Key Informant Perspectives on the Government of Canada’s Modernized Approach to Immigrant Settlement

Abstract

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) funds community-based organizations to provide services such as official language training, job placement, and community engagement in a decentralized model of immigrant service provision. This approach to settlement services has been simultaneously praised as a model of best practice and criticized for inefficiency. Partly in response to criticism, in 2008 IRCC implemented the Modernized Approach to Settlement Services, a management strategy that maintains the department’s decentralized approach to funding settlement service provision but introduces several important changes. First, the Modernized Approach consolidates settlement services into a single Settlement Program to streamline the application process. Second, the Modernized Approach focuses on project outcomes rather than just measuring inputs and outputs. And third, the Modernized Approach creates avenues for grass-roots organizations to have a voice in the governance of the Settlement Program. While a few studies have discussed the Modernized Approach to Settlement Services as a promising way forward, this is the first article to examine its impact empirically. Using key informant perspectives as a guide, this article provides an overview of the areas and extent to which it has created improvements over IRCC’s previous approach to settlement services, and it identifies areas for potential improvements. Resume: Immigration, Refugies et Citoyennete Canada (IRCC) finance des organisations communautaires pour fournir des services tels que la formation linguistique, acces a l’emploi, et l’engagement communautaire dans un modele decentralise de la fourniture de services aux immigrants. Cette approche a ete simultanement salue comme un modele de bonnes pratiques et critique pour son inefficacite. En partie en reponse a la critique, en 2008 IRCC mis en œuvre l’approche modernisee de services d’etablissement, une strategie de gestion qui maintient l’approche decentralisee du ministere pour la prestation de services d’etablissement, mais qui introduit plusieurs changements importants. Tout d’abord, l’approche modernisee consolide les services d’etablissement dans un programme de reglement unique pour simplifier le processus de demande. Deuxiemement, l’approche modernisee met l’accent sur les resultats des projets plutot que des entrees et sorties juste mesure. Et troisiemement, l’approche modernisee cree des avenues pour les organisations de base d’avoir une voix dans la gouvernance du Programme d’Etablissement. Bien que quelques etudes ont discute de l’approche modernisee de services d’etablissement comme une voie prometteuse. Ceci est le premier article d’examiner son impact empiriquement. Utilisation de perspectives des informateurs cles comme un guide, cet article donne un apercu des domaines et dans quelle mesure il a cree des ameliorations par rapport approche precedente IRCC aux services d’etablissement, et il identifie les domaines d’amelioration potentiels.