ARCHIVED – Canada–Manitoba Immigration Agreement, June 2003, Annex A

Annex A
Immigrant Settlement Services


1.0 Shared Principles

1.1 This Agreement is an Annex to the Canada-Manitoba Immigration Agreement, and is entered into pursuant to subsection 4.4 of that Agreement.

1.2 Canada and Manitoba recognize the importance of facilitating immigrant and refugee settlement and integration and acknowledge that both levels of government have a role in that process.

1.3 Canada and Manitoba agree to abide by and uphold the following shared principles:

  1. Integration is a two way process, which involves commitment on the part of newcomers to adapt to life in Canada and on the part of Canadians to welcome and adapt to new people and cultures;
  2. The ability of newcomers to communicate in one of Canada’s official languages is key to integration;
  3. Newcomers contributions to the economic and social fabric of Canada are valued: it is important for newcomers to become economically self-sufficient and to be able to participate in the social dimensions of life in Canada; and it is important for individuals and communities in Canada to assist in ensuring that newcomers have opportunities to participate in and contribute to the economic and social life of Canada;
  4. It is important to share with newcomers the principles, traditions and values that are inherent in Canadian society such as freedom, equality and participatory democracy;
  5. Settlement and integration services will be directed towards helping newcomers become self-sufficient as soon as possible. Priority will be given to those facing significant barriers to integration, and who are deemed by Manitoba to be most in need within the community;
  6. Settlement and integration services across the country will be flexible, responsive and reasonably comparable; and
  7. Settlement and Integration services will develop shared capacities to respond in the interests of urgent protection, vulnerable and special needs refugees.

2.0 Definitions

2.1 For the purposes of this Annex:

  1. “fiscal year” means the period commencing on April 1 in one calendar year and ending on March 31 in the next calendar year;
  2. “general provisions” means the Canada-Manitoba Immigration Agreement executed by the parties;
  3. “immigrants and refugees” means permanent residents, protected persons and Convention refugees, as defined in the IRPA;
  4. “settlement and integration services” are understood to encompass activities that are specifically designed to facilitate the economic and social integration of newcomers to Canada as soon as possible. As examples, these services could include orientation, adult language training, settlement counselling, qualifications recognition activities, labour market preparation, temporary or one time interventions to facilitate adaptation of mainstream public services to meet the needs of newcomers, and activities which help to develop a more informed and welcoming environment for newcomers to Canada. They do not include services to the general public that normally fall within the mandate of provincial governments, such as health and education services;
  5. “specified humanitarian groups resettled from abroad” include refugees selected by Canada abroad and identified as persons requiring government assistance, and groups who are admitted to Canada through initiatives such as the Joint Assistance Program or other initiatives where Canada and the private sector or non-governmental sponsoring groups share in resettlement assistance;
  6. except where otherwise provided in this Annex, words used in this Annex which are defined in the IRPA or in the IRPR have the same meaning as in that Act or those Regulations;
  7. a reference to the IRPA or the IRPR is a reference to that Act or those Regulations as amended or replaced from time to time;
  8. “vulnerable persons” means any person or persons in greater need of protection than other refugees due to a heightened risk to their physical safety;
  9. “special needs persons” means that a person has a greater need of settlement assistance than other applicants for protection abroad owing to personal circumstances including: a large number of family members; trauma resulting from violence or torture; medical disabilities; and/or, the effects of systemic discrimination;
  10. “persons in urgent need of protection” means any person or persons facing an immediate threat of being killed, subjected to violence, torture, sexual assault or arbitrary imprisonment, or returned to their country of nationality or their former habitual residence.

3.0 Purpose and Scope

3.1 The purpose of this Annex is to maintain and develop the roles and responsibilities of Canada and Manitoba in order to:

  1. maintain Manitoba’s primary responsibility for the design, administration, delivery and evaluation of settlement and integration services with respect to immigrants and refugees in the province of Manitoba;
  2. encourage community involvement in identifying local settlement and integration priorities; and
  3. promote results based accountability to ensure settlement and integration services are efficient and effective.

4.0 Canada’s Roles and Responsibilities

4.1 Canada will play a continuing role by allocating to Manitoba a share of funding available for settlement and integration services based upon an allocation determined by a model developed in consultation with Manitoba. The model is based upon factors including the following:

  1. recent share of landings of immigrants and refugees within provinces and territories;
  2. the volatility and predictability of funding under the model; and
  3. immigrant and refugee needs and minimum funding levels.

4.2 Canada will ensure that services for specified humanitarian groups resettled from abroad are provided including:

  1. income support during their initial period in Canada; and
  2. immediate essential services such as port of entry reception, onward destining, reception at final point of destination, temporary accommodation, linkage to income support, initial counselling, referral to specialized counselling or services, and linkages to regular settlement and other human services.

4.3 Canada will ensure settlement and integration services at the national level, including:

  1. port of entry “welcome to Canada” information services for all immigrants and refugees;
  2. information and consultation to assist Manitoba in planning and delivery of settlement and integration services on matters such as immigration trends, research findings, and relevant federal policies;
  3. facilitation of the exchange of information among partners and service providers, including Manitoba, on best practices and research related to integration; and
  4. orientation overseas where it is determined to be effective and cost efficient.

5.0 Manitoba’s Roles and Responsibilities

5.1 Subject to sections 8.0 and 10.0, Manitoba will continue to design, administer and deliver and evaluate settlement and integration services with respect to immigrants and refugees residing in Manitoba in accordance with the shared principles in section 1.0 of this Annex and Manitoba’s Guiding Principles.

5.2 Manitoba’s Guiding Principles are:

  1. to provide a “seamless”, fully integrated and cost-effective continuum of settlement and integration services in order to continuously improve client service;
  2. to provide access and linkages to settlement and integration services which are appropriate, relevant and responsive to the needs of Manitoba’s newcomers;
  3. to foster partnerships with communities, ethnic organizations and service providers and encourage local-level participation in planning and delivery of settlement and integration services consistent with a province-wide framework reflective of Manitoba’s social, humanitarian, economic, and labour market goals; and
  4. to foster self-reliance and personal commitment by individuals to achieve effective integration into the Manitoba community.

5.3 Manitoba will work regularly and cooperatively with other parties concerned such as municipal governments, education, health and human service sectors, settlement and immigrant serving agencies, religious and ethnic organizations, labour and business groups, as well as individuals, to facilitate the identification of existing and emerging settlement and integration needs and priorities through a process that:

  1. balances settlement and mainstream service provider and client perspectives;
  2. takes into account information about immigration and integration trends, best practices, and research results; and
  3. avoids overlap and duplication.

5.4 Manitoba will administer the funds provided by Canada under this Annex in a way that will:

  1. be responsive to evolving settlement and integration needs taking into consideration input received from the community as described in section 5.3;
  2. be at arms length from community involvement as described in section 5.3 in order to ensure that actual or perceived conflict of interest situations with respect to funding decisions are avoided;
  3. ensure a streamlined application and reporting process for service providers;
  4. ensure that a broad range of service providers are eligible for funding, with service quality and cost effectiveness as key considerations; and
  5. acknowledge federal funding contributions.

5.5 Manitoba will ensure that availability of assistance under settlement and integration services for which it has responsibility is in either official language where there is significant demand for assistance in that language. In delivering its provincial settlement and integration services, Manitoba will actively offer its services in either official language in accordance with its French Language Services Policy.

5.6 Manitoba will consult Canada and, taking into consideration Canada’s Official Languages Act and Manitoba’s French Language Service Policy, will determine what constitutes “significant demand” for communications with, and services to, persons requiring settlement services.

5.7 Manitoba will consult with representatives of minority official language communities and other organizations to plan and provide for settlement and integration services in Manitoba to meet the needs of immigrants and refugees in either official language.

6.0 Shared Roles and Responsibilities

6.1 Canada and Manitoba agree to work together both bilaterally and multilaterally with other provincial and territorial governments to:

  1. define what constitutes reasonably comparable settlement and integration services;
  2. establish and implement common measures and indicators of results to serve accountability and evaluation needs;
  3. enable the availability of effective orientation abroad for potential immigrants and refugees on settlement and integration challenges in Canada and Manitoba;
  4. develop and distribute orientation materials in partnership with stakeholders;
  5. improve Canadians understanding of the benefits and impact of immigration, and promote an understanding of integration as embodied in the shared principles in section 1.0 of this Annex;
  6. define and pursue, with other stakeholders, appropriate research and evaluation projects that will improve understanding of the settlement and integration process and help people make informed decisions on the best use of public funds to facilitate the process;
  7. to collaborate in the development and implementation of strategies to address barriers to qualification recognition and integration of immigrants into the labour market; and
  8. to promote and support acquisition of citizenship for eligible immigrants.

6.2 Canada and Manitoba will ensure that there are linkages between federally and provincially administered services offered to specified humanitarian groups resettled from abroad; and will work together on ways to ensure that the unique or urgent service needs of these groups may be met.

6.3 Canada and Manitoba, to the extent possible, shall provide reasonable advance notice and opportunity for discussion of any policy, program or legislative change which could have a material effect (financial or otherwise) on the provision of settlement and integration services to immigrants and refugees.

7.0 Information Sharing

7.1 All agreements between the parties will provide for the exchange or sharing of information in accordance with:

  1. the Privacy Act and supporting guidelines on Privacy and Data Protection and the Government of Canada Security Policy and supporting operating directives and guidelines covering the administrative, technical and physical safeguarding of any Personal Information (the said supporting guidelines, policies and directives hereinafter referred to as the “Supporting Guidelines”); provided that Manitoba is provided with prior written notice of the Supporting Guidelines and any changes made from time to time to those Supporting Guidelines; or
  2. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act of the Province of Manitoba and related directives and guidelines governing the administrative, technical and physical safeguarding of the Personal Information;

    whichever shall apply.

8.0 Financial Arrangements

8.1 Funding provided by Canada to Manitoba under this Annex will be based on the Settlement Allocation Model described in Section 4.1 of this Annex.

8.2 Canada and Manitoba agree to review the annual administrative funding to Manitoba for settlement service programs, to maintain a stable infrastructure, administration and staffing:

  1. Canada and Manitoba agree to complete the first round of negotiations under this section in order to implement a new administrative funding arrangement no later than the start of the fiscal year 2004/2005; and
  2. The current funding arrangement continues in the interim.

8.3 Canada will inform Manitoba by April 1 of each year of the amount of funding planned to be available nationally for the subsequent three fiscal years, subject to appropriations by Parliament.

8.4 Canada will inform Manitoba by November 1 of each year of its share of recent immigration for the purposes of calculating Manitoba’s allocation for the next fiscal year.

8.5 Canada will make payments to Manitoba for the fiscal year allocation in accordance with standard federal practices for the amount and type of payment.

8.6 Funds provided under this Annex may not be used for purposes other than those described in sections 5.0, 6.0 and 8.0 and for the design, administration, delivery and evaluation of those settlement and integration services in accordance with this Annex.

9.0 Accountability and Reporting

9.1 Manitoba will provide Canada with an annual service plan for the coming fiscal year, as per Appendix A to this Annex.

9.2 Manitoba will provide Canada with an annual report for the period covered by the previous fiscal year, for the funds provided by Canada as per Appendix B to this Annex, by July 15 of each year.

9.3 Manitoba will develop an accountability framework for the purposes of reporting to Manitobans on the outcomes of the settlement programs it delivers. Manitoba is committed to including in that framework comparable indicators developed in collaboration with Canada.

9.4 Manitoba will inform Canada in writing of any reductions in its level of spending on settlement and integration services.

9.5 Manitoba will follow its normal audit practices to ensure probity. Manitoba will make results of audits it undertakes available to Canada.

10.0 General

10.1 Canada and Manitoba agree that the Joint Working Group established under section 7.3 of the General Provisions will serve as a forum between Canada and Manitoba for discussing and resolving issues related to Immigrant Settlement Services. These issues include:

  1. ensuring that federal and provincial immigration and settlement programs are coordinated; and
  2. maintaining a forum that will allow for productive exchange of ideas and information on issues related to immigrant settlement and integration in Manitoba and Canada.

10.2 This Annex will take effect when the General Provisions of the Canada-Manitoba Immigration Agreement are signed by both parties.

10.3 Subject to sections 10.4 and 10.5, this Annex will remain in effect indefinitely and survives the expiration or termination of the General Provisions of the Canada-Manitoba Immigration Agreement.

10.4 This Annex may be amended by written agreement by the parties.

10.5 Either party may terminate this Annex at any time by providing at least 12 months notice in writing to the other party.

10.6 In the event that either party wishes to terminate this Annex both parties shall take reasonable steps to reduce the costs attributable to the termination and agree that they will work together to ensure that services to clients will not be unduly affected or interrupted by the termination.

10.7 Canada and Manitoba will from time to time, and not less than every five years, review this Annex and negotiate potential amendments pursuant to section 10.3, taking into consideration the different needs and changing circumstances of both parties as determined by the Joint Coordinating Committee.


APPENDIX A

Annual Service Plan

Part A: Objectives and Priorities

  1. Overview: Manitoba Immigrant Integration Program
  2. Priorities of the Manitoba Immigrant Integration Program
  3. Description of how services are consistent with the Shared Principles

Part B: Planning Process: Information & Community Input

  1. Planning Process

Part C: Proposed Allocation and Use of Funds

  1. Proposed Allocation
  2. Regional Programming
  3. Official Languages
  4. Special Initiatives

Part D: Monitoring and Evaluation

  1. Overview of the processes in place for monitoring
  2. Program Evaluation

APPENDIX B

Annual Report

Part A: Objectives and Priorities

  1. Overview: Manitoba Immigrant Integration Program
  2. Priorities of the Manitoba Immigrant Integration Program

Part B: Report on Use of Funds

  1. Overall financial summaries
  2. Acknowledgement of Federal Funding
  3. Financial Audit

Part C: Results Achieved

  1. Overall Results Achieved
  2. Regional Programming
  3. Language Assessment Centre
  4. Official Languages
  5. Special Initiatives

Part D: Planning Process: Information & Community Input

Part E: Monitoring and Evaluation

  1. Overview of the processes in place for monitoring
  2. Program Evaluation

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