Immigration and Settlement

1. Government Assisted Refugees (GARs) represent one of the most important mechanisms for Canada to protect those refugees in need of protection;
2. In recent years CIC has been selecting GARs on the basis of need rather than “ability to settle in Canada” which CCR warmly welcomes, which has resulted in increased demands on settlement agencies because of their very high needs;
3. CIC has recently suggested that this increased demand on services can best be met by reducing the number of GARs.

1. It is the intention of the Atlantic provincial and municipal governments to attract and encourage immigrants and refugees to move to and remain in the region;
2. There is already a deficiency of educational resources available;

1. The Government of Québec is obliged by the Canada-Québec Accord to offer settlement and integration services that correspond overall to those offered elsewhere in Canada;
2. The financial compensation from the federal government provided for in the Accord will go in 2005-2006 from $160 million to $180 million;
3. The Government of Québec is refusing to account for the amounts received from the federal government;
4. Le ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles du Québec (MICC) has decided to abolish the Québec twinning program by eliminating the specific funding for the twinning (Host) activities of settlement and integration organizations;
5. The twinning program is the only settlement and integration program that directly involves the host society;

The Settlement Allocation Model has proven problematic with regards to smaller centres with high proportions of refugees, and centres receiving substantial secondary migration, and grossly inequitable for larger centres;

1. The Refugee Assistance Program (RAP) is responsible for the provision of settlement services and income support for refugees deemed in need of protection by the Government of Canada;
2. The provision of these RAP services has been contracted to voluntary sector organizations;
3. The budget for the RAP program has not been increased since 1998;
4. The voluntary agencies across Canada have now reached a crisis point in their financial viability to be able to deliver services to government sponsored refugees;
5. The recent budget announcement of an additional $298 million dollars for settlement service for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration provides not one cent in additional funding for RAP services for government sponsored refugees;
6. Senior department officials have recognized the critical nature of the situation but have been unable to effect any significant change;

1. CIC has devolved settlement responsibilities to some provinces and is in negotiations to do so with others;
2. CIC has a responsibility to ensure comparable and accountable services to all immigrants and refugees across the country;
3. BC has moved in policy and management directions quite distinct from CIC’s;

1. The settlement service system is currently mandated to provide language training for certain classes of newcomers to Canada;
2. Language training in the form of sign language training is not consistently provided across the country;
3. Those who are hearing impaired also have a right to language training;

1. The Canadian government denies seasonal agricultural workers and foreign temporary workers the right to apply for permanent residence status through these programs;
2. This right is available through the live-in caregiver program;

Refugees and immigrants on minimum wage are forced to live in poverty;

1. The current Resettlement Assistance Program provides 1 year financial support to regular Government Assisted Refugees (GARs) and 2 years support for refugees under Joint Assistance Sponsorship;
2. A significant percentage of refugees arriving under the regular GAR stream are special needs cases;