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6.1.1

Settlement counselling and beyond

Settlement counselling involves providing a range of services to newly-arrived immigrants and refugees to facilitate their participation in and contribution to life in Canadian society (IRCC, 2017). Settlement services are direct and indirect services, including “specialized interventions or activities designed to achieve the goals of immigrant and refugee settlement through orientation, adaptation and integration” (Tam, 2003, p. 14). Settlement counsellors meet with newcomer clients to provide assessment, case management, support, and information and referrals (OCASI, 2017).

Newcomer needs vary depending on a vast array of factors suggesting the need for flexible services that can be tailored to the unique needs of individual clients (IRCC, 2017). About 40 per cent of newcomers use at least one settlement service within the first two years of being in Canada. Some groups are more likely to need and use settlement services, such as resettled refugees (72 per cent), while economic immigrants are less likely to use these services (31 per cent) (IRCC, 2017). The most common need identified by clients is to increase their “knowledge of community and government services and life in Canada” (IRCC, 2017, p. 23).

Settlement services provided directly to clients generally fall within the following six areas funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada :
(IRCC, 2017)
The IRCC Settlement Program also funds the following six support services that facilitate access to settlement programming or that indirectly support the partnerships, capacity-building and sharing of best practices among service providers:
(IRCC, 2017)