Historically, the process to determine who came to Canada as a government-assisted refugee was identical to the immigrant process. It was almost the same as a point system. The education or work experience people had, the level of their English or French, and how fast they would adapt to Canadian society were criteria to determine who would come to Canada, not their need for protection.
With the new legislation in 2003, I believe there were changes in that regard. Changes were requested with our international partners, such as IOM, International Organization for Migration, and UNHCR. It was a very positive step forward. One of the issues was that we needed to bring in people in most need of protection. In many cases, this means people who cannot return to the country or city where they are living. We end up with people who have lived in refugee camps for a long time.
We did a pilot project on 420 Somali refugees. Many of them lived in refugee camps for 15 to 20 years. Their children were born in refugee camps. In some cases, when they arrived at the refugee camps, they were two to three years old. They were even born there, and they had their own children in the refugee camp.
Living in those conditions definitely had a huge impact on their understanding of some issues, and also their skills. With every society you come to, you need to have a new set of skills. Living in refugee camp conditions, many of the children had never been to the regular school system. For many parents, it was just day-to-day survival.
We did a shorter study on the impact of culture shock. In fact, I did a presentation for the department. Many refugees arrived in Canada with information that wasn't accurate. We saw refugees who had culture shock, because their expectations were different. Again, not going into the details--the department has that--skills, setting new goals, or living in different conditions, from the weather climate to the cultural climate to the social interaction climate, all have an impact on how they perceive their new town and how they settle.