NATIONAL PRINCIPLES

National principles must be upheld by national standards.  These standards still need to be developed along with mechanisms which ensure compliance.

1. Client eligibility
a) Settlement/integration services should be available to immigrants/refugees based on need rather than on immigration status or length of time in Canada;

2. Eligibility of Service Deliverers:
b) Services which are mandated by provincial, regional, or local governments (health care, primary-secondary education, administration of justice) should not be funded as settlement and integration services;

c) Not-for-profit, community-based organizations with proven track records, and a primary mandate in delivering settlement/integration services should be given funding priority;

d) Service-providers should have expertise and skills in the field of settlement and integration;

3. Rights of clients:
e) Providers of settlement and integration services must respect and protect fundamental rights of clients (eg. confidentiality, legal, etc.);

f) Services should be delivered in a manner that is culturally and linguistically appropriate and free from racism and other forms of discrimination;

g) Organizations collecting and using data must meet standards of appropriateness, confidentiality, validity, etc. and must be accountable to the clients whose information is being collected;

4. Comprehensiveness of services:
h) Where appropriate and practical, clients should be able to choose from among service-providers the approach to service-delivery that best meets their needs;

i) Settlement/integration services should:
 -  meet national standards,
 -  reflect changing needs of the local community,
 -  meet the self-defined needs of the individual immigrant/refugee;

5. Accessibility of services
j) Services should be made accessible by identifying and removing systemic barriers;

6. Priority-setting and funding allocation process
k) Where established, local or regional advisory bodies should identify local settlement and integration priorities.  These non-partisan bodies should be composed of community members with expertise in the provision of settlement services and reflect the ethno-racial composition of the client group;

7. Humanitarian Obligations
l) Settlement Renewal should not reduce the federal government's national obligations to international responsibility-sharing and offering a safe haven to refugees.  The rights and needs of refugees must be integrated and guaranteed priority in the provision of settlement and integration services;

8. Accountability
m) Allocation of settlement funds should be utilized solely for settlement/integration services;

n) Methods for ensuring accountability should be appropriate, realistic and cost effective. They should:
 – reflect accountability methods already in place;
 – not constitute “undue scrutiny” in comparison with practices for other comparable service sectors;

9. Enduring Federal Role
o) A strong federal role must include a commitment to continue to fund settlement services at a rate not less than the 1994/95 funding level.