Thank you, sir.
We very much appreciate the opportunity to come and give our perspective on the very important questions the committee has raised. I think what I'll do is just read our presentation, and then we can get into more details, if necessary.
I'm writing on behalf of the steering committee of the Coalition on Richer Diversity of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador—we normally call it CORD—to request the opportunity to present a brief at the hearings scheduled.
The largest sources of newcomers to Newfoundland and Labrador have historically been the United States and Britain, although there has been a greater diversity of sources of newcomers over the past few years.
Recent economic and demographic conditions have highlighted the value to the province of increasing immigration from a broad variety of sources. The provincial government has announced, in March 2007, an immigration policy to better attract and retain immigrants as an important solution to population and labour issues in the province.
In light of the fact that less than 2% of the province's population currently is foreign-born, it is not surprising that amenities to support the specific needs and interests of diverse newcomers are not well developed at present. The province has very few human resources available in social, economic, or government systems particularly to support settlement and integration of newcomer residents. It currently relies heavily on existing services in their current form or volunteer work in not-for-profit organizations throughout the province, especially those organizations created by newcomers themselves, to address newcomers' needs in long-term integration and adaptation.
Since 2005, a group of interested people in the St. John's area have been meeting to consider responses to growing pressure for attention to new social challenges resulting from an increase in volume and diversity among new residents. At first focusing on issues of children and youth, the group's scope has widened to include responses to newcomers' needs in all aspects of society.
In June 2007, three focus groups were held to gauge the interest and support of stakeholders from a broad spectrum of human service work--government, non-government organizations, and individuals. From the approximately 40 people who attended these meetings, strong interest was expressed in the formation of an organization that could enhance existing services through collaboration, coordination, and communication among them. In response, the Coalition for Richer Diversity, Newfoundland and Labrador, the immigration umbrella organization, has been formed. We have put this in so that you understand the context we're coming from.
CORD's aim is to create more opportunities, assess needs, further develop services, and ease the pressures on social support systems. CORD crosses the boundaries between immigrants and longstanding populations of the province, as well as those who walk between the various types of social services. Through research, education, outreach, and mediation, this umbrella organization works to identify what is being done, who is doing it, what needs to be done, and who can do it. CORD acts as a cultural and community broker.
Against this context we have three issues we would like to raise. Our first concern relates to the fact that only one agency in Newfoundland and Labrador has received CIC ISAP funding for settlement services to immigrants. We note that, to the best of our knowledge, every other province has at least one agency providing services under CIC ISAP funding. Even P.E.I. has at least two. It has been our experience that other prospective applicants for CIC ISAP funding in Newfoundland and Labrador have consistently and actively been discouraged from applying on the grounds that services would thus be duplicated. Our response to this is that a large variety of human resources are required to address adequately immigrants' needs as targeted through ISAP and, more recently, through other CIC initiatives. We insist that Newfoundland and Labrador agencies' proposals to CIC, other than those from the Association for New Canadians, be officially received and given fair consideration in the disbursement of CIC settlement funding. We also insist that CIC's parameters for funding, schedule, and specific call for proposals be made known in a timely fashion to all such agencies in the province that are suitable organizations to implement such service.
Our second concern is that a province with a small population such as Newfoundland and Labrador can only serve its immigrant population through an explicit and comprehensive system of collaborative relationships among immigrants and all service providers in the area of human support, such as health, education, housing, special populations, justice, access to and support in employment, and so on. Without collaboration, mutual learning, and work among such groups, this province cannot hope to amass the human resources necessary to deal with the multitude of issues that arise as a result of an influx of newcomers. Therefore, new initiatives toward improved settlement experiences for newcomers must involve a broad range of service providers and maximize the benefit of their experience and knowledge. We see this in terms of sharing of resources, skills and knowledge bases, professional development, research, and so on.
Our third concern is that at present there is no adequate system or facility to support appropriate sharing of the information among all parties implicated in immigration settlements. Heritage Canada has in the past supported the creation of booklets listing a range of sources of information and services relevant to immigration matters, but these have been distributed in print, and no ongoing strategies for keeping them updated have been put in place. In light of the capacities of modern technology, now is the time to create a system of data collections, management, and distribution to meet the various needs of the stakeholders involved.
Thank you for your kind consideration of our perspectives and concerns.