The Government of British Columbia recently announced an increase of funding for settlement services from $6 million to $25.6 million annually. These enhanced settlement services will be delivered under the BC Settlement and Integration Services (BCSIS) program, will “empower temporary residents and naturalized citizens to successfully integrate into their new communities, find meaningful employment, access education and health care, and contribute to the social fabric of their new community.”
In response to this announcement, Kathy Sherrell, Director of Settlement Services at ISSofBC, said, “This is exciting news and the culmination of a lot of work by the Ministry and the sector! With this increase, the number of clients served annually is expected to increase from 26,000 to 40,000.”
We welcome the provincial government of BC recent decision to provide additional funding for newcomers, especially temporary residents given the sizeable number of Temporary Foreign Workers arriving in the province alongside other categories of immigrants and refugees.
Read the full announcement
Quick Facts:
- In the fiscal year 2021-22, BCSIS helped more than 26,000 newcomers.
- The federal government provides settlement services to permanent residents.
- The Province, through BCSIS, supports temporary residents (including foreign workers, international students and refugee claimants) and naturalized Canadian citizens.
- BCSIS services are available to Ukrainians arriving through the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel program.
- Since February 2022, more than 12,000 Ukrainians have settled in British Columbia.
