Immigration and Settlement

1. The CCR has supported, in principle, the development of national settlement service standards as stated in the National Principles for settlement services (see Res. 2, Nov. 95, Res. 4, Jun. 96, and Res. 4, Nov. 96);
2. The creation of a national settlement service standards steering committee during the November 1998 CCR conference has provided a mechanism to develop these standards and a draft framework and development strategy were presented during the May 1999 CCR conference;

1. There is a national crisis of homelessness and lack of affordable housing;
2. Immigrants, refugees and visible minorities face significant racism in the private housing market;
3. In some large cities in Canada, newcomers make up a large portion of the shelter population;
4. We deplore the "passing of the buck" by which different levels of government deny that newcomers' housing issues are their responsibility;
5. Across the country income assistance rates are unrealistic in light of housing costs;
6. There are many problems in accessing income support services across the country;
7. We applaud the new southern Ontario project of issuing ID to assist claimants at port of entries in accessing services;

there are differences in the delivery of Settlement and language services in small communities (i.e. limited access to services, multi-level language classes, child care, transportation support) due to immigration patterns as well as regional disparities;

1. Immigrants and refugees come to Canada with a wealth of experience and education;
2. Recent studies have shown that it is taking longer for new arrivals to "catch up" to Canadian born individuals;
3. There is a federal budget surplus;

1. CIC has developed and begun the implementation of a new National Funding Formula for the allocation of settlement funding to each province;
2. The consequences of the implementation has brought to light marked reductions in settlement funds for some provinces most notably Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan;
3. The numbers of newcomers fluctuates each year, and the provision of service lasts for many years;
4. These reductions will seriously damage the structural integrity and delivery capability of agencies in affected provinces, putting many below threshold operating levels;

1. All levels of government and other funding organizations recognize and actively promote the benefits of volunteering to the community at large and to the individual volunteers;
2. Refugees look to volunteer work to gain Canadian experience and to reduce social isolation;
3. In Ontario refugees are required to do volunteer work in order to receive social assistance ("workfare program");
4. CIC BC Region has issued a communiqué fact sheet to inform the voluntary sector that volunteerism is a form of work and as such requires an employment authorization prior to participation in volunteer work;
5. There are similar problems arising in other provinces across Canada;
6. This puts an undue obligation on the voluntary sector organizations to monitor and police this requirement and inhibits refugees from active participation in the community during the initial settlement period;

1. A resolution was passed in May 1999 relating to the development of National Settlement Standards through a process presented by a Settlement Standards Steering Committee;
2. This process has led to the development of the National Settlement Service Standards Framework document presented in Vancouver (spring 2000);

1. The CCR membership has acknowledged the negative impact of homophobia and heterosexism within our sector and membership;
2. Current settlement standards do not explicitly reflect the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) refugees and immigrants;
3. There is an apparent lack of commitment to training and education on these issues;
4. There are serious concerns about the refusal rates of refugee claims based on sexual orientation;

1. The CCR has expressed commitment to inclusive practices and in particular refugee participation;
2. Refugee women face systemic and societal barriers in accessing opportunities for participation in leadership capacities;
3. Participants of the Refugee Women's meeting expressed a desire and commitment to continued participation and identified the need for space to share experiences, network, address specific issues and develop affirmative actions for follow up;

1. The federal government is undertaking to develop an accountability framework for settlement services to fulfill new Treasury Board guidelines;
2. Settlement agencies are committed to being accountable to funders, clients and the community;
3. It is in the interest of both CIC and NGOs to work closely on this project;
4. CCR's Resolution 4, May 1999 addressed this issue but unfortunately the LINC study seems not to have been distributed as indicated would happen in the August 18, 1999 letter from CIC;