Poste - Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children

C A N A D I A N C O A L I T I O N F O R T H E R I G H T S O F C H I L D R E N
privately-sponsored refugees where the sponsorship
agreement has broken down and has made available
additional funds to assist refugees with special needs. 109
Loans are also made available for some refugees to cover
the costs of medical examinations required to establish a
person’s admissibility, travel costs to Canada, costs
related to finding accommodation and gaining
employment, as well as the right-of- landing fee. Since
February 1995, all loans are subject to interest
provisions, although Convention refugees and members
of a designated class selected abroad are eligible for
interest deferral for up to three years. A refugee applying
for an immigrant loan must demonstrate the need for the
loan and the ability or potential ability to repay it.
For refugees in Canada who are not sponsored, financial
assistance is available through provincial and territorial
social assistance programs. Eligibility criteria for
provincial social assistance varies across the country.
Since November 1996, refugee claimants in Quebec
receiving welfare assistance are only eligible for the base
amount and no longer have access to employability
measures. Although parents are eligible for work permits,
they often have difficulty working, and the situation has
worsened over the past three years, with families turning
to anti-poverty groups for help. 110 These families are
ineligible for emergency social assistance according to
section 7 of the Loi de la sécurité du revenu. However, a
recent decision by the Ministère des relations avec les
citoyens et de l’immigration provides free financial
assistance once the Quebec identification papers have
been issued. (These papers give the holder access to
Government of Quebec services such as education and
French language training, until a final decision is made
regarding the holder’s status.) These documents are
issued within 48 hours of the claimant providing a
resident address.
Settlement Services
A project recognized as a priority for the Canadian
Council for Refugees is developing national standards
for settlement services. According to the 1998 nongovernmental
report, Best Settlement Practices, “national
standards would be a tool to ensure that newcomers could
be guaranteed certain minimum levels of services
wherever they settled in Canada.” This report also called
for a “national clearing house for information on
settlement services.” 111
114
Settlement services in Canada are primarily delivered by
non-profit, non-governmental organizations located in
communities across the country. Funding is provided to
many of these organizations through the federal
Immigrant Settlement and Adaptation Program (ISAP).
Other sources of funding include provincial and
municipal governments, fundraising and donations.
In Quebec, settlement services are provided by the
Ministère des relations avec les citoyens et de
l’immigration through a network of seven regional
offices located in Montreal, Laval, Laurentides-
Lanaudière, Montérégie, Estrie, Outaouais and Quebec
City. The Quebec government depends on community
organizations to deliver a variety of services such as
orientation programs, French language instruction,
assistance with employment and housing searches. These
non-governmental organizations play a very important
role in the delivery of services for refugees and are often
reluctant to obtain government funding in order to
maintain autonomy and ensure the protection of refugees
and refugee claimants. 112
The hundreds of agencies and organizations across
Canada that provide settlement services for refugees and
immigrants vary, depending on their size, location and
mandate. For example, COSTI, the largest immigrantserving
group in Toronto, is a multicultural agency that
works with all immigrant communities in Greater
Toronto. Its services include: orientation, information,
referrals, settlement services, counselling, English as a
second language classes, citizenship preparation,
programs for women (including social, economic and
cultural issues), programs for seniors, vocational and
placement services (including career counselling, training
and placement), rehabilitation services (to assist people
with disabilities to re-enter the workforce), family
counselling, post-settlement support, advocacy and
public education. COSTI has a diverse clientele of 20,000
annually and a staff of over 130 who, together, speak
more than 30 languages.
The Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on
Immigration and Settlement--Toronto says that “the
resettlement needs of persons admitted to Canada under
refugee status require more attention than they have
heretofore received. Although resources may be available
to help refugees during the first year after arrival, the
period of adjustment is far more protracted.” 113 The
Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants is