Immigration and Settlement Archives - SRDC

Employment Support for Refugees with Lower Levels of English in Their First Year in Canada

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 17:35:03 +0000

Led by MOSAIC, this project pilots a targeted training and employment support approach for refugees within their first year in Canada who face barriers to accessing existing services, particularly due to lower levels of English proficiency. Delivered through two cohorts serving up to 24 participants, the project combines customized language training with early labour market supports, cohort-based peer learning, and supported referral pathways between settlement and employment services. The approach builds on insights from a 2025 Future Skills Centre project and addresses gaps in current services from the perspective of refugees navigating employment systems in British Columbia.

The project tests whether targeted programming accelerates labour market integration and self-sufficiency for refugees with low English proficiency. Through ongoing evaluation, the project examines which elements of the programming, such as tailored English language training and first language supports, are most effective in helping participants find and sustain employment, and how participant outcomes compare with historical settlement and employment trajectories. Findings will be used to refine the program and inform future replication.

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Sector Consultation on AMSSA’s IRCC-Funded Services

Wallaa Daramlly — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 14:53:14 +0000

SRDC is contracted by AMSSA to conduct a sector consultation and collect feedback on their IRCC-funded indirect services.

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LINC Sector Coordination

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 15:06:50 +0000

This project engages with LINC Sector Coordination stakeholders such as attendees at LINC Gatherings, members of the Settlement Language Working Group and Advisory Group, participants in LINC teacher training, and MOSAIC staff through interviews and focus groups. The goal is to learn what is working, for whom, and why, and to identify areas for adjustment.

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Consultant for the Dedicated Needs and Assets Assessment and Referral Services (NAARS) Community of Practice

Wallaa Daramlly — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 14:51:36 +0000

SRDC is supporting DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society’s Community of Practice for the development of a dedicated Needs and Assets Assessment and Referral Services (NAARS) model in Surrey, BC. This project strengthens local capacity and brings together frontline organizations, service providers, and stakeholders to share insights, and support effective NAARS implementation. DIVERSEcity leads the initiative locally, engaging partners and coordinating CoP activities, while SRDC provides strategic guidance, research expertise, and facilitation to ensure the developed model is responsive, evidence-informed, and community-driven.

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Newcomers with Remote Information and Career Help in British Columbia and Yukon (ENRICH BCY)

Wallaa Daramlly — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 19:26:14 +0000

Led by Douglas College and in partnership with the Yukon Literacy Coalition, this project’s overarching goals are to enhance newcomer settlement and integration in rural and remote regions of British Columbia and the Yukon (BCY). Our approach emphasizes community engagement and local partnerships to co-design online tools and resources that complement rather than duplicate existing in-person services. Specific areas of focus include developing pre-arrival information to enhance migration pathways; facilitating social and economic integration to promote newcomer retention and address local skill and labour needs; supporting truth and reconciliation through the integration of First Nations history, culture, and governance into settlement services; and addressing gaps in existing community and settlement services to improve newcomers’ access to supports. Consultations (in person and remote) with newcomers, employers, First Nations representatives, community leaders, and service providers are used to i) collect information on local contexts, strengths, services, and needs, and ii) co-design and develop ideas for service enhancements to pilot with local communities. Our evaluation focuses on tracking outcomes, identifying areas for improvement, and capturing lessons learned for further enhancement related to program design and delivery.

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Connecting Canada: Testing Innovative Immigrant Attraction Approaches While Building Attraction Capacity in Smaller Urban and Rural Communities

Wallaa Daramlly — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 13:49:16 +0000

Connecting Canada will test the effectiveness of newcomer attraction capacity building initiatives in smaller urban and rural (SUR) communities. Knowledge and relationships gained from 3 years of SDI-funded research that connected pre-arrival immigrants with SUR employers will be leveraged. SUR community feedback has shown a need for collaborative capacity building mechanisms and shared resources. The project aims to expand communities’ capacity as well as build evidence and knowledge on the effectiveness of varying service interventions. Connecting Canada targets SUR communities across Canada and the immigrants who might be interested in settling in those communities. This project aims to test a variety of capacity-building measures, working intensively with 3 anchor communities, broadly with at least 30+ additional communities and engaging at least 5,000 newcomers. SRDC is the project’s research and evaluation partner. Our role is to develop a newcomer attraction capacity index and to implement it as well as to evaluate the project’s progress towards anticipated results.

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PROSPECTS: Propelling to Result-Oriented Strategies in Planning, Evaluation, and Continuous Transformation in Settlement

Wallaa Daramlly — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 18:30:21 +0000

PROSPECTS is an initiative funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), aimed at enhancing the capacity of organizations within the settlement sector in evaluation and research. Our project is designed to support Settlement Service Providers (SPOs) in developing outcome-based approaches by incorporating evaluation into their project planning and management processes. This project will foster a cultural shift towards outcome-based approaches through a series of activities grounded in the principles of “meeting organizations where they are” and “active development through generative listening and learning by doing.” We will begin with a cross-country consultation and an assessment of the sector’s capacity to understand the diverse needs of various organizations. Our project team will compile, design, and offer a range of tools, resources, workshops, and peer learning networks to enhance the sector’s practical knowledge. SRDC will provide free, customized support, including expert advice tailored to specific needs and broader capacity development planning. This will empower settlement sector organizations to seamlessly integrate program evaluation into the design, planning, management, and continuous improvement of their programs. PROSPECTS will also focus on raising awareness about the benefits of adopting outcome-based approaches in settlement sector programming through regular communication and a knowledge-mobilization campaign.

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Strengthening the Capacity of Organizations to Meet the Employment Skills Needs of Francophone Newcomers in Minority Situations

Wallaa Daramlly — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 18:06:15 +0000

The Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC), in partnership with the Coalition ontarienne de formation des adultes (COFA), will develop innovative, integrated and adapted adult learning resources to support the development of skills (e.g., socio-emotional, linguistic) for the employability and integration of Francophone newcomers in Francophone minority communities. The project will build the capacity of organizations working in the areas of immigration, literacy and basic skills, employability and language training, and create strategic partnerships between organizations with complementary expertise. These partnerships will support sharing of promising practices and strengthen the capacity of service providers to serve Francophone or Francophile clients from immigrant backgrounds, supporting services to immigrant populations while enhancing their employability and skills development.

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We Are Here to Help You: Testing a Proactive Outreach Approach to Settlement Service Delivery

Wallaa Daramlly — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 14:15:00 +0000

Settling in a new country often involves adapting to a new language and culture, navigating new systems, finding housing and employment, and establishing social and professional networks. While free settlement services are available to help newcomers to Canada achieve these goals, many newcomers are not aware of these services. In order to accelerate newcomers’ connections to settlement services, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. piloted the Community Airport Newcomers Network (CANN) E-Link project. CANN E-Link used technology to connect settlement provider organizations (SPOs) with newcomers proactively, instead of relying on newcomers to contact SPOs first. CANN E-Link employed an arrival e-notification and information sharing system that informs SPOs of newly arrived newcomers who are settling in their local community or region. Eligible newcomers who received services at the CANN kiosk at the Vancouver International Airport and consented to be part of E-Link were referred to up to three SPOs in their area based on their destination postal code. The referred SPOs would then contact the newcomer directly by email or phone.

As the research and evaluation partner for CANN E-Link, SRDC found that proactive outreach to newcomers by settlement providers increases their usage of settlement services among newcomers by 12.7 percentage points in the first six months of settling in Canada. E-Link clients are 14 percentage points more likely to get a referral to other settlement services, 4.3 percentage points less likely to not know where to find the settlement services they needed, and 7.5 percentage points more likely to know where to get employment services. E-Link increases the proportion of newcomers with a sense of hope about the future by 5.9 percentage points − suggesting that newcomers settled and integrated better in their first six months in Canada.

CANN E-Link’s proactive outreach to newcomers at the right time increases newcomers’ access to settlement supports and services. Applying behavioural insights to identify the best opportunities to engage and support newcomers along their settlement journey is the basis of E-Link’s success.

Discover more in the full Final Evaluation Report.

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Outcomes Data Collection Development for Evaluation of BC Newcomer Services Program and the Safe Haven Program

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 16:56:47 +0000

In April of 2024, the BC Ministry of Municipal Affairs (MUNI) (now the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills) launched two new programs to support primarily temporary residents of BC that do not have access to Federal settlement programming: the BC Newcomer Services Program (BCNSP) and the BC Services and Assistance for Humanitarian and Vulnerable Newcomers (SAF HAVN) program. The Ministry would like to capture data that will demonstrate accountability and measure whether services are achieving the desired program goals and objectives. In addition, this data will inform the continuous improvement of these programs over the 3-5 years these contracts are in place and inform future planning. SRDC has been contracted to support MUNI in further defining and refining the outcomes and measures, and developing qualitative and longer-term indicators. SRDC will engage with service provider organizations (SPOs) delivering the two programs to ensure the outcomes, indicators, and collection suggestions/requirements meet the on-the-ground reality and are reflective of the complexity of services delivered.

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