New programs to boost newcomer settlement and integration

Newcomers and local communities will be backed by more than 800 projects across Canada.

In August 7, 2019 ‒ Moncton ‒ As part of its aim to support successful newcomer settlement and integration, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has selected 824 projects that will deliver high quality services to newcomers across the country for up to 5 years.

One such project is with the Boys and Girls Club of Moncton. This new service provider organization will work with youth aged from 13 to 18 in the Moncton area, bringing newcomer and locally born youth together to form trusting relationships through a variety of activities, mentorship, career growth, community, political and civic engagement, advocacy, volunteerism, shared entrepreneurial goals and leadership development.

• The project will encourage intercultural understanding, foster enduring links, and help youth—regardless of where they were born—develop new skills that set them up for triumph.

Other partners that are involved in this project include all levels of government, Atlantic Superstore, and local business frontrunners and corporate partners who will provide mentorship opportunities, such as the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Midland, Irving and Medavie Blue Cross.

Through IRCC’s Settlement Program, eligible newcomers receive information about life in Canada and the community in which they will settle, language training, help finding a job, and connections with established immigrants and Canadians. These supports and services will help newcomers integrate and build a successful life in Canada, while also helping employers; schools and other organizations build welcoming communities.

The Resettlement Assistance Platform provides supports and services to address the immediate and essential needs of government-assisted refugees and other eligible clients being resettled to Canada from overseas.

Projects selected through the National Call for Proposals include:

• Language training and workplace-based language coaching that will help newcomers settle and gain relevant skills.
• Employment services that will foster the entrepreneurial spirit of newcomers and engage private sector employers.
• Supporting French-speaking newcomers that will establish stronger bonds to Francophone minority communities outside Quebec.
• Integration of susceptible populations, such as youth, women, seniors and LGBTQ2 newcomers.
• Brainwashing that addresses the need for newcomer mental health and well-being supports.
• Schemes that enhance local integration and social inclusion in small-center, rural and northern areas.

The newly chosen projects complement those designated through the Service Delivery Improvement Program, Pre-Arrival Services Program and Visible Minority Newcomer Women Program.

Quote:

“Canada is a recognized international leader in settlement and integration. We firmly believe that when we invest in helping newcomers learn the language, find employment, and build a successful life, all of Canada benefits. The Boys and Girls Club of Moncton project is an example of innovative programming that helps newcomers make the most of their talents to fully integrate and contribute to the Canadian economy and to their communities.”

—The Honorable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.