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Catholic Immigration centre of ottawa

Catholic Immigration centre of ottawa. Joël Denis, Norah Lynn Paddock, Louise Saulnier, Leslie Wong. Outline. CIC Background. Mission: facilitates the reception of newcomers to Canada; and assists newcomers in realizing their full potential in Canadian society. History:

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Catholic Immigration centre of ottawa

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  1. Catholic Immigration centre of ottawa Joël Denis, Norah Lynn Paddock, Louise Saulnier, Leslie Wong

  2. Outline

  3. CIC Background • Mission: • facilitates the reception of newcomers to Canada; and • assists newcomers in realizing their full potential in Canadian society. • History: • Religious origins • 1976: Catholic Immigration Services – Ottawa is set up. • 1978-1981: Southeast Asian refugee crises, services number of staff expand. • 1984: Agency is incorporated as an autonomous organization - The Catholic Immigration Centre. • Today, CIC continues to expand its programs and services to meet the needs of newcomers and the Ottawa community.

  4. CIC Mandate - Louise

  5. Staffing/Volunteers (Q5) - Les

  6. Client Needs and Service Delivery • Client Profile: • Over 55% are Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs) • Slightly more women than men (51% versus 49%) • Majority are between 25 and 44 years of age, often with large families • Small, but growing, number of seniors • Primary Needs: • Language training • Housing support • Employment support Growing number of high needs clients (e.g. refugees – especially children – and women with small children)

  7. Service Delivery Challenges Client Profile Primary Needs • Over 55% are Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs) • Slightly more women than men (51% versus 49%) • Majority are between 25 and 44 years of age, often with large families • Small, but growing, number of seniors

  8. Source of Funding (Q5) - Les Background

  9. Funding Challenges • Funding levels do not reflect growing demand for settlement services • Funding restrictions limit the types of services that can be provided • Reporting requirements are onerous

  10. Social Determinants of Health for Immigrants • Immigration Status • Migration History • ???? Health Status • Language Skills

  11. Healthy Immigrant Effect • [NL: Proposed new slide]

  12. CIC and Social Support Networks Social isolation and impact on health • CIC as a Social Support Network: • Services to expand individuals networks (e.g. language classes). • Knowledge sharing (e.g. Federal Skills Workers Program, federal credential recognition, and social assistance application process). • Helping themselves by helping others

  13. Social Support Networks: Key Obstacles and Opportunities • Obstacles: • Social Networks and vulnerable populations: A problem compounded • Hip bone connected to the knee bone? • Opportunities: • One part of a wider social support network: Summerset Community Health Center, Family Services Ottawa, Ottawa legal clinics • Promising results of host program

  14. Social Support Networks: Policy Recommendations 1. Go right to the source – family reunification 2. Increased support for community based initiatives – e.g. neighborhood watch programs and food co-operatives 3. Increased support for social development activities, including intergenerational projects and cross-cultural gatherings. 4. Research recommendation: develop and test models to demonstrate a stronger link between social support networks and health benefits – e.g. gender analysis????

  15. Language Skills • [NL: Proposed new background slide for each social determinant of health – What does it mean? Why is it particularly relevant for newcomers?]

  16. CIC and Language Skills • Language is a key barrier to accessing basic support services (particularly for refugees) • Access to health services – especially mental health support - is significantly impacted by language ability • Privacy concerns (e.g. children as interpreters, volunteer interpreters part of small diaspora community) • Challenges with providing counselling through an interpreter • Language training is the most highly utilized service offered by CIC

  17. Language Skills: Key Obstacles and Opportunities • Limited availability of translation and interpretation services through CIC • Lack of multicultural/multilingual health service providers in Ottawa • Mainstream health service providers need to become more culturally-sensitive

  18. Language Skills: Policy Recommendations Increase government funding for translation/interpretation services through settlement service providers Extend eligibility of government-funded language training to temporary residents Develop guidelines and training to help mainstream service providers become culturally-sensitive

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