate knowledge of Canada and one of its official languages

8. Multiculturalism programming • Funds projects and community-based events that promote: Intercultural and Interfaith understanding, civic memory and pride, and respect for core democratic values, • Delivers public education activities, many of which target youth, • Supports federal institutions in implementation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act, • Networks with provincial/territorial governments, all of which have multiculturalism policies and legislation, • Partners with key non-governmental organizations, e.g.,: • Global Centre for Pluralism, • Canadian Race Relations Foundation.

9. Engagement with societal actors • Over 700 third party service provider organizations (SPOs) deliver federally-funded settlement services. SPOs are diverse: • NGOs, ethnic community organizations, mainstream institutions, school boards, post-secondary institutions and the private sector • Immigrant Employment Councils: • Bring together multiple local stakeholders to develop practical solutions to help skilled immigrants find suitable employment • Engage employers and offer services to help them meet the challenges of a diverse workforce • Local Immigration Partnerships: • Increase engagement of local stakeholders in newcomers’ integration process, support community-level research and planning, and improve coordination of services • National Settlement Council: • Forum for Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to engage settlement and integration stakeholders on policy and programs .

10. OUTCOMES Overall, Canada’s immigration story is positive Strong successes for Canada in immigrant integration are mostly in social and civic integration. Evidence is positive on the ultimate benchmarks of success – sense of belonging, social trust and active citizenship. Meeting the basic needs of newcomers is also a good news story.

11. FUTURE PERSPECTIVES Broader, systematic engagement of societal actors FPT Tables National Settlement Council Federal Government Provincial/Territorial Governments Service Provider Organizations Service Provider Organizations • Federal-Provincial and Territorial (FPT) Tables • Settlement Working Group (SWG) • Foreign Qualification Recognition Working Group (FQRWG) • Language Forum Municipalities Immigrant Employment Councils (IECs) International Qualifications Network (IQN) Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs) Reseaux en immigration francophone (RIFs) Employers SETTLEMENT SYSTEM Canada is working towards a broader engagement frame for engaging actors in settlement. Employers and municipalities are already engaged in community partnerships (i.e., LIPs, RIFs and IECs). The next step is to connect community partnerships with national-level policy dialogue through the National Settlement Council and federal-provincial/territorial (FPT) tables.