Today (March 15 2025), just hours after Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s Prime Minister, an emerging coalition of social service providers challenged federal parties to offer a renewed and unifying vision for immigration in Canada as they head into an imminent election.
The media event was organized by Vancouver Neighbourhood House Settlement Serving Organizations and the Association of Neighbourhood Houses BC in response to what was described as “faltering trust” in Canada’s immigration system
“In the face of an alarming rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric and deepening concerns about our economic security, this is a critical time to help Canadians recognize the value that newcomers bring to our economy and to the social fabric that makes Canada such a special place in the world,” said Betty Lepps, Executive Director of Collingwood Neighbourhood House, urging federal parties to provide “a long-term vision that provides stability and certainty for newcomers and the organizations that support their success. Their success is our success.”
Collingwood is among many organizations surprised by debilitating funding cuts by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in the last days of 2024, only three months before taking effect on April 1st, without any transitional planning. Collingwood lost 100% of their funding after providing settlement services for 40 years in a part of Vancouver that many newcomers call home.
“Across Vancouver’s neighbourhood houses alone, we are coping with $5 million in cuts while the sector at large is still struggling to support hundreds of thousands of people already here,” added Lepps. “We’re losing entire programs, and being forced to lay people off, roles that are primarily held by racialized women.”
As she spoke, Lepps was surrounded by representatives from other organizations impacted by the cuts, including the Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies (AMSSA), Immigrant Services Society of B.C. (ISSofBC), and Vancouver Community College (VCC), which is facing a shutdown of its Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program in light of the cuts.
Chris Friesen, Chief Operating Officer of ISSBC, echoed Lepps on the need to push back on disinformation and outlined the integral role of immigration in Canada’s economic growth:
“In British Columbia alone, a 2024 Labour Market Outlook Report projects a labour force gap of 1,120,000 within the next decade as more people age out of the workforce than will enter it. Almost 50% are expected to come through new immigrants,” said Friesen. “We urgently need political leadership to bring us together as a country to develop a renewed long-term vision for immigration. Our economic prosperity, our pension plans, and our collective future depends on it.”
The event featured two newcomers who shared their settlement journeys and the impact that finding a supportive community at their local neighbourhood house had on their lives.
“I spent several months searching for a new job with no success until I found South Vancouver Neighbourhood House. They introduced me to the Project-Based Labour Market Training for Settlement
Practitioners, a program that gave me hope and changed my life,” shared Shanna Delantar, who now works supporting youth newcomers at South Vancouver Neighbourhood House.
The coalition was also joined by Jenny Kwan, Member of Parliament for Vancouver East and NDP Critic for Immigration, who has been actively engaged with impacted communities on the issue.
“Newcomers are being used as a political scapegoat for Canada’s failed housing policy. Government and the official opposition members playing the blame game are dangerously fanning anti-immigrant sentiment,” said Kwan, adding that the recent cuts “are dismantling invaluable infrastructure that the community took decades to build to help integrate newcomers. A neighbourhood house is the living room of a community. Gutting their settlement services funding by 50 – 100% harms the very social, cultural and economic fabric of Canada. It is short-sighted and will only do more harm than good.”
A 2023 study by the Conference Board of Canada drew a clear link between investment in settlement supports and newcomer retention rates.
“We know that when we invest in and support newcomers, it brings good outcomes not only for them but for all of us,” said Lepps, herself a first-generation Canadian. “For generations, Canada has offered a promise of welcome, safety and inclusion for people seeking opportunity or displaced by crises. With the direction we’re headed in, that promise is being broken. We’re at risk of losing who we are as a nation.”
Stephanie San, South Vancouver Neighbourhood House Communications
Phone: 778-984-2505
Email: stephanie.san@southvan.org
Secondary contact:
Jenna Otto-Wray, ANBHC Communications
Phone: 604-725-4547 (text or call)
Email: jottowray@anhbc.org
The article referenced re VCC: https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/01/14/vancouver-community-college-protest-lirc-shutdown/
Report referenced above: https://forcitizenship.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/print_the-leaky-bucket_2023.pdf
