1 Joël Denis, Norah Lynn Paddock, Louise Saulnier, Leslie Wong MPA 853 – June 8, 2011

 Background on Catholic Immigration Centre  Mandate and Programs  Staffing  Funding  Service Delivery  Social Determinants of Health and Immigrants  Social Support Networks  Employment of Professionals  Housing  Language Skills 2

3  Philosophy:  Realization of Full Potential Ability without bias to participate in all aspects of Canadian life – political, social, economic, cultural Ability to act and contribute as normal Canadians  History:  Religious origins  1976: Catholic Immigration Services – Ottawa is set up.  : Southeast Asian refugee crises, services number of staff expand.  1984: Agency is incorporated as an autonomous organization - The Catholic Immigration Centre.  Today, CIC continues to expand its programs and services to meet the needs of newcomers and the Ottawa community.

4 S ETTLEMENT S ERVICES Language Maison Thérèse Dallaire (residential facility for newcomers with urgent needs ) Completing Documents Education Employment Health Housing Immigration Issues Money and Finances P ROGRAMS Host Program International Medical Doctors International Legal Professionals Youth Centre Pastoral Help Community Projects

5 Language Training Employment Support Housing Support P RIMARY N EEDS Over 55% are Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs) Slightly more women than men (51% versus 49%) Majority are between 25 and 44 years of age, often with large families Small, but growing, number of seniors Over 55% are Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs) Slightly more women than men (51% versus 49%) Majority are between 25 and 44 years of age, often with large families Small, but growing, number of seniors New immigrants generally arrive in better health than the average Canadian… However, this advantage often disappears over time. Healthy Immigrant Effect C LIENT P ROFILE H EALTHY I MMIGRANT E FFECT

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8 I NCOME AND S OCIAL S TATUS S OCIAL S UPPORT N ETWORKS E DUCATION AND L ITERACY E MPLOYMENT AND W ORKING C ONDITIONS S OCIAL E NVIRONMENTS P HYSICAL E NVIRONMENTS P ERSONAL H EALTH P RACTICES AND C OPING S KILLS B IOLOGY AND G ENETIC E NDOWMENT H EALTH C HILD D EVELOPMENT H EALTH S ERVICES G ENDER C ULTURE M IGRATION & S ETTLEMENT I MMIGRATION S TATUS HEALTH STATUS L ANGUAGE S KILLS

 Social support networks and health: underlying premise  CIC as a Social Support Network:  Services to expand individuals’ networks (e.g. language classes)  Knowledge sharing (e.g. Federal Skills Workers Program, federal credential recognition, and social assistance application process)  Helping themselves by helping others 9

10  Obstacles:  Social support networks and vulnerable populations: A problem compounded  Correlation vs. causation  Opportunities:  One part of a wider social support network: Somerset Community Health Center, Family Services Ottawa, Ottawa legal clinics  Networking through volunteerism

11  Go right to the source – family reunification  Increased support for community based initiatives – neighborhood watch programs and food co-operatives  Increased support for social development activities, including intergenerational projects and cross-cultural gatherings.  Evidence based decision making - develop and test models to demonstrate a stronger link between social support networks and health benefits – e.g. gender analysis

 Employment is an important social determinant of health  Un- or underemployment can cause significant stress and mental health pressures  CIC helps immigrants to get foreign credentials and work experience recognized  Legal and medical professionals  Prevents “de-skilling” phenomenon 12

 Admission criteria for immigrants  Involvement of professional associations needed  Few national professional standards or assessment methods  Discrimination 13

 Be more transparent to foreign professionals about the realities of career transition as an immigrant  Encourage the development of national professional standards and assessment tools  Incent providers of training to help foreign professionals learn the Canadian work environment and pass professional qualification exams 14

 “Housing is crucial to health.”  Government Assisted Refugees (GARs) – receive government funding for first year that is equivalent to social assistance. After one year, many end up in shelters.  Single person receives $350/month for rent, not enough for own apartment, most live in rooming house  Family receive $600/month  Initial 3 weeks period for RAP orientation is too short.  Large number of Federal Skilled Workers (FSWs) also come for help, primarily for housing. 15

 Obstacles: Income/Ottawa labour market Ottawa housing market Discrimination Lack of references Language skills Restricted access to social housing  Opportunities: Social housing partnerships Outreach to landlords 16

 National Housing Strategy – involving all three levels of governments Rental housing Ownership housing Social housing with mixed incomes Support for people with special needs (Layton, 2000)  Flexible capital grant program  Private rental program  Investment pools of money to create affordable housing  Provincial income supplement programs 17

18  Language is a key barrier to accessing basic support services (particularly for refugees)  Language impacts:  Access to care  Quality of care  Health literacy  Language training is the most highly utilized service offered by CIC

19  Impact of communication barriers on quality of care.  Limited availability of translation and interpretation services through CIC  Lack of multicultural/multilingual health service providers in Ottawa  Mainstream health service providers need to become more culturally- sensitive

20  Increase government funding for translation/interpretation services through settlement service providers  Encourage communities to recruit volunteer interpreters and coordinate resources  Extend eligibility of government- funded language training to temporary residents  Develop guidelines and training to help mainstream service providers become culturally-sensitive

21 Health Limited social networks Employment challenges Housing needs Language Skills