Canada commits $100 million towards settlement initiatives for newcomers

Alexandra Miekus - 13 August, 2021

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced that it will allocate $100 million to help new immigrants settle and integrate in Canada during the post-COVID-19 period.

This funding will be provided over the next three years and will focus on improving the ways newcomers access settlement services.

The funding will come from the Ministry's Service Delivery Funding (SDI) program. The SDI is a funding process program that focuses on needs assessment, information, language training and skills development, employment-related services and community ties.

“Settlement services play a fundamental role in Canada’s immigration system. From work to housing to language training, they set newcomers up for success. During this challenging year and a half, I think it’s safe to say everyone has needed support in some form or another. One can only begin to imagine the additional hurdles this pandemic has presented newcomers trying to start their lives in Canada. These new SDI projects will help us enhance and improve settlement services so every newcomer can reach their full potential here,” said Marco Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

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IRCC has selected 78 projects under the 2020 funding process. 

"These projects will explore how to better integrate newcomers in their new communities and support the settlement sector as it recovers from the pandemic," IRCC said in a statement.

"Throughout the pandemic, many settlement services have moved online. SDI funding will help IRCC determine the kinds of services newcomers need, while taking into account the increased reliance on online service delivery."

Examples of projects that are part of this funding process were also provided. They are as follows:

• The University of Windsor’s Artificial Intelligence: A Rapid Response Leveraging Newcomers’ Pathway to Settlement will test whether artificial intelligence can be used to develop an effective settlement strategy for newcomers.
• The Accessible Community Counselling and Employment Services’ Connecting Canada: Employer Engagement Driving Settlement in Smaller Communities will test whether connecting newcomers with employers in smaller urban and rural communities before they arrive will lead to more newcomers choosing to settle there.
• S.U.C.C.E.S.S.’s An Anti-Oppression Framework to Combat Systemic Racism in Immigrant Services will explore service approaches designed with an anti-oppression framework.

Funding will begin in the fall of 2021 and run until March 31, 2024.

Canada's federal government plans to welcome more than one million new permanent residents over the next three years and recognizes the need to invest in settlement infrastructure.

Settlement services offered by the Government of Canada are geared towards people who arrive in the country as refugees, as families or as economic immigrants. Their purpose is to help people overcome specific barriers to the newcomer experience, such as lack of official language skills and knowledge of Canadian social, cultural, civic and economic life.

Newcomers who can integrate into Canadian society and settle quickly can make a greater contribution to Canada's economic growth.

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