Lead Department: Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Start Date of the Horizontal Initiative: 1984
End Date of the Horizontal Initiative: Terms and conditions must be renewed by March 31, 2010.
Total Federal Funding Allocation: Ongoing

Description

The objective of the Host Program is to help immigrants overcome the stress of moving to a new country. Volunteers familiar with Canadian ways help newcomers learn about available services and how to use them, practise English and French, get contacts in their field of work and participate in the community. At the same time, host Canadians learn about new cultures, other lands and different languages; they make new friends and they strengthen community life.

Shared Outcome(s)

The strategic outcome of Host is to provide settlement services to newcomers to facilitate their social, cultural, economic and political integration so they may become participating members of Canadian society as quickly as possible.

Governance Structures

The federal partner (CIC) is governed by Treasury Board approved terms and conditions and financial directives, the Financial Administration Act, the Host Operations Manual, and the Contribution Accountability Framework (CAF), which is currently being implemented in stages. The CAF ensures the accountability of settlement expenditures through the monitoring of service delivery and the evaluation of program effectiveness. Information collected will also be used to identify program changes that will enhance the capacity of newcomers to integrate into Canadian society. There are five key elements in the CAF: performance measurement, evaluation, contribution agreement process, management control (where applicable, under an agreement), and provincial-territorial accountability. Service provider partners are governed by contribution agreements entered into with the federal government.

Settlement services are also provided to newcomers to Canada by provinces which have signed settlement services agreements with the Government of Canada. Settlement funding is provided through Alternative Funding Arrangements (AFAs). Currently two provinces have signed such agreements: British Columbia (latest agreement signed April 5, 2004) and Manitoba (latest agreement signed June 2, 2003). The two provincial governments maintain primary responsibility for the design, administration and delivery of settlement and integration services for immigrants in their own provinces. They provide and manage settlement services comparable to those offered by CIC.

Settlement services in the province of Quebec are governed by the Canada-Quebec Accord, signed in 1991, under which Quebec receives federal funding in the form of a grant and has the responsibility for selecting immigrants and providing settlement services to newcomers.

Partners

Federal Departments
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)

Service Providers
Service provider organizations partner with CIC to deliver Host. Non-governmental organizations, provincial, territorial or municipal governments, businesses, not-for-profit groups, community groups, educational institutions, and individuals.

Contact

Contact Information:
Deborah Spurr
Director, Settlement
952-2301

Approved by:
Patricia Birkett
A/Director General, Integration
957-5237

Date Approved:
August 18, 2005