ARCHIVED – Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, 2006

This Web page has been archived on the Web

Section 5
Integrating Newcomers

The successful settlement and integration of new immigrants is an important objective under IRPA. In order to maximize the economic, social, and cultural benefits of immigration, newcomers must be able to participate fully in Canadian society and have access to the same quality of life that Canadians enjoy. In 2005, 196,129 permanent residents took the Oath of Citizenship.

Settlement Services for Newcomers

Every year, many immigrants receive settlement services and programs to help facilitate their successful integration into Canada. CIC’s core settlement programming consists of the Immigrant Settlement and Adaptation Program (ISAP), the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and the Host Program. In all three programs, services are delivered by service providers such as community-based organizations through formal contribution agreements with CIC.

The federal government and the Province of Ontario finalized the first Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement in 2005. This framework agreement will address the full range of integration needs, including basic settlement services and language training. The Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement signals a shared desire to optimize the economic benefits of immigration and ensures that immigration policies and programs respond to Ontario’s social, economic development, and labour market priorities.

The terms and conditions for settlement programs, which expired in March 2005, were renewed by the Treasury Board. In addition, CIC completed program evaluations of LINC, ISAP and the Host Program. [note 1] These evaluations highlighted gaps between clients’ needs and available resources, and made recommendations on program improvements. As a result, CIC is implementing changes to improve the programs.

In May 2006, the Government committed to increasing immigration settlement funding by $307 million. With this funding, CIC expects to enhance current integration and settlement programs to deal more effectively with the needs of newcomers. Through pilot initiatives tailored to labour market and client-specific needs, CIC will complement its current programming.

The Settlement and Integration Joint Policy and Program Council (SIJPPC), first established in 2004 as an outcome of the Voluntary Sector Initiative, serves as a vehicle to further facilitate collaboration, consultation, and joint planning between government and the settlement sector. In 2005, the SIJPPC served as a venue, in particular, to consult with the sector on principles behind settlement funding. CIC also continued to support the development of national policy capacity within the settlement sector through its funding of the new Canadian Immigrant and Settlement Sector Alliance.

Immigrant Settlement and Adaptation Program

The objective of ISAP is to assist newcomers with settling and integrating into Canadian society so that they can participate in Canadian life as soon as possible. This program funds the delivery of services such as general information on life in Canada, translation and interpretation, referral to community resources, solution-focused counselling, and basic employment-related services. ISAP also provides funding to service provider organizations to undertake “service-bridging” activities with other community organizations and special projects aimed at complementing and improving the delivery of settlement services.

ISAP services include the Canadian Orientation Abroad (COA) Initiative. COA is aimed at providing an orientation on life in Canada to future newcomers before their arrival. Different COA modules are designed to meet the needs of a diverse clientele. Topics include an introduction to Canada, the settling-in period, employment and education, rights and responsibilities, climate, finding a place to live, living in a multicultural society, the cost of living, family life, communications, and adaptation to Canada. During 2005-2006, 13,116 people received COA training in approximately 35 countries overseas.

Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada

The LINC Program provides basic language training to adult newcomers in one of Canada’s official languages. Aimed at facilitating social, cultural and economic integration into Canada, LINC courses are provided, either full- or part- time, through school boards, colleges, community organizations, workplaces or community settings. The program also provides information that helps acquaint participants with the Canadian way of life. In 2005-2006, more than 20,000 clients successfully completed LINC level courses.

CIC is committed to focusing on the French delivery of its program in order to raise the current level of services. In 2005-2006, CIC funded the Centre for the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB) to perform a review of the lexical semantics and syntax of the French version of the Canadian Language Benchmarks (Standards linguistique canadiens 2002). This new document, entitled, Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens 2006 (NCLC), will be validated in 2006-2007.

Host Program

The Host Program is a volunteer-based program whereby newcomers are matched with Canadian volunteers who help them learn about available services in their community, practise their English or French, participate in community activities, understand the Canadian labour market, and find job contacts in their field. By connecting newcomers to Canadians, the program promotes inclusion and diversity, improves cross-cultural understanding, and helps reduce racial stereotyping. Over five thousand clients received Host-related services in 2005-2006.

In 2005-2006, CIC also produced a follow-up report to the first National Host Conference held in February 2005. This report shares best practices and innovations within the Host Program and provides a summary of discussions on the future directions for the Host Program.

Canadian Citizenship

Obtaining citizenship is a significant step in the integration process for newcomers because it signifies full participation in Canadian life. In 2005, 196,129 individuals became Canadian citizens.

Immigrants to Canada with permanent residence status have a qualified right to apply for citizenship once they have lived here for three years. With high immigration levels from 2000 to 2005 – more than 225,000 per annum – the number of people applying for citizenship has increased. Over the past couple of years, there has been an increase in the number of long-term permanent residents who have decided to apply for citizenship because of such factors as the need for a permanent resident card, the imposition by the U.S. of visa and border screening mechanisms for many of Canada’s permanent residents, and policy changes in some countries allowing their citizens to hold multiple nationalities.

In 2005, processing times for grants of citizenship were reduced from 15-18 months to 12-15 months. Processing times for proof of citizenship was reduced from five – seven months to three months. CIC also released a new online residence calculator for applicants to help calculate residence eligibility when they complete citizenship applications.

Promotional Activities

Citizenship promotion activities are an important instrument for the continued integration of newcomers and new citizens into Canadian society. The Canada: We All Belong campaign was successfully completed in 2005. In addition to the annual Citizenship Week, the 2005 theme, Year of the Veteran, was launched and celebrated at ceremonies and events across the country. Other major milestones included the printing and distribution to schools and youth organizations of the third and final activity guide in the Cultivate your Commitment to Canada series, Sharing the Harvest, and the republishing of the publications A Newcomer’s Introduction to Canada, Welcome to Canada, and A Look at Canada. Finally, the Citations for Citizenship Program continued and 19 citations were presented at special citizenship ceremonies during Canada’s Citizenship Week. In 2005, a total of 2,575 citizenship ceremonies took place across Canada.

In May 2006, the Minister introduced in Parliament, Bill C-14 – Adoption to facilitate the granting of citizenship to children adopted abroad by Canadian parents. The proposed legislation will allow children adopted abroad by Canadian citizens to obtain Canadian citizenship without first having to become permanent residents.

Special Initiatives to Facilitate Integration into the Labour Market

It is essential to attract and retain skilled and knowledgeable immigrants in order to address Canada’s labour market needs and to sustain economic growth and competitiveness. However, many recent immigrants are experiencing serious difficulty finding a job commensurate with their skills and knowledge. Building on the development of a federal strategy, in April 2005, the Internationally Trained Workers Initiative was launched. This expanded strategy focuses on the following key areas: foreign credential assessment and recognition; enhanced language training; bridge-to-work initiatives; improved labour market information; research; and addressing issues of discrimination in the workplace. CIC has supported Human Resources and Social Development Canada as it consulted with provinces, territories, and other stakeholders to obtain their views on the most effective ways the Government of Canada can facilitate the assessment and recognition of foreign credentials to help immigrants enter the labour market in occupations commensurate with their skills and experience.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada held a series of regional round tables across Canada to consult with the business and labour communities. The round table discussions sought possible solutions to the barriers foreign-trained Canadians and immigrants face when trying to integrate into the Canadian labour market, lessons learned from local employer initiatives, and to determine roles for the federal and provincial/territorial governments in supporting these efforts. The round tables provided the opportunity for CIC to hear the issues and concerns as expressed by business, labour, and other stakeholders.

Another fundamental step in improving immigrant outcomes is to help adult immigrants increase their ability in one of Canada’s two official languages so that they can integrate more quickly and effectively into the workplace. With the $20 million in annual oNGOing funding announced in federal Budgets 2003 and 2004, CIC continued implementing the Enhanced Language Training initiative to increase the number of newcomers receiving advanced, labour market related language training. Fifty two contribution agreements were signed with provinces and service provider organizations to deliver programming that will assist immigrants with accessing and remaining in the labour market at levels commensurate with their skills and qualifications.

Immigrants for Francophone Minority Communities

In support of the Government of Canada’s commitment to the continued vitality of Francophone minority communities (FMC), CIC is working with FMCs in provinces and territories to attract and retain French-speaking immigrants. CIC is also promoting immigration in French-speaking communities overseas. For example, CIC funded promotion and recruitment activities in France, Morocco and Mauritius in fiscal year 2005-2006. Many provinces and their Francophone communities participated in the Promotion Canada and Destination Canada activities.

Many activities over the year aimed at attracting, welcoming, and integrating immigrants into Francophone communities outside Quebec were completed across the country. Tools and structures have been created to facilitate the integration process of French-speaking immigrants. The CIC-Francophone Minority Communities Steering Committee has developed the Strategic Plan to Foster Immigration to Francophone Minority Communities, announced by the Minister in September 2006. It includes long-term priorities and activities to be implemented during the next five years. (For further information, see www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2006/0610-e.asp.)

Canada’s Action Plan Against Racism

A key challenge in ensuring effective integration involves reaching out to community partners and engaging a broad spectrum of Canadians in facilitating the integration of newcomers. CIC is an active participant in A Canada for All: Canada’s Action Plan Against Racism. Led by the Department of Canadian Heritage, this plan provides an overarching horizontal approach across federal departments and agencies to build a society free from racism and a partnership between governments and civil society. For CIC, the plan includes an anticipated expansion of two settlement initiatives, the Host Program and the Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) initiative under ISAP.

This multi-departmental initiative builds on activities undertaken by CIC in 2004 and early 2005 under the Welcoming Communities Strategy. Aimed at creating a true sense of belonging and shared citizenship for immigrants, this strategy focuses on working with NGOs and provincial partners to foster a welcoming environment in communities for newcomers.

Under Canada’s Action Plan Against Racism, the Department has committed to working with non-government organizations and provincial partners to foster more inclusive and welcoming communities. In 2005-2006, CIC expanded the Speakers Bureau to eight new cities for a total of 12 different cities, and developed an anti-racism module. The Speakers Bureau consists of more than 600 speakers who, to date, have appeared before 70,000 people at conferences across Canada. CIC also completed the first phase of research on business mentoring, which included a literature review and inventory of business mentoring activities. This study forms the basis for the second phase of the project which will identify various business mentoring models and the benefits, challenges, and promising practices of each model. Recommended guidelines for implementation of the models within the Host Program will be included in the study. CIC also developed an employer module with the Dominion Institute Speakers Bureau. Through funding to the Toronto Regional Immigrant Employment Council, employers and immigrant speakers received training for the delivery of this module. In 2006-2007, the Department will continue to advance initiatives in support of the Action Plan.

____________

1. These evaluation reports will be available at www.cic.gc.ca.

<< Previous | Contents | Next >>