ARCHIVED – Resettlement Assistance Program

Provision of timely and effective POE airport services includes receiving newcomers where they enter Canada (that is, the airport at which their flight first lands in Canada).

Resettlement activities must include:

• meeting and greeting the client as they disembark;
• assisting them with immigration and customs procedures;
• providing winter clothing if required;
• addressing any immediate and in-transit needs;
• helping clients get transportation to their temporary accommodation if the  POE city is their final destination, or onward ground or air transportation to their final destination; and
• providing temporary accommodations to clients in transit, if required.

Direct delivery of timely, effective and client-focused resettlement programming which typically occurs during the first four to six weeks following a client’s arrival in Canada.

These services must include:

Accommodations

Services include provision of temporary accommodations to ensure clients are safe and secure during their initial days in Canada. RAP SPOs are responsible for providing for immediate needs such as food and incidentals when clients are in temporary accommodations. Temporary accommodation also provides an opportunity for clients to receive information and orientation and other services that help them live safely and independently after they leave. RAP SPOs also provide assistance in finding suitable and safe permanent housing options within the client’s budget and which meets their needs, assist the client in moving from temporary accommodations, and provide orientation support to the client to adjust to their new home. Typically, temporary accommodation is provided for up to 21 days.

Needs and asset assessments and referrals

These services aim to assess clients’ immediate and essential needs and potential barriers to learning, so that Resettlement service delivery can be tailored to meet client needs and build on their assets. They also aim to develop a client referral plan to settlement and broader-based community services, which will support integration into Canadian society. Before the end of the Resettlement service delivery period, RAP SPOs must carry out an exit assessment to ensure that all Resettlement services have been received, to identify any remaining immediate and essential need that the RAP SPO can address through their own services or through referrals to IRCC-funded settlement services (e.g., language assessment and training, Case Management services) or broader-based community services.

Links to essential federal and provincial programs and services

Orienting and linking clients to federal and provincial programs ensures they can access public services available to all permanent residents (PR) and Canadian citizens. Clients are to be registered for all appropriate essential federal and provincial programs, and oriented on each program’s purpose and on how to access them. Most of these orientations and links are to be made in advance of the client’s move to permanent accommodation. These include, but are not limited to: Social Insurance Number (SIN) applications; Canada Child Benefit (CCB) applications; ensuring clients have their Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) certificates; provincial health-care insurance applications; school registrations for children; and connections to broader systems and supports for specific populations (e.g. women, seniors, persons with disabilities, French-speaking clients, 2SLGBTQI+ people, youth etc.).

Immediate and essential orientation

These services help clients acquire the knowledge or skills, or both, to live safely and independently in Canada. Orientation should generally be provided while clients are in temporary accommodation, should be tailored to the needs of each individual or client group, and should address any immediate needs to prepare them for their move from temporary to permanent accommodation. Supporting orientation resources should be translated into the clients’ first language, where possible. Clients must be informed about Resettlement Assistance Program Income Support, their financial responsibilities and eligible allowances outlined in the RAP Agreement for Income Support Recipients, and the potential impacts of secondary migration on Resettlement service provision including RAP Income Support. Orientation should also be provided on the following subjects: communication and media; household management; Canadian banking system and personal finance, such as budgeting, credit and immigration loans; public transportation and the local community; Canadian weather; Canadian law and justice, including family law and rights and responsibilities; life skills; and cultural norms and expectations, including culture shock, and cultural adaptation. This should include information on the availability of culturally- and linguistically-appropriate health care, mental health symptoms and supports and the availability of Interim Federal Health Program supplementary coverage for counselling supports.

Adapting to life in Canada training is delivered to high needs clients, who may require more guidance and support in order to become independent, even after receiving the basic suite of Resettlement services. It is provided to them after they have moved into their permanent accommodation.

This intensive, short-term training and support is meant to build on clients’ current skill sets, and assist them in acquiring the specific knowledge and skills required for living in Canada.

All clients need to be adequately informed about the possibility of settling in Canada in French and should be referred to SPOs who can support them in their journey. They can do so in the official language of their choice, and, if interested, be referred to local Francophone SPOs. This must be supported by active engagement on the part of RAP SPOs with Francophone settlement SPOs in their community to strengthen settlement services for French-speaking clients.

2SLGBTQI+ clients also need to be adequately informed about settling in Canada as members of local 2SLGBTQI+ communities, while maintaining and respecting cultural and privacy concerns. Clients should be referred or connected, whenever possible, to different aspects of the local 2SLGBTQI+ community, including organizations that are adequately tooled to provide psychosocial support to this clientele. Ideally, initial information on this topic should be delivered by, or in collaboration with, members of the local 2SLGBTQI+ community.

In addition, other clients who traditionally face distinct barriers to services, including youth, women, seniors, and clients with disabilities should also be referred or connected, whenever possible, to targeted services and supports.

Support services

Interpretation and translation

Interpretation and translation services should be delivered under the Resettlement Assistance Program when required to ensure that clients have full access to and benefit from Resettlement immediate and essential services, while maintaining and respecting client’s cultural and privacy concerns.

Child care

Child care services should be provided when required:

• Short-term child care services (or care for newcomer children), while parents are on-site, may be delivered under the Resettlement Assistance Program to reduce barriers to access and enable participation of clients in Resettlement services, as long as all health and safety standards align with the Care for Newcomer Children Requirements;
• Licensed childcare (e.g., home or daycare centres) governed by provincial legislation or purchased seats in provincially licensed daycares run by other organizations may be offered to clients and do not require parents and children to be present at the same site; and
• Care for Newcomer Children or licensed childcare may be offered to support participation in Resettlement programming or activities such as group orientations and individual settlement service appointments.

Notes to applicants:

• All the immediate and essential services as well as support services noted above should be inclusive, culturally appropriate, gender-sensitive and delivered either in the client’s own language or with appropriate translation and interpretation services.
• Applicants should consider technological solutions so that programming is more effective, flexible, and accessible. IRCC is interested in programming that reduces barriers that may impact a client’s ability to use online or digital services (e.g., lack of digital skills, insufficient Internet, computer, or mobile access).
• Applicants should also note that the ability to accommodate clients’ essential transportation needs while in temporary accommodations is a core function of program delivery. This includes, but is not limited to, transportation to required medical appointments, participation in Resettlement service delivery and securing permanent accommodations.

Knowledge development/National projects refer to any project that would support the objectives of the Resettlement Assistance Program (see Terms and Conditions), as well as initiatives intended to support and improve the program. Applications for these activities must be submitted through Indirect Services with a National/Sector focus.

All Resettlement POE services must be delivered:

• In-person (at airport reception centres)

In-person services are prioritized for all resettlement immediate and essential services. However, RAP SPOs should have the organizational capability to deliver aspects of the RAP remotely when required to do so. This includes:

• Remotely (online/digital) – staff led
• Remotely (online/digital) – self directed
• Remotely via email/text/phone

For example, Resettlement SPOs must have the capacity to maintain communication, provide assistance, and deliver orientations to clients for the duration of their time in temporary accommodations. Additionally, RAP SPOs should find innovative ways to use technology in resettlement delivery to enable clients to utilize their overall digital literacy.

Knowledge development and national projects can be delivered in-person or remotely, or via both delivery modes.

In addition to the mode of delivery, applicants will also need to consider who the client audience will be for each of the project activities being proposed in their online application form (more than one audience may be selected per activity):

• For Direct Services (# 1 and 2 above): Group, Individual, or Family (or all)
• For Indirect Services (i.e. # 3 above): individual organizations, local non-settlement service delivery partners, or entire sector or community or service area (or all).

In addition to meeting the CORE and EDI criteria, applicants under the RAP must meet the following requirements:

• Demonstrate that the organization is established and working in the community with strong ties and working relationships with local community services, social services and local employers;
• Demonstrate capacity to welcome resettled refugees of various linguistic backgrounds;
• Demonstrate experience working with vulnerable newcomers (ex. Government Assisted Refugees (GARs), Blended Visa Office-Referred Refugees (BVORs), Privately Sponsored Refugees (PSRs), victims of gender based violence, disadvantaged youth, 2SLGBTQI+ people);
• Have temporary accommodation identified (ex. commercial accommodations such as hotels or motels, and /or rented accommodations such as apartments, houses or reception houses).
• Deliver services in alignment with the community areas listed under "Locations"
• To ensure there are Case Management services in all new Resettlement communities being solicited in the Call for Proposals (CFP) 2024, applicants who are submitting proposals to become SPOs for new Resettlement communities must also:
  • Apply to the Settlement Program to deliver Case Management services,
  • Demonstrate how they will partner with existing case management services providers in their community; or
  • Indicate they are willing to partner with an organization chosen through this CFP to deliver Case Management services in their community. Applicants should indicate in their application which option they selected.

Proposals demonstrating the following may be prioritized for funding. Applicants should include a description of the following experience or capacity, as applicable:

• Experience or partnerships with organizations that support individuals that face distinct barriers to services (women, 2SLGBTQI+ people, racialized newcomers, youth, seniors, people with disabilities) or on specific issues (e.g. religious communities; sexual and gender-based violence; mental health);
• Partnerships with settlement and non-settlement services providers such as:
  • Organizations from the local Francophone Minority Community such as Francophone SPOs or relevant Francophone partners to provide information on the availability of services in French in the local community.
• Headquarters located in the community where the applicant plans to deliver Resettlement services;
• If the organization does not have previous experience delivering resettlement services, intention to establish a partnership with an experienced RAP SPO for mentorship purposes and to gain the expertise to successfully deliver resettlement services in the new resettlement community;
• Availability of settlement services in the community that are specifically relevant to refugees such as:
  • Services that directly equip clients with employment-related skills and support in accessing the labour market.
  • Literacy (Canadian Language Benchmarks (PDF, 4.2 MB) or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (PDF, 21.3 MB) Foundation/Fondations L to 4L, or both) and basic level language training (Canadian Language Benchmarks or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens 1 to 4, or both);
  • Community Connections initiatives, including targeted matching between newcomers and community members (one-on one and family matching) and English or French conversation circles;
  • Settlement support services, including child care and short-term counseling;
  • Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs) or Zonal Immigration Partnerships (ZIPs)/ Réseaux en immigration francophone (RIFs) equivalent;
  • Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS)/ Travailleurs et travailleuses d’établissement dans les écoles (TEE) in the grade schools and high schools that Resettlement clients will attend (if available);
• Presence of permanent accommodation options for resettled refugee families (e.g., suitable, safe for habitation, and cost manageable in relation to the client’s budget) or proven track record of consistently securing permanent accommodations for GARs in less than 30 days, or both;
• Availability of multilingual staff or have connections to reliable interpretation and translation services in the community in the languages most spoken by refugees resettled in Canada, or both. In 2022, the languages most spoken by Resettlement clients were Dari, Pashto, Arabic, Tigrinya, and Somali;
• An active funding agreement with IRCC for the delivery of services under the Settlement Program;
• Demonstrated ability to refer to partner organizations who are well positioned to support the needs of refugee newcomers;
• Availability of other relevant specialized supports, such as specialized medical care, mental health services, education system supports, public transportation and accommodations and accessibility supports for persons with a disability.
• Are from Francophone organizations submitting proposals in new Resettlement communities in British Columbia.
• Cross-sector partnerships, including with Indigenous Peoples and communities, organizations that provide a capacity-building and professional development role within the settlement sector (e.g. Umbrella Organizations), organizations with expertise working with specific populations (e.g. racialized populations) or on specific issues (e.g. advancing substantive gender equality and women’s empowerment).
• GBA Plus in the design, implementation and evaluation of the project(s). Please refer to the overview of funding guidelines for more information on GBA Plus.