Unlocking Success: How Settlement Services Empower Newcomers in London & Middlesex
An attractive feature of moving to Canada is the access to settlement services that are funded by Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada. This funding provides localized support to newcomers that is tailored to the community they are integrating into.
A recent report indicates that settlement services are in fact highly effective in helping newcomers settle in Canada, with a high rate of satisfaction demonstrated among those who have used them. However, it was also revealed that many newcomers are still not aware that they can access these services. Approximately 70% of newcomers surveyed for the report that did not use settlement services indicated that it was because they did not know about them.
What are settlement services?
Settlement programming in Canada provides newcomers with access to a range of general and tailored services. The overarching goals of these settlement services are to help newcomers integrate by offering services that support: knowledge about living and working in Canada, preparing for and working in the labour market, improving official language abilities, and developing meaningful connections and a sense of belonging. Ultimately, settlement services work to help newcomers integrate in all areas of life in order to foster a high quality of life in Canada.
In our community, several settlement organizations provide supports in a variety of areas including education, community engagement, employment, health and well-being and others. Some specific examples of the types of services newcomers can access in London & Middlesex include but are not limited to: language training, orientation to life in Canada, information and services to access the labour market, activities to promote connections with communities, volunteer opportunities, assessments and referrals, as well as targeted services for women, seniors, youth and LGBTQ2+ individuals.
Where are these settlement services?
We are fortunate to have a variety of settlement services that serve the London & Middlesex community. These include:
Carrefour communautaire francophone de London
College Boreal
London Cross Cultural Learner Centre
LUSO Community Services
Northwest London Resource Centre
South London Neighbourhood Resource Centre - Newcomer Settlement Services
YMCA of Southwestern Ontario
WIL Employment Connections
The great thing about these settlement services is that they are evenly distributed across the city, making it easy for newcomers to access an organization that is close to their home, and specific to their neighbourhood.
Settlement services enhance newcomer quality of life and help set newcomers up with the best chance of integrating successfully and happily into their new communities. Whether you are a newcomer yourself, or know someone who is new to the area, make sure you are aware of the settlement services in your community. One of our goals as Local Immigration Partnerships is to provide access to information. As such we hope to close the gap of newcomers who do not know about these services. After all, the newcomers who did know about them found them very useful, and that's what they're there for!