National Settlement Conference
(Kingston - June 18-20, 2001)
Preface for NSCI Summaries
Held in Kingston, Ontario from June 18-20, 2001, the first
National Settlement Conference brought together over 400 settlement service
providers and government officials from across Canada. In 36 workshops,
four working groups and seven streams’ meetings, conference participants
exchanged knowledge, experience and information on the latest innovative
programs and initiatives in the settlement sector.
The following are summaries of the conference workshops, working groups
and streams meetings. The summaries are based on the notes taken by conference
organizers and volunteers, the original documents sent by the workshop
presenters and the working group/streams meetings reporters themselves,
and the coverage of the conference by RRDR reporters.
The primary objective of the VSI Settlement project is to
enhance the capacity of the settlement sector as a whole, and to address
specific policy and program concerns that have been identified by both
the sector and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) so that settlement
policy and program decisions are better informed. The key benefit is more
effective service to newcomers. NSCI helped broaden and deepen the extent
of CIC’s engagement with the settlement sector. Participants came with
a wide variety of issues and viewpoints which were aired in an open forum.
The summaries of opinions and interpretations expressed
at the conference are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect
the views of CIC, nor do we guarantee the accuracy of the information
provided. If you wish to discuss the full presentation or receive more
information, please contact the presenter directly.
There are several references to settlement
funding in the articles. CIC offers the following information on funding:
Settlement funding for language training and immigrant settlement
and adaptation and Host programs outside Quebec has remained constant
since 1996-97. The annual amount is set at $173.3 million, although Parliament
must confirm this amount each year.
The national settlement allocation model provides for the
allocation of funding for settlement programs to each region annually.
Once allocated, CIC regions as well as British Columbia and Manitoba (both
B.C. and Manitoba assumed responsibility for settlement services under
federal-provincial agreements) then design, deliver and administer services
which should be reasonably comparable across the country.
CIC Regions, Manitoba and B.C. allocate funds to service
providers to deliver the services to respond to the needs of their communities.
CIC officials assess service provider proposals based on a number of factors,
for example, the projected level of immigrants to a community, the composition
of the immigrant clientele, the type of services needed and the existing
community infrastructure.
The settlement allocation model was first used to allocate
funds in fiscal year 2000-01. In developing the model, CIC consulted with
the provinces and territories and it was agreed that the model should
be transparent, fair, relatively simple and responsive to shifts in immigrant
flows. It also should respond to unique pressures in a region and provide
stable infrastructure funding in smaller regions.
As a consequence, the settlement allocation model does not
respond solely to immigrant levels in a region, although it is an important
factor. Nor are allocations determined on a per capita basis; rather the
model attempts to reflect the costs associated with the overall settlement
of newcomers. There are several variables that influence the formula:
a three-year rolling average of adult immigrant intake, knowledge of an
official language and the intake of refugees in a region. The model also
tries to take into account different cost factors in large and smaller
regions.
One region may see falling allocations despite experiencing
rising immigrant landings, as the other variables and its relative costs
come into play.
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