The Changing Needs of Newcomers- Towards a New Service Delivery Model Marco Campana and Sevgul Topkara-Sarsu

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1 The Changing Needs of Newcomers- Towards a New Service Delivery Model Marco Campana and Sevgul Topkara-Sarsu 1. Immigration Trends- Official Statistics 1 Increasing number of immigrants coming to Canada: While during 1990s, an average of 220,000 immigrants came to Canada each year, the number increased to 238, 000 in the 2000s (262,236 in 2005). In 2001, the proportion of Canada s population who were born outside the country has reached its highest level in 70 years. The ratio of economic class immigrants to family class immigrants is changing: During 1990s, an average of 78,000 family class immigrants and 105,000 economic class immigrants entered Canada yearly. In the 2000s the number of family class members decreased to 62,000 while the number of economic class members rose to 140,000. The contrast is even more noticeable in Toronto. Among recent immigrants destined for Toronto, more than 60 % entered as economic immigrants and less than 30 % entered through the family category. Growing number of visible minorities: Three-fold increase since Projections show that by 2016, visible minorities will account for one-fifth of Canada s population. Chinese is the largest visible minority group surpassing one million for the first time. An increasing concentration: 80 % of all immigrants reside in Canada s five largest urban centres. Toronto is home to 43 % of all recent immigrants to Canada. Toronto s immigrant population has grown at a faster pace than the immigrant population in Ontario and in Canada. However, immigrant growth trends are also very significant in York Region, Peel Region, areas of Southern/South Western Ontario (such as Hamilton and Waterloo Region), where service infrastructure may be overwhelmed. Changing religious landscape: the number of Muslim immigrants is growing. In Toronto, 20 % of recent immigrants are Muslims and 10 % are Hindus. Increasing multienthnicity and multiculturalism: The changing sources of immigrants to Canada has resulted in emerging new ethnic origins from Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Central and South America. More than 200 different ethnic origins were reported in the 2001 Census question on ethnic ancestry. Increasing rate of underemployment and deskilling: While very recent immigrants are more highly educated than those who came before, the jobs of recent immigrants require lower skills than the jobs of the Canadian-born. In addition, part-time, contract or temporary jobs are more common for recent immigrants. Changing trends in occupations: A higher proportion of very recent immigrants than earlier immigrants work in health and science fields and a lower proportion of very recent immigrants than earlier immigrants work in trades and transport occupations. 1 The findings in this section were compiled from CIC Facts and Figures 2005, Immigration Overview, and 2001 Census Report, Statistics Canada, 1

2 Occupations in sales, services and processing remain the most common occupations held by newcomers. 2. Additional Immigration Trends- Our Experiences 2 More immigrants going back home: Canada becoming revolving door. More immigrants are coming to Canada without leaving their jobs in home countries. Changing reasons for coming to Canada: Many newcomers are not coming explicitly for a better life for themselves and their family, but to work at the same level or higher within their profession. They have bought into globalization and expect to find work commensurate with their skills and experience. Also, more immigrants are entering Canada to obtain citizenship for their children. (Male immigrants working outside Canada, supporting their spouses and children until they become Canadian citizens). Recent immigrants are better informed about Canada, do more research before landing in Canada. They have, perhaps, too much information, but are they actually informed? Newcomers feel that they are informed, but there is much that they are not able to learn before they arrive, including creating networks, the real expectations of employers, how things work and labour market realities. Parallel to the increasing number of economic class immigrants, settlement needs of immigrants are changing. The number one settlement issue for newcomers is integrating into a professional community. The job search map is a web of confusion for professional newcomers. Even answering the question to certify or not? is not easily answered. 3. Challenges for Settlement Workers 3.1. Increasing diversity of clientele served: Challenges for the counsellors working in a multicultural, multiethnic and multilingual society after 9/11: Cultural sensitivity and respecting/celebrating diversity are also political acts in today s world. Hence, developing multicultural counseling skills supported by political sensitivity as well as self-awareness is more important than ever Abundance of on-line resources and web-based information: Newcomers have high expectations of settlement services and expect specialized services. Easy access to information helps immigrants be well informed even before seeing a settlement worker. Immigrants do not need to see a worker to gather simple information. As a result, the cases workers are dealing with are getting more and more complex which requires case management rather than simple information and referral. They are also 2 The statements in sections 2 and 3 reflect our assumptions based upon statistical reports, our own experiences in the sector, our conversations with our colleagues and a report titled Newcomer Links: Skills Gap Analysis and Community Assets Mapping prepared by Elga Nikolova for WoodGreen Community Services in January

3 dealing with the issue of misinformation and have to work both convince newcomers of the correct information and act as a gateway to accurate information. Settlement workers are gateways to accurate information. Too much information may lead to underutilization of resources, as application of this volume of information becomes a problem. Clients need to be supported by consulting and advisory services to assist them to understand how the system works, how to pick up information and apply it in a relevant context Employment as the most important settlement issue: Clients lack of access to social and professional networks, which is the most pressing settlement issue, is changing the definition of settlement support. The line between settlement work and employment counselling is becoming blurred. Increasing importance of building partnerships: Settlement workers may be a newcomer s first point of contact for broader networking opportunities. How well connected to companies, employers and other agencies are we or do we need to be? Developing partnerships with other agencies, professional associations or ethnic professional organizations is becoming particularly important. Settlement work involves coaching clients to stay motivated in the new culture, to understand where and how to network and to prepare for career transition. Information overload and evaluation is not a challenge only for newcomers. Given numerous on-line job searching sites, the question of keeping track of all these resources for referral purposes poses a challenge to settlement workers in terms of management of the workload Newcomers want e-services: Since 2002, Statistics Canada research has shown that Immigrants were more likely than non-immigrants to use computers at home 3 This has been confirmed in our own research about technology service demand from newcomers and is evident through the consistently high use of sites such as Settlement.Org and newcomer-created and owned discussion and blog websites. The challenge is finding out what they want/need and in what format and then how to deliver it! 4. Is settlement counselling becoming an impossible job? How can e-services be part of a solution? What are we doing, without technology? Merging settlement with some internal employment programs (one-on-one job coaching, Job Search Workshops) Increasing staff knowledge and information specialization among settlement workers New, innovative technology projects, such as Newcomer Links 3 Source: 3

4 Incorporating case management approaches to address client service complexity and realities (including working with funders to recognize/evolve service delivery) Identifying new training needs among staff. What are we doing with technology: Overall, we want to increase the use of information and communication technology to provide enhanced client service by identifying options for e-service delivery and confirming their suitability/limitations. We will build on existing supports and programs and utilize technology to develop an on-line support network. One-on-one and group e-service support. Basic Technology Principles What unmet needs or desires do our clients have? Example: Employment Access to jobs commensurate with their skills and experience. Access to personalized information and support leading to jobs. Professional support as they job search. A desire to not feel isolated or alone in their job search. How can we complement existing service delivery and to offer clients another way to get help? Can on-line, interactive access to and connection with counsellors, information, mentors and advisors, peers, and other learning resources be part of a service solution? Assumptions about technology and e-services: Newcomers should be able to access services with more choice, in a way that meets their needs and situation. We will build programs and technologies around what clients want and need instead of letting the program and technologies drive our program behaviour. Technology is valuable when it complements or maximizes a relationship currently in progress. We are exploring how it can be used to complement current client service practice. Important principles: No loss of human service interaction with clients Minimal increase in workload for staff; instead, a change in how we do our work with some of our clients E-services must complement existing services Online work must contribute to meeting client service targets E-services is not for all clients Privacy and confidentiality are essential Maintaining a high level of client-centric service focus WoodGreen Community Services Toronto, Ontario

5 Discussion Questions: In Groups of 10, discuss these questions: 1. How do our experiences/assumptions about newcomers match with your own? What else would you add? 2. For those outside of Toronto, is service specialization more difficult since you re the only newcomer service in town? 3. What innovative projects or programs have you implemented to meet client needs? 4. How do you use technology with your clients? How would you like to use it? 5. What do you think would be pros and cons of e-services? 5