Protected persons and permanent residents primarily benefit from settlement services from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). However, eligible temporary foreign workers (TFW) can access some of these settlement services from various territorial and provincial governments across the country.
Keep in mind that the range of providers offering settlement services in all Canadian territories and provinces have their own eligibility criteria, policies, and offerings.
How to Know Your Eligibility for IRCC’s Settlement Services
As stated earlier, each service provider has an outlined eligibility criteria unique to their settlement services. According to IRCC, federal settlement services are available to some eligible temporary residents in Canada. It’s worth considering that the TFW settlement services funded by IRCC have different eligibility criteria than those provided by non-profits, privately funded organizations, and municipally or provincially funded service providers.
Top Five Organizations Offering Settlement Services for TFWs in Canada
As a TFW in Canada, you need access to a helpful settlement service with enough resources to address several concerns adequately. The focus areas of concern include:
- Language training
- Obtaining certification or license for employment
- Finding work in your area
- Connecting with your local community
IRCC doesn’t fund the organizations we’ll discuss, but they can address these concerns.
Newcomer Women’s Services Toronto (NEW)
NEW has its head office in Toronto and offices in three other locations across North York and Ontario. The newcomer services organization specializes in assisting women and offers several services in eight different languages to help Ontario-based temporary foreign workers in various ways.
NEW offers settlement program services in Spanish, Arabic, Punjabi, Farsi, Urdu, Mandarin, Hindi and Bengali/Bangla. These services include:
- Assistance with government services
- Access to the English language
- Preparation for the citizenship test
- Support accessing healthcare, housing, education and employment.
CSS Alberta
CSS Alberta has offices in Edmonton, Alberta and Red Deer, Alberta, where they help temporary foreign workers get one-on-one settlement resources services, which they provide in multiple languages.
The services offered by the CSS Alberta organization include:
- Information to aid temporary foreign workers learn about the new community they have become a part of
- Information about access to housing, education and healthcare
- Assistance with different forms, documentation and applications
- Connecting newcomers with faith-based communities and cultures
- Assistance with understanding the options of permanent residency
