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A Newcomer’s Introduction to Canada
Immigrant-Serving Organizations
 There are hundreds of immigrant-serving
organizations in Canada. Many are staffed by
former newcomers to Canada, who
understand the challenges that immigrants
may face. They usually have people available
who speak your language and can
accompany you as interpreters. Citizenship
and Immigration Canada supports many of
these organizations financially, helping
newcomers adapt to life in Canada.
Settling in will be much easier if you contact
an immigrant-serving organization as soon as
you arrive. The people who work for these
organizations can help you find a place to
live and can answer your questions about
shopping, education for your children,
transportation, language training and other
important matters.
Immigrant-serving organizations can
help you:
- find a place to live;
- get your Social Insurance Number and
health-care card;
- enrol your children in school;
- get language training;
- find a family doctor;
- find out about government and
community services for newcomers;
- look for a job;
- develop a realistic budget; and
- get emergency food aid, if it is needed.
Note: In Quebec, the Ministère de l’Immigration
et des Communautés culturelles is organized
into different regions. Each region has a local
office, called a Carrefour d’intégration, which
works with the immigrant-serving
organizations to help newcomers adapt to
life in Quebec.
Most immigrant-serving organizations offer,
or can provide information on, the following
Government of Canada programs.
LINC (Language Instruction
for Newcomers to Canada)
 LINC is a federal government program for all
eligible adult immigrants. It offers:
- free language training for adult
newcomers who want or need basic
English or French;
- language classes given by school boards,
colleges and local organizations;
- the choice of studying part-time, full-time,
evenings or weekends, depending on your
needs and your schedule; and
- transportation and child-minding, if
necessary.
TIP >
Your local immigrant-serving
organization can direct you to a LINC
Assessment Centre, which will then refer you
to organizations offering LINC classes. You
can also refer to the book Welcome to
Canada: What You Should Know to find a
LINC Assessment Centre in your area. |
Host Program
 The Host program is a federally funded
program that matches newcomers with a
Canadian family or individual. Host
volunteers help you:
- overcome the stress of moving to a new
country;
- learn about available services and how to
use them;
- practise English or French;
- prepare to look for a job; and
- participate in community activities.
TIP >
Your local immigrant-serving organization can direct you to a Host Program organization in your community. |
ISAP (Immigrant Settlement and
Adaptation Program)
 ISAP helps newcomers gain access to
community services to meet their immediate
needs.
Under ISAP, immigrant-serving organizations
can:
- refer you to economic, social, health,
cultural, educational and recreational
services;
- give you tips on banking, shopping,
managing a household and other
everyday tasks;
- provide interpreters or translators, if you
need them;
- provide non-therapeutic counselling; and
- help you prepare a professional-looking
résumé and learn job-searching skills.
The Immigrant Settlement and Adaptation
Program (ISAP), a federal government
program, pays for these services.
A list of immigrant-serving organizations
across Canada can be found on the Internet
at www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomer/
welcome/wel-20e.html.
TIP >
Manitoba, British Columbia and
Quebec have programs similar to LINC, the
Host program and ISAP, but they may have
slightly different names. |
ELT (Enhanced Language Training)
ELT aims to develop and deliver higher levels
of language training and job-specific
language training, including labour market
understanding or experience across Canada.
As a component of the Immigrant Settlement
and Adaptation Program, ELT is expected to
provide the following:
- Higher levels of language training,
Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB)
or the Standards linguistiques canadiens
(SLC) levels 7-10 (English or French) will
be developed and delivered to help meet
the needs of immigrants who enter the
country with basic or intermediate English
or French skills but need higher levels
of language ability to enter and remain
in the labour market;
- Higher levels (CLB/SLC 7-10) of jobspecific
language training will be
developed and delivered to enable
immigrants to find and retain jobs
commensurate with their qualifications
and skills; and
- In order to promote regionalization,
CLB/SLC levels 1-10 (English or French)
will be developed and delivered in smaller
centres without language training
infrastructure (specifically the Language
Instruction for Newcomers to Canada
[LINC] program). (ELT is not intended to
duplicate or substitute for the delivery of
LINC);
- All of the above must include a bridge
to work component, such as work placements,
mentoring, cultural orientation to
the workplace, preparation for licensure
exams and internships for eligible clients.
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