Promising Practices in Settlement

The WES Gateway Program provides refugees with a high-quality credential evaluation report that is recognized and accepted by employers, higher-education institutions, and regulatory bodies throughout Canada.

The Welcome Group Program matches volunteer “Welcome Groups” of five or more volunteers with Government Assisted Refugees for settlement and integration support.

The Welcome Ambassador Program trains volunteers to run workshops within their social, professional, and volunteer networks to build cultural awareness skills; examine the understanding of their role in systemic oppression; develop skills and knowledge around power, privilege and ally-ship; develop knowledge and awareness about refugee newcomers; and participate actively in making Nova Scotia a more welcoming and inclusive province.

IRCOM provides low-income newcomer families with safe, affordable housing for up to three years after arrival to Canada, along with holistic, wrap-around programs and services for parents and children.

The Entry Program is an orientation and language program that provides information and basic skills development for newcomers to Winnipeg in a classroom or online setting.

The Employment First: Workplace Skills for Refugees program combines job placement, skills training, workplace training, and mentorship support for high-needs refugees.

The purpose of the Cultural Brokerage Program is two-fold: to support newcomer families in understanding how the system works, and to support the system in understanding the resettlement challenges and barriers faced by newcomer families in Canada.

Be Back Soon was created in 2005 to address the need for short-term, no-cost, occasional, quality childcare options for families with low income to attend medical, legal, social service or counseling appointments, job interviews, and/or workshops.

The goals of the Barista Training for Newcomer Youth with Starbucks Canada program are: to support the participation of newcomer youth in the local economy; to support the integration of newcomer youth into their new community; to increase youth employability skills that boost their long-term career prospects; and to increase the capacity of employers to onboard and retain newcomer hires and demonstrate leadership in this area.

The project involved free in-person and webinar based 45 minute training sessions on how to use the Google Translate application, for community stakeholders, organizations, business and institutions. Participating businesses were provided with training and We Speak Translate decals and stickers to display. The symbol on the decals and stickers was used as to identify a place of business where Google Translate was being used and as a sign of welcome for non-English speakers.

I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to meet weekly with a small student advisory group and they have provided valuable feedback on our program and our various projects. The students are forthright in their assessments of how our organization is using social media and their insight has provided valuable information regarding their day-to-day use of technology.

In this presentation, ISSofBC's Kathy Sherrel outlined the journey her 350 person, 17 location, and 60 active program organization has been on that started in their settlement department around this concept of outcomes measurement about two years ago.

In this episode, I’m talking with Jason Shim, described by TechSoup as a Nonprofit Technology Rockstar. I definitely share that opinion. I’m so excited to bring his insights, energy and experience to all of you.

Marc-André Séguin is an immigration lawyer with the firm Exeo, in Montreal. In 2017, Marc-André and his partner Francis Tourigny, launched the first immigration chatbot in Canada. Immigration Virtual Assistant, or IVA, is a Facebook Messenger-based chatbot.