National Settlement Conference 2
(Calgary - October 2-5, 2003)
Settlement Accord
Section Four:
The History of The Settlement Sector
From the start, Canada’s immigration policy has been driven by
economic policy and the need for human resources. Often described as a
nation of immigrants, Canada has, for the last several hundred years,
been shaped by waves of immigration from around the world. In fact, Canada
today has one of the highest ratios of immigrants to total residents of
any country in the world and is considered to have one of the most open
and welcoming immigration policies anywhere. The majority of Canada’s
citizens are themselves immigrants or descendents of immigrants, with
only 5 percent of the population made up of First Nations people.
Settlement services, both formal and informal, have a long history in
Canada. Before the First World War, very few organizations specialized
in immigrant services. Newcomers were informally assisted by family members,
friends, ethnic associations, benevolent societies, religious institutions
and selfgroups, the majority of which relied on volunteers. A few organizations
came into being after the First World War, such as the Jewish Immigrant
Aid Society established in 1922.
Important developments in the conception and delivery of settlement
services came after the Second World War, which produced large numbers
of Holocaust survivors. The Jewish Immigrant Aid Society was the first
agency to hire professional social workers and to develop specialized
social service for newcomers. Founded in 1947 in Montréal, the
Centre social d’aide aux immigrants (CSAI) offered material assistance
and temporary emergency housing, found housing and jobs, and offered medical
and legal assistance and loans to help newcomers bring their families
to Canada. At around the same time, the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration
Council was created by various denominations seeking to help their own
groups integrate in Canada. The Italian Immigrant Aid Society was formed
in 1952, with initial services provided by women volunteers. In response
to the underutilization of skilled tradespeople, Centro Organizzativo
Scuole Tecniche Italiane (COSTI) was formed in 1961, initially providing
training and retraining to members of the Italian community, later expanding
services to members of other communities. Gradually a specialized settlement
sector emerged.
The Immigration Act of 1953 listed countries by preference. As a result
of pressure from domestic human rights advocates and international diplomacy,
this discriminatory law was replaced in 1976 by one in which racial criteria
for immigration were formally eliminated and broad classes of immigration
were established: independent class (skilled professionals or business
immigrants), family reunification class, refugees, and “others”
(caregivers, retirees, etc.).
Since the Second World War, approximately 7.8 million immigrants have
arrived in Canada.[4] Over
the years, the principal source countries of immigration into Canada has
shifted from Europe and the United States, to Africa, the Middle East,
Latin America, the Caribbean, and, more recently, Asia. In 1999, approximately
30 percent of immigrants came from China, the Philippines, Korea, Taiwan,
and Hong Kong, while approximately 15 percent of immigrants came from
India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.[5]
This shift reflects not only changes in immigration policy and regulations
but also the changing preferences of prospective immigrants.
The Federal Settlement Service initiative, which started in 1948 with
federal settlement officers hired to help settle Canadian soldiers and
war refugees, was disbanded in 1966 with the creation of the Department
of Manpower and Immigration. With this change, the government withdrew
from the provision of direct settlement services and focused on funding
immigrant serving agencies to provide initial settlement services. In
1974, the Department of Manpower and Immigration expanded its mandate
to provide for the reception of immigrants and to help newcomers with
employment, accommodation, and settlement. In addition, it became responsible
for the overall coordination of voluntary organizations that provided
immigrant adjustment and settlement assistance. This direction resulted
in the establishment of the Immigrant Settlement and Adaptation Program
(ISAP), which provided funding for initial settlement services, such as
information, orientation, and referral to mainstream service agencies.
In 1993, the Department was appropriately renamed Citizenship and Immigration
Canada (CIC).
Canada was the first country to adopt an official multiculturalism policy
in 1971 and incorporated this policy into the Multiculturalism Act of
1988. Chief among the goals of the Act was the government’s recognition
and commitment to promote the full and equitable participation of individuals
and communities of all origins in Canadian society and to eliminate barriers
to such participation.
The Federal Immigrant Integration Strategy, introduced between 1991 and
1995, is a key element of the Federal Immigration Plan. This aims to provide
a wide range of coordinated settlement services normally associated with,
but not restricted to, the year of arrival. This Strategy placed a new
emphasis on helping immigrants learn about Canadian values and on helping
Canadians understand the diverse backgrounds of newcomers. It is through
this same Strategy that the Host Program was made permanent (later expanded
to link any newly arrived immigrants with Canadian hosts, not only refugees)
and the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) Program was
introduced.
While the Integration Branch of CIC has the overall responsibility of
providing funds for settlement services for all newcomers under ISAP,
it is the Refugee Branch of CIC that operates the Resettlement Assistance
Program (RAP) for all Convention refugees, providing temporary accommodations,
clothing, household effects, and living expenses for up to one year.
The government of Quebec took on responsibility for settlement services
as early as 1991, receiving funding from CIC under the Canada-Quebec Accord.
By 1995, the federal government launched the Settlement Renewal Process
as an attempt to devolve the administration of settlement services to
the rest of the provinces. In 1998, agreements were signed with the provinces
of British Columbia and Manitoba to transfer funds for the administration
of settlement services.
With its enduring role in settlement services, the federal government
took on the responsibility of developing national standards, to be agreed
upon and upheld by all stakeholders for the purposes of accountability,
comparison, and the protection of settlement clients. The Best Settlement
Practices[6] of the Canadian
Council for Refugees identifies core values: access, inclusion, client
empowerment, userdefined services, holistic approach, respect for the
individual, cultural diversity, community development, collaboration,
accountability, orientation towards positive change, and reliability.
These core values form the basis of a Settlement Service Standards Framework[7]
which, in its preamble, asserts the importance of a shared responsibility
between all levels of government in partnership with immigrant serving
agencies in the successful implementation of settlement standards.
As an integral component of its immigration program, Canada has always
maintained a policy of refugee resettlement. Canada accepted large number
of refugees from Ireland in the mid 1800s, Jews from Russia in the late
1800s, from Hungary in the 1950s, from Vietnam and Uganda in the 1970s,
and from Kosovo in the late 1990s. On a smaller scale, thousands of refugees
continue to resettle in Canada each year, some sponsored by the government,
others by private groups. In 1999, the five leading source countries of
refugees were Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, and Somalia.[8]
The majority of immigrants to Canada settle in urban areas. Approximately
70 percent of immigrants reside in Canada’s three largest urban
cities: Toronto, Vancouver, and Montréal. According to the Statistics
for Canada of 2001, a large percentage of recent immigrants (that is,
those who have been in Canada for less than five years) settle in Montréal
(13 percent), Vancouver (18 percent), and Toronto (42 percent). Immigrants
account for up to 10 percent of the populations of these cities. M.S.
Mwarigha (2002) suggests that one current challenge in settlement service
delivery is how to effectively combat the escalating emergence of an immigrant
underclass which concentrates mainly in poorer urban neighbourhoods.[9]
Index
Next...
[4] Citizenship and Immigration Canada,
1998. Back
[5] Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 1999.
Back
[6] Canadian Refugee Council, 1998. Back
[7] Canadian Council for Refugees, 2000. Back
[8] Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2000.
Back
[9] “Immigrant Settlement and Social
Inclusion in Canada,” Ratna Omidvar and Ted Richmond, 2003. Back
|
Multimedia Centre